Microsoft News Tracker

Microsoft today announced that they nabbed Disney CIO Tony Scott to serve as their new CIO replacing the unrelated Stuart Scott who left Microsoft under a cloud in November.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the appointment of Tony Scott to the role of chief information officer (CIO) and corporate vice president of Microsoft. Scott, 56, will manage Microsoft’s 4,000-person global information technology organization that manages critical technology systems supporting the company’s worldwide sales, marketing and services efforts, as well as enterprise systems and applications for all corporate processes. Scott will officially assume his new role at Microsoft in February and report to Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer.

A respected industry veteran, Scott brings more than 25 years of experience running global IT operations for leading corporations. Most recently, Scott served as senior vice president and chief information officer of The Walt Disney Co., where he was the first CIO to manage companywide IT.

I suppose there’s a comment lurking there about Microsoft going outside the company for executive talent, but Stuart Scott came from GE so it is not exactly novel. Moreover, the CIO role is basically an administrative and support function so it is not too surprising for Microsoft to grab someone with pertinent large company experience.