MS Planning Process

In his role as program manager for Office 2003, LeVine is in charge of the back end of the process, gathering the customer feedback that gets folded back into the planning and design process. The other "Softie" in the room is Mike Angiulo, Group Product Planner, Microsoft Office, who manages the planning process for Office. It is his office we are using, and on the wall is a picture of him as he flies a biplane in air races. It's something he does to relax from the stress of developing software at Microsoft. LeVine and Angiulo—young, well-spoken, and with demeanors that belie their heavy responsibilities—are the bookends of the process of getting a major piece of software out the door. They are the wranglers of the cash cow for the biggest software company on earth.