Could Microsoft's Cloud Leader Be Its Next CEO?

Things are looking up for Satya Nadella, executive vice president of Microsoft‘s (MSFT) Cloud and Enterprise group. If the reports are to be believed, Nadella is now the front-runner for the top dog role at the Redmond-based company.

Ever since CEO Steve Ballmer announced he was retiring, the technology world has been wondering who may be next to lead the global vendor. Several news outlets have been reporting that Nadella will be handed the reins.

If Nadella does take over as president and CEO, it would certainly cement Microsoft’s go-to-market strategy around the cloud. Considering the perception of Nadella as a down-to-earth “nice guy” type, his appointment could signal a return to an earlier time at Microsoft. Whereas Ballmer was loud and more of an in-your-face personality, Nadella comes off as the more conservative type who likely has more in common with chairman Bill Gates than Ballmer.

As Gates noted late last year, the person who takes over the Microsoft helm must understand the company’s often complex business. Nadella is a 22-year veteran of the vendor, and he has made his bones over the last three years building the Cloud and Enterprise group (formerly the Server group) into a $20 billion organization, as sister site The VAR Guy noted.

It’s Nadella’s cloud experience that seems to strike a chord with this writer. No longer an off-the-shelf software/operating system company, Microsoft has increasingly been building its business model around recurring revenue in the cloud. The resident cloud head taking over the ship could signal an increasing amount of focus on cloud computing products.

What could this mean for Microsoft’s partners? The company doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record when it comes to dealing with partners regarding its cloud business. This is a company that, after all, recently saw fit to reward partners for their hard work in selling volume licenses by cutting their commissions.

But even so, Nadella’s reputation is in building relationships. That’s a good skill to have as the president and CEO of a technology company, and maybe that could show in the company’s partner strategy going forward.