Microsoft on Thursday said it will acquire Groove Networks and make Groove’s founder, Ray Ozzie, chief technology officer at the software giant.

Microsoft said it will incorporate Groove’s “virtual office” collaboration software into its Office line of desktop productivity applications. Ozzie, the inventor of Lotus Notes and a collaboration guru, will report to Bill Gates, Microsoft’s chairman and chief software architect.

Microsoft said that the Groove group will become part of its Information Worker division.

Ozzie is the founder of Lotus Notes, so this is a rather interesting move for him.