To most people outside MSFT, the titles are very confusing. Craig, I know you know this .. but for others reading the thread, maybe this will clarify.


The Group Manager is the big shot in charge of the team. Ricardo Wenger was in charge when I was there. YAG took over after that.

The Program Managers are the guys that write the specs. Randy Brown and Gene Goldhammer were both Program Managers. I know Randy also wrote a lot of code for FoxPro too. Program Managers report to the Group Manager and they have a lot of influence over what goes into the product.

The Product Managers are marketing guys. They report to the Group Manager. Ken and Robert Green were Product Managers. Most people in the community see the title of "Product Manager" and assume that these guys run the show because these guys are the ones making the public appearances .. but it ain't so. Nobody reports to them.

The developers all report to the Group Manager.

The testers have a Test Manager that they report to and the Test Manager reports to the Group Manager.