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With the official Microsoft Corp. announcement being made yesterday that Ray Ozzie is stepping into the role of chief software architect for the company, displacing none other than Bill Gates himself from the role, the spotlight has now turned on his illustrious IT career. Ozzie, 50, created IBM's Lotus Notes and is widely regarded as a pioneer in how computers can be used for collaborative work. Microsoft expects Ozzie to work "side by side" until 2008 with company founder and Chairman Bill Gates, also 50. In July 2008, Gates will leave behind the day-to-day work of Microsoft to focus his attention on philanthropic work through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he runs with his wife. When Groove Networks, the company that Ozzie founded in October 1997, was acquired by Microsoft in April 2005, he was named chief technical officer amid great fanfare. Before founding Groove, Ozzie was founder and president of Iris Associates Inc., where he created and oversaw the early development of Lotus Notes. He also played a key role in developing Lotus Symphony, as well as Software Arts Inc.'s TKSolver and VisiCalc, and his official Microsoft biography further notes that he also worked on early distributed operating systems at Data General Corp. Ray Ozzie has a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which has honoured him as a distinguished alumnus.
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