New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is known for her no-nonsense management style, which she will need to streamline the relatively rudderless ship of search, cloud computing and application development, according to analysts, who predict Barts will keep Yahoo floating in the Web services market despite attempts by Google and Microsoft to sink it.

The rumors proved true and former Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz was picked to succeed Yahoo founder Jerry Yang as CEO for the beleaguered Internet company Jan. 13, the latest step in the company's turnaround plan.

Bartz was CEO for Autodesk, a computer aided design software maker, for 14 years, where she boosted sales from less than $300 million to more than $1.5 billion. Bartz also worked at Sun Microsystems, Digital Equipment Corporation and 3M, underscoring a commitment to the enterprise.

If there is anything that makes analysts uneasy about the appointment, it is Bartz' strong roots in the enterprise; Yahoo is a media company with a focus on Web services. This disparity leaves analysts viewing Bartz' lack of a media-oriented background as a positive and a negative. IDC analyst Karsten Weide told eWEEK:

The obvious downside is that she is not a media type. But that is not Yahoo's major problem right now. Yahoo's major problem right now is operational issues and she's a strong executor. She is good at process and that's what Yahoo needs right now. They need someone from the outside with a fresh view upon what's going on at Yahoo who can clean up the mess, both organizationally, but also in terms of the product portfolio. That is a major strength she brings to the table.

 

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