Summary: Chrapaty jumps ship, but the company she joins could consequently be influenced by Microsoft software; Publicis and EA also show signs of Microsoft impact

JOINING many others in her group, the datacentre VP of Microsoft decides to quit, but she lands inside Cisco, thus posing a threat to the company's GNU/Linux strategy. It's a potential HR issue, as we came to realise in recent years. From IDG:

Cisco is tapping a high ranking Microsoft executive to be the new head of its collaboration software group.

Another report from IDG has this departure confirmed by Microsoft.

Cisco declined to comment on Chrapaty, but a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the move.

At Microsoft, Chrapaty was corporate vice president of Global Foundation Services, in charge of infrastructure and services elements for Microsoft Live, and cloud and online services. At Cisco, she will likely be in charge of the company's cloud and software-as-a-service strategies.

Speaking of HR issues, Publicis Groupe is no longer a stranger to Microsoft; Microsoft sold over 2,000 employees to Publicis last month and now they sign another strategic deal. Coincidence? Not likely.

Mobile marketing specialist Publicis Groupe Phonevalley is to offer customised ad solutions, technology and metrics across Microsoft’s mobile web properties, including the Microsoft Media Network, Bing and MSN.

Here is Microsoft promoting cars and vice versa (suitable for its car salesman-like CEO, with professional family roots in there), as well as another rumour of Microsoft buying a games company. Microsoft executives have been entering Electronic Arts (EA) for quite some time now (e.g. [1, 2]) and then came this:

Electronic Arts stock up on takeover talk-traders

[...]

"There's talk that Microsoft might be interested in acquiring Electronic Arts. It's unsubstantiated chatter, but it's out there," said Frederic Ruffy, an options strategist at WhatsTrading.com in New York.

Microsoft denies this and EA denies also. It does not rule the possibility of this happening some time in the future though. Microsoft also insisted (very repeatedly and vigourously in fact) that it was not making a phone, but it seems to have been lying all along even if technically it was not making any phones at present day (time of the rumours). ⬆