Microsoft to focus on Cloud model, lay off 10% of its staff

As a part of it reorganization of its business model to focus on selling cloud computing infrastructure and services under the Azure brand, Microsoft is cutting around ten percent of its global sales force.

In an official statement last week the company said, "Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners. Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated.”

"Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others."

With a global salesforce of 50,000 people this could mean 5,000 people, most likely in software and hardware divisions are going to be out of work. The majority of these roles will be outside of the USA. Microsoft employs 3,000 people in the UK in total.

Where reorganisation can often be seen as a euphemism for large job cuts, Microsoft has been serious about becoming a cloud company for the entirety of CEO Satya Nadella's tenure.

Azure is in second place behind the clear market leader Amazon Web Service (AWS) right now, but the still nascent cloud market is certainly big enough for more than one incumbent. Microsoft reports its Azure numbers as part of its broader Intelligent Cloud division, making a clean comparison with AWS difficult. However, that business unit is growing fast, up 11 percent to $6.8 billion according to its Q3 results in April.

Tags: Microsoft,  Cloud model, microsoft cloud model, Satya Nadella microsoft ceo, microsoft azure, Amazon Web Service, aws