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The position of former Microsoft Office chief Steven Sinofsky has been replaced. It's apparently going to take two people, though, to take over his old job. Kurt DelBene and Antoine Leblond were tapped as Sinofsky's replacements.

Delbene, who has been with Microsoft since 1992, will head Microsoft's Office Business Platform Group, which covers the SharePoint, Groove and Project efforts. Delbene was considered a frontrunner for the position, having shared the stage with Bill Gates at several recent Microsoft events. He also has a pretty impressive collection of diplomas, holding a Masters of Science from Stanford University, a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelors of Industrial Engineering from the University of Arizona.

Leblond's office walls will be somewhat less crowded, with only a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from McGill University in Montreal. He is going to be responsible for Microsoft Office client team and related services. In his time with the company, Leblond has worked on many client component parts of the Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook. This was over the course of a nearly 17-year run - Microsoft has employed Leblond since 1989.

The need for replacements came about when Sinofsky was transferred to the Windows team earlier this year. Microsoft has been experiencing a bit of organized chaos recently as the release dates of Office 2007 and Windows Vista approach. Both products have already been delayed, much to the dismay of some solution providers and hardware makers.

It's strange to see two people replacing one, but the new appointments should help ensure (or at least increase the odds) that Microsoft Office will be released on time. A smooth launch would be good news for just about everybody.

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Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.