First, the title is probably more profound than the post that follows... sorry, I was just trying to sucker you in, I admit it. This is really just a quick link to some gossip without even any intelligent speculation to go with it.

Second, sorry I'm on another string of Microsoft-centric posts again... it's just where my attention seems to be at the moment. Would it mollify anyone if I mention that Apple's earnings report today totally rocked? I didn't think so.

Anyway, what this is all about is the recent news that Rajesh Jha, the Senior Vice President for Microsoft's Office Live division, will be taking over responsibility for managing the Exchange mail server program as well. Speculation from inside the company wonders if this is just another convenient shuffle, or if it means something about where Exchange is going.

I won't pretend to know the minds of senior management over there, but as it happens I do know a bit about what has been happening on the Exchange team for the last twelve months or so, and from that, I would say the move is no coincidence, and you can expect to see a concerted effort to deliver Exchange as a service (perhaps even primarily as a service) in the near future.