Microsoft has promoted Bob Muglia, the head of the company's server and tools division, to president, making him one of a handful of senior executives who carry this title.

Muglia's promotion to president of the Server and Tools Business (STB) group was confirmed by Microsoft on Monday. Previously, Muglia was a senior vice president.

The promotion makes Muglia, who joined Microsoft in 1988, the fourth president at the company. The other presidents are Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division; Jean-Phillipe Courtois, president of Microsoft International; and Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division.

"As senior vice president of STB, Bob has established Microsoft as the industry leader in providing great server products to companies of all sizes and in delivering the tools that enable developers and IT pros to build optimized solutions for their customers and companies. In the process, he has helped build a remarkably successful business that has grown from virtually nothing a decade ago to more than US$13 billion in FY08," wrote Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, in an e-mail to company employees, referring to the company's 2008 fiscal year.

Muglia's functional role remains unchanged, Microsoft said.

Microsoft's Server and Tools Business group, which competes against Oracle and IBM, among many others, is an increasingly important part of the company's overall business. The division's products include Windows Server 2008 and the SQL Server 2008 database.

During the company's first fiscal quarter, which ended on Sept. 30, 2008, the server and tools division accounted for 22 percent of the company's $15 billion in revenue, making it the third-largest source of revenue behind client software and business software.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.