Microsoft Developer Division Chief Somasegar Steps Down -- Visual Studio Magazine

Microsoft Developer Division Chief Somasegar Steps Down

At Microsoft, the search is on for someone to fill the shoes of S. Somasegar, who will be leaving the company after 27 years.

By Michael Domingo
10/08/2015

Microsoft watcher and Redmondmag.com columnist Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft's Developer Division chief Sivaramakrishnan Somasegar is leaving the company. Her report on the ZDnet site (which company representatives verified to be accurate) said that the news was announced in an internal company memo from Microsoft executive vice president Scott Guthrie today.

His corporate bio states that Somasegar joined Microsoft in 1989 and "contributed to eight releases of Windows before leading Developer Division." His current role has been a major influence in the evolution of programming languages at the company, particularly in his division's more open-sourced approach to developing key technologies within Visual Studio and .NET Framework. Even as the head of the developer division, he was "responsible for the Cloud and Enterprise business's Global Development Centers in China, India, and Israel."

According to Foley's report, "Microsoft is working on its transition plan now and will announce Somasegar's replacement in the next few weeks, a company spokesperson confirmed."

Guthrie's memo, according to Foley, said that Somasegar plans to "pursue the next phase of his career." So far, company representatives have not been able to divulge any news or hints as to what that next phase will take him. It could be retirement in his native India, if this archived interview from 2008 at Livemint.com is an indication: "The way I saw it then, I'd work for a few years and make $100,000, return to Pondicherry, buy an apartment and live life."

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