Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer is reportedly planning to bring in more senior product execs in a management reshuffle at Redmond.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, which cites two people familiar with the situation, Ballmer could announce the team changes in the next few weeks.

In recent months, many top name execs have walked from or been pushed out of Microsoft.

The most high profile purge happened when Ballmer let go of MS vet Bob Muglia, who had been the company's server division president and worked at Microsoft for 23 years.

Over the past year, Microsoft has been ramping up its efforts to realign the software-making business as a cloud vendor.

Now, if the report is accurate, Ballmer is looking to continue that strategy by promoting managers with solid technical and engineering skills as well as marketing prowess: in other words, backroom geeks who also know how to successfully shift products.

Ballmer's mantra has long been "developers, developers, developers", but he now appears to be acknowledging the importance of the company's software engine room, too. ®