Software legend Ray Ozzie to join Microsoft

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Quote »Software legend to join MicrosoftOZZIE A LEADER IN COLLABORATION TECHNOLOGYBy Nicole C. WongSan Jose Mercury NewsMicrosoft announced Thursday that it is buying collaborative software pioneer Groove Networks, acquiring a top technical mind in the process: software legend Ray Ozzie, Groove's founder.Ozzie, creator of Lotus Notes, is known as the father of collaboration technology. His development work has been aimed at creating software that lets people scattered across different locations and organizations work together on documents and projects shared through computer networks or the Internet. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, long an admirer of Ozzie's work, has been pushing his company further into software for work groups.The Redmond, Wash., software giant has twice invested in Beverly, Mass.-based Groove since Ozzie founded it in 1997. Now, Ozzie, 49, will join Microsoft as the chief technical officer overseeing collaborative communication. He will report directly to Gates. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.Microsoft said Groove's technology will enhance the Microsoft Office suite of software. Groove's 200 employees will join Microsoft, which plans to recruit more talent at Groove's campus in Massachusetts.``This is right in the heart of the sweet spot of our business,'' Jeff Raikes, the Microsoft group vice president in charge of Office software, said in a phone interview after meeting with Groove's employees.Microsoft has been looking for ways to infuse new interest in its enormously profitable Office product line, which includes Microsoft Word and Excel, by shifting the programs from an individual-user model to one that accommodates group access.``The world of information work is changing very rapidly,'' Raikes said in a conference call with reporters and analysts. ``This is something we've all seen with the explosion of e-mail.''Ozzie agreed. ``The trends in computing have led us to all be carrying around WiFi-enabled laptops with big hard disks,'' he said in the conference call. ``And essentially, the nature of work has changed for many of us.''Microsoft announced Tuesday that it will release a new version of its Live Meeting Web conferencing software, and update its instant messaging program for businesses.``With the acquisition, they not only get the father of collaboration -- which is Ray Ozzie -- but they get the best brain trust on the planet on collaboration,'' said Rob Enderle, analyst at the Enderle Group in San Jose.Ozzie developed Notes for Lotus in the 1980s at his software development start-up, Iris Associates. It became the blockbuster product that pioneered workgroup computing. Lotus acquired Iris in 1994 and IBM bought Lotus the next year.Ozzie and Gates share an oddly intertwined history, going back to the days when Ozzie pushed innovation at IBM.Ozzie ``was a competitor to Microsoft and a thorn in its side,'' said Dwight Davis, an analyst at Summit Strategies in Kirkland, Wash.Nevertheless, Microsoft in 1994 named Ozzie a ``Windows Pioneer'' -- an honor that has been bestowed on only seven people outside the company -- because his work with Notes helped popularize Windows.Gates said Thursday that he was pleased Ozzie will join Microsoft's technology brain trust, which also includes two other chief technology officers: Craig Mundie and David Vaskevitch``I've thought about, `Could we ever hire Ray and his team?' for a long, long time,'' Gates said in the conference call, ``so it's a big day for me that that's finally taking place.''--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Contact Nicole C. Wong at nwong@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5730.