Layoffs likely as Microsoft shifts focus from software to cloud

Microsoft is undergoing a reorganisation that will impact its sales and marketing teams and may result in a large number of layoffs, said media reports.

The company is planning to refocus its sales force on making itself a pivotal part of businesses relying on cloud computing.

TechCrunch cited a source with knowledge of the planned downsizing to say that the Redmond, Washington-based firm would lay off ''thousands'' of staff across the world.  The changes are likely to be announced this week. News of an impending reorganization was first reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

The reorganisation will impact those under Microsoft chief marketing officer Chris Capossela and executive vice presidents Judson Althoff and Jean-Philippe Courtois, all of whom have sent messages to their teams describing how the structure redesign will work. The memos however did not mention layoffs.

 ''Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners,'' a Microsoft spokeswoman told Reuters.

 The reorganisation comes about a year after Courtois and Althoff were promoted to lead the company's global sales and marketing operations and its worldwide commercial business following the departure of former chief operating officer Kevin Turner.

Since then, Althoff his is to plan to make Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing service a focal point of the company's sales strategy.

Chief executive officer Satya Nadella has sought to reduce the tech giant's focus on software, shifting to cloud computing and business services.

"From large multinationals to small and medium businesses to non-profits all over the world, organisations are using Microsoft's cloud platforms to power their digital transformation," Nadella said when the company reported its earnings for the first three months of this year.

Microsoft is to release its earnings for the recently-ended quarter on 20 July.

Microsoft's cloud platform, called Azure, faces competition from technology powerhouses Amazon and Google.

Each of the companies has also been investing in artificial intelligence which can make services hosted in the internet cloud more intuitive and insightful when it comes to handling data or catering for the needs of users.

Microsoft has announced thousands of jobs cuts in recent years, the most severe being 18,000 positions eliminated in 2014 related from its acquisition of Nokia and failed efforts in the smartphone market.