Charlie Bell has been hired by Microsoft to lead the new Microsoft Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management organisation they are setting up. Bell is a former cloud executive at Amazon. The move is a bold step in advancing Microsoft's security stack that is already receiving $1 billion in investment a year.

 

Bell is committed to bringing more safety and security into digital space, to help bring us out of the ‘digital medievalism’. He believes that Microsoft is the company to make this happen. Microsoft have already taken positive steps in cybersecurity leadership as they are leaders in four security Gartner Magic Quadrants and 7 Forrester Waves.

In an email to staff, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said “Charlie is a respected technology leader with a proven track record of building world-class platforms. The next big challenge for our company and our industry is securing digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds in our customers’ heterogenous environments. This is a bold ambition we are going after and is what attracted Charlie to Microsoft.”

Bell posted about his new role at Microsoft on LinkedIn:

“As digital services have become an integral part of our lives, we’re outstripping our ability to provide security and safety. It’s constantly highlighted in the headlines we see every day: fraud, theft, ransomware attacks, public exposure of private data, and even attacks against physical infrastructure. This has been weighing on my mind, and the best way I can think to describe it is “digital medievalism,” where organizations and individuals each depend on the walls of their castles and the strength of their citizens against bad actors who can simply retreat to their own castle with the spoils of an attack. We all want a world where safety is an invariant, something that is always true, and we can constantly prove we have. We all want digital civilization. I believe Microsoft is the only company in a position to deliver this, and I couldn’t be more excited to work with this talented team to make the world safer for every person and organization on the planet. “

Microsoft is restructuring its security organisation to move groups from its Cloud + AI and Experiences + Devices teams under Bell, including Microsoft 365 Security, Compliance and Management under CVP Harv Bhela; Identity under CVP Joy Chik; Security under CVP Bharat Shah; and the Chief Information Security Office team under CVP Bret Arsenault.

Read the Softwerx blog article on why your organisation should consider adopting a ‘Microsoft First’ approach to security and compliance here.

 

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