Huang

The group responsible for building startup businesses inside Microsoft has lost another key executive, this time to another Microsoft division -- providing more evidence that the company has been rethinking the group's role.

Xuedong "XD" Huang, a speech-technology guru, has shifted to Microsoft's Online Services Division to work on mobile search and advertising initiatives, the company confirmed. Huang had previously been general manager for Communications Innovation inside the company's Startup Business Accelerator group, overseeing areas including the Response Point small-business telephone system.

The Startup Business Accelerator, under chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie, was among the groups hit hard by the company's latest round of cuts. The MSN Direct and .Net Micro Framework teams, other parts of the startup group, were also affected by those cuts.

Sanjay Parthasarathy, the corporate vice president who headed the Startup Business Accelerator, recently announced that he plans to leave in September.  Amit Mital, who heads Microsoft's "Unlimited Potential" emerging markets group, is expected to expand his duties to include oversight of the Startup Business Accelerator group when Parthasarathy leaves.

The executive departures put the concept of the Startup Business Accelerator in doubt, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with the Directions on Microsoft research firm. It appears Microsoft may be looking to make internal startup businesses more the responsibility of product groups rather than having a special group devoted to the concept.

"It does seem like the expertise in that group is being split up and moved to other areas," Rosoff said.

In addition to Response Point, Huang previously oversaw areas including mobile ad technology and personal telepresence, according to information compiled by Directions on Microsoft.

The company has been vague about its future plans for Response Point, saying after the job cuts in May that it was "evaluating the strategy for the next version" and still planning to support the current version. In a post announcing his shift to the Online Services Division, Huang said Response Point would continue to be led directly by general manager John Frederiksen.