Mark my words – this week will be remembered as the moment of change for Microsoft. And 42 is again the answer.
Throughout the last five weeks, Microsoft have been on a wave of great announcements with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, Windows Phone 7 and the launch of new initiatives. But Microsoft also suffered a loss when president of Microsoft Business Division – Stephen Elop moved to Nokia.
Coincidence or planned? Is Microsoft rattling the crate to stir up new roles and transition the company management?
All though the weeks have been exciting, this week of 42 2010 have been a tipping point for Microsoft. The week started as Ray Ozzie, CTO for Microsoft, announced his retirement from the company he made a change for. Microsoft lost a great asset i Ray, and the solutions invented under his management will set the stage for Microsoft the next 10 year. Starting low – Microsoft made its comeback with the announcement of Office 365. Finally a clear indication of “all in”. And what a statement. I believe it is the right model, I believe it is the only model for Microsoft. Unfortunately I do not believe in the execution of the model, as too many partners of Microsoft are trying to cope, and find their balance in the act. It is hard times with margins targeting zero – and customers declining professional services.
The IT market is undergoing a dramatic change and, this week have marked the transformation of Microsoft. Personally I do believe that the change in management is planned. I do believe that Microsoft is seeking new innovative and smart people to continue the path of cloud computing. For the thousands of partners this means new faces, new models and new business development.
But it also mean hard time for cash and collect, and I do believe that partners should recap their business model, and start changing. I follow many independent software vendors every day – and yet these companies have the best opportunity and model to fit for cloud computing, they still act as yesterday.
Ray Ozzie, Stephen Elop and Office 365 are marks of change. Consider your change today!
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