Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Is growing head

Is growing headcount by forty % truly the best method to catch Google? Probably the most interesting piece of details from Microsoft's Q1 FY 2007 earnings release,Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, in my mind, was the loss posted by the company's Online Services Business unit. While the MSN business has been in and out with the red over the past year, the main reason it fell from profitability in the most recent quarter was due to 40 % (no, that's not a typo!) headcount growth, coupled with data-center infrastructure costs. Todd Bishop over on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Microsoft blog, exposed the data buried in Microsoft's 10Q: "OSB operating income decreased for the three months ended September 30,Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, 2006, reflecting the decline in revenue,Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, increased headcount-related costs primarily as a result of continued investments in Windows Live,Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, adCenter, and other properties, and increased cost of revenue as a result with the build out of our information center infrastructure. Headcount-related costs increased 43%, reflecting both an increase in salaries and benefits for existing headcount and a 40% increase in headcount." OK. There are a lot of Windows Live services, with more coming online all the time. But Google's total employee headcount is 8,000 people. Microsoft, with 71,Microsoft Office Professional 2007,000 (and counting) employees total must have more than 8,000 in online services alone, at this point.(Update: My blogging colleague Donna Bogatin notes that Google's headcount is expanding, too, and is no longer a "mere" 8,000. Google's total headcount grew from 7,942 in June, to 9,738 in September, according to a recent story quoting Google CEO Eric Schmidt.)