Microsoft Hires Tony Scott as Chief Information Officer

Microsoft Corp. today announced the appointment of Tony Scott to the role of chief information officer (CIO) and corporate vice president of Microsoft. Scott, 56, will manage Microsoft’s 4,000-person global information technology organization that manages critical technology systems supporting the company’s worldwide sales, marketing and services efforts, as well as enterprise systems and applications for all corporate processes. Scott will officially assume his new role at Microsoft in February and report to Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer.

A respected industry veteran, Scott brings more than 25 years of experience running global IT operations for leading corporations. Most recently, Scott served as senior vice president and chief information officer of The Walt Disney Co., where he was the first CIO to manage companywide IT. During his time at Disney, Scott led the company through a major transformation, which included improving the reliability and effectiveness of the company’s information systems, shifting focus more toward employee enablement, and upgrading core IT infrastructure including datacenter reliability. Before joining Disney, Scott served as chief technology officer at General Motors Corp. and vice president of operations at Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co.

“Our internal IT systems and operations play a critical role in the success of our business and how we deliver new technologies and advancements to our customers in the marketplace,” Turner said. “We will leverage Tony’s deep experience in running global IT organizations, and his focus will be in three key areas. First, we want to run a world-class IT department, leveraging Tony’s track record and deep knowledge of operational excellence to achieve the highest level of business value by utilizing IT. Second, as Microsoft’s biggest user of our products and solutions, Tony and the IT team will drive our solutions and deployment throughout our enterprise and provide valuable input and feedback to our product groups. In turn, this will ultimately improve our customer satisfaction in the marketplace. Third, we will call upon Tony to connect and collaborate with CIOs around the world to regularly share best practices with our customers and partners.”

“More than any other company, Microsoft knows how important it is to leverage IT for strategic business advantage, and I look forward to building on this success in my new role,” Scott said. “So few places offer the chance to expand your skills and have an impact across such a broad range of technologies — from services to unified communications to mobility. It is a great opportunity, and I am excited to work with this team to help Microsoft advance its business forward through IT.”