Microsoft is “leading with online” – should you?

This year, at Microsoft’s World-Wide Partner Conference in Washington (WPC), used any moment to tell its partners that they now are leading with online. But what does this mean? And why the sudden change towards online? Should you adopt the same strategy – and why should you?

First of all – Microsoft have done some big mistakes before. Focus on their Internet Explorer product, made them loose half a century to play catch-up with Netscape. Windows Phone is another great example on a loosing strategy for Microsoft. Half a decade lost here too. So is Microsoft misleading the ecosystem? I doubt not – I believe Microsoft already lost 2-3 years of great momentum – they just got better to spot their strategy mistakes. Reality is that Microsoft’s Hosting partners have been preaching the Software + Services business model for nearly 12 years now. Since Microsoft Exchange 2000 – and a bit before – Software + Services has been a part of Microsoft, but now – truly now – customers are in fact telling Microsoft they don’t want to:

• Update any application anymore. Dealing with updates and redeployments are often 40-60% of time spend in the internal IT departments, and over 40% of the external consultant fees.
• Stay up to date, with latest features and functions.
• Pay for what they consume, and use. Customers want to have an easy opt-in options, and a structured and predicted opt-out.
• Outsourced management of their infrastructure and applications, moving focus for the internal IT department to become internal business advisors in IT usage.

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Why Microsoft Has A Winning Strategy

Last week I spend a great deal of time on meetings with partners and customers at this years Microsoft World-Wide Partner Conference (the WPC). Cloud has settled as the true change shifter, I totally agree as I have lived this strategy since web services 0.1 – nearly a decade now. I must say that I am going to announce Microsoft as a future winner. My fellow readers know and understand my close relations to Microsoft, but I will let you in on my points, for announcing “Microsoft A Winning Strategy”.

1. The coming decade is about change, and new economic. Microsoft is “all in” (hate the term), but fueling and suppoting its 650.000 partners to understand the urgency and need to shift.
2. The coming decade is about “developers, developers and developers”. Actually is is about innovation and new ways of doing business, but developers are the key to this success.
3. The coming decade is about the right skills, the right people and the right strategy.
4. The coming decade is about strong relationsships – with your partners, but more importantly with your customers. We need to help them transition.

I will share this slide with you, as I believe it holds the elements of a future winning strategy. I will no more share my reasons for this slide – but sell the reasons to you. I believe we hold the keys and strategies to the future blockbusters of the software industry, and Microsoft is supporting the venture.

The slide of a winning strategy

I can wait for this decade to escalade.