Just who is Microsoft's Satya Nadella?

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft's search for the heir to CEO Steve Ballmer, a process that dragged for months and touched off the biggest parlor games in tech of Name That CEO, has finally come to and end with an insider selection.

But who is incoming-Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella?

Microsoft's veteran executive — he's been with the software giant for more than two decades — had been running its enterprise and cloud businesses.

Nadella successfully ran the server and tools business until 2013, for which he's gained both internal and external credibility, and before that ran its search engine Bing. Analysts says his technical background bodes well inside Microsoft as someone popular for strong technical chops as a leader.

NEWS: Microsoft names Satya Nadella as its next CEO

"He's well-respected and thought of as a strong leader -- i don't know if he's thought of as visionary," says reDesign analyst Rocky Agrawal, a former Microsoft employee.

Dan Ives, tech industry analyst at FBR Capital Markets, says shareholders who preferred fresh blood will be disappointed."The main issue around Microsoft is its need for innovation and a set of fresh new strategies to drive the next leg of growth," says Ives.

That part in Nadella remains both unclear and untested.

Still, a big area of importance for which he's gained a lot of cred inside the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is his part in Microsoft's move into the cloud.

"He's recognized for the transition to the cloud," says IDC analyst Al Hilwa. "He's been spearheading this transition to the cloud, which is one of the things that's going right for the company. They have been going toe-to-toe with Amazon on features and price -- he gets a lot of respect for that."

Indeed, it seems quite likely inside Microsoft that Nadella contenders could be few. Nadella should get the respect and intellectual buy-in from longtime employees on day one, says Wes Miller, analyst at independent research firm Directions on Mi! crosoft.

"The time frame required for an external hire to come on-line and really be effective is incredibly lengthy," Miller says. "Microsoft needs leadership that can hit the ground running, rather than hiring someone who has to make brute force guesses to appease the critics outside of Microsoft."

But can he redirect Microsoft to a good position in mobile to gain favor among consumers?

"He gets credit for being transformative in his thinking. He has injected much-needed agility into the company," says Hilwa.

Contributing: Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz