Ray Ozzie is only the person besides company founder Bill Gates to hold the Chief Software Architect position. He was appointed in 2005 ti be the forefront of the company's belated efforts to refocus the company on cloud computing and social networking.
"With our progress in services and the cloud now full speed ahead in all aspects of our business, Ray and I are announcing today Ray's intention to step down from his role as chief software architect," Ballmer wrote.
"The CSA role was unique and I won't refill the role after Ray's departure."
Ozzie's departure is just the latest in a string of high-profile resignations from the company, including the recent decision of Business Division president Stephen Elop to take over as CEO of Nokia. This year has also seen the departure of entertainment chief
Robbie Bach, and design chief J. Allard.
Published 19 October 2010, 10:04 IST