Simonyi and the Intentional Software Team will help Microsoft expand Office 365's team productivity capabilities Serial space tourist Charles Simonyi is going back again — to his former employer, Microsoft. When Simonyi quit as Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect in 2002, it was to create a start-up devoted to making programming simpler. Now Microsoft has agreed to acquire that company, Intentional Software. During his absence from Microsoft, Simonyi also found time to fly to the International Space Station — twice. He made his first trip in 2007 and liked it so much that he went back again two years later. Simonyi began Intentional Software with the goal of applying intentional programming, a language-independent software development technique he had formulated at Microsoft Research. More recently, the company has looked for ways to apply its expertise to team productivity software. That’s an area Microsoft is pushing into as office productivity becomes more about collaboration than document creation. To counter the rise of cloud services such as Slack or HipChat, Microsoft recently added Teams to Office 365. Acquiring Intentional Software’s code and coders will help Microsoft add new capabilities to its productivity tools, executive vice president Rajesh Jha wrote in a post on the company’s blog on Tuesday. For Simonyi, it’s a return to origins of sorts. During his first stint at Microsoft, he oversaw the creation of the heart of Microsoft’s Office suite, Word, and Excel, and will now contribute to the expansion of its subscription-based cloud successor, Office 365. It’s not about adding chat-bots to Office, though: Simonyi sees Intentional Software’s contribution to office as something far bigger yet more diffuse, as he explained in a post on his company’s website, also on Tuesday. Evoking a scene from the SF blockbuster Avatar, in which a scientist effortlessly transfers data from a handheld device to a wall for all to see, Simonyi hinted that he and his team could be building new ways to share, transfer, annotate and display data. “It will amount to reinventing productivity itself. I am very proud that Intentional technology will serve as a small, but important, part of this effort,” he wrote. Related content analysis At RSA, Cisco unveils Splunk integrations, Hypershield upgrades At RSA Conference 2024, Cisco announced plans to integrate its XDR platform and Splunk’s SIEM, bolster its Hypershield AI-native security architecture, and add to its Duo access-protection software. By Michael Cooney May 06, 2024 5 mins Network Management Software Network Security Networking how-to Download our Zero Trust network access (ZTNA) enterprise buyer’s guide From the editors of Network World, this enterprise buyer’s guide helps network and security IT staff understand what ZTNA can do for their organizations and how to choose the right solution. By Josh Fruhlinger and Steve Zurier May 06, 2024 1 min Network Security Enterprise Buyer’s Guides news Network jobs watch: Hiring, skills and certification trends What IT leaders need to know about expanding responsibilities, new titles and hot skills for network professionals and I&O teams. By Denise Dubie May 06, 2024 6 mins Careers Data Center Networking feature IBM’s bets on AI and hybrid cloud pay off Three key differentiators of IBM’s AI and cloud offerings are cross-platform automation, integration with multiple clouds, and tie-ins to IBM professional services. By Jeff Vance May 06, 2024 9 mins Hybrid Cloud Network Management Software Cloud Computing PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe