BI Executive Bill Baker Leaves Microsoft

Bill Baker, one of the most visible and long-serving members of the Microsoft Business Intelligence team, is leaving the company at the end of August to become CTO of Visible Technologies, a text-mining and analytics-related services startup based in Seattle.

Baker is currently a Distinguished Engineer and General Manager of BI applications for the Microsoft Office Business Platform team. A statement issued by Microsoft's public relations firm, Waggener Edstrom, praised the executive saying "Bill has been integral to growing the Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) business from a small startup within the SQL Server product group to the thriving core business it is today, as can be evidenced by Microsoft’s position as a leader in the Gartner BI Platform Magic Quadrant. Bill has lent his strong leadership and vision to products in their early days, such as SQL Server, Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, and most recently to the Master Data Management team."

Baker went on sabbatical shortly after this year's Gartner BI Summit in early April, but he was to return in time to prepare for the upcoming Microsoft BI Conference set for October. The statement said Baker would ensure a smooth transition, though no replacement was named.

Moving on after more than a decade at Microsoft, Baker will have an opportunity to "help a small business grow and thrive," the statement read. Founded in 2003, Visible Technologies provides two core services: TruView, for online reputation management, and TruCast, which monitors and measures social media, blogs and online customer engagement.

Microsoft has experienced a wave of executive departures in recent months, and Baker is at least the second top executive visible at last year's Microsoft BI Conference to leave the company. Jeff Raikes, President, Microsoft Business Division, announced his retirement in May, and he was subsequently named CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.