1. Steven Ballmer. As always, leadership has to go first. The issue that I'm most uncomfortable with is the fact that a geek isn't in charge of Microsoft anymore. And I find it so wrong for someone with a different specialty altogether (he holds an MBA) to be leading the affairs of a technology company. I'd argue that no amount of marketing, supply chain and operational ability can outdo technology leadership longterm. Microsoft is of course very lucrative still--revenues and profits are holding quite well year-on-year. The fundamental problem is they lack a person that defines Microsoft's vision and direction, both of which are core ingredients of companies that endure despite dramatic shifts in civilized progress.
Ray Ozzie, then chief software architect and handpicked by Bill himself, used to be that person. Well, until he left (which interestingly, continues without a replacement). The proof of Ray's thoughts were very much ingrained in two major memos addressed to Microsoft employees--The Internet Services Disruption and Dawn of a New Day. These two pieces of literature are, without a doubt, must-reads whoever and wherever you are in the IT profession. Okay, back to Steve. Not everyone likes him that's for sure: a good portion of the tech world has been calling for his ouster for the longest time. Why? Definitely not his legendary antics caught on camera (this one, that one and, yup, this too). The case is relatively more simple I'm afraid: If there was any company that should be ruling two categories in computing--the Internet/cloud and mobility/connected devices--it should be Microsoft. They don't; Google and Apple hold dominion on each, respectively.
The Microsoft leadership must not allow themselves to be distracted with current successes at the expense of the coming horizon. And that means putting all they have on getting the future to work with more courage in truly wanting to be more ingenious and inspirational than ever before. Either that or they lose everything. The awful truth: If Windows 8 does not sell, Microsoft is done.
2. Google. Being the most significant force in the Internet right now, Google controls most of the dreams Microsoft failed to realize despite many efforts. The Netscape debacle, buying Hotmail for cheap, the uncanny MSN, rebranding to Live/Passport, unleashing Bing and the later partnership with Yahoo!, are but a few of the adventures Microsoft endured in the hopes of getting a lion's share of the Internet. Obviously, they have failed that.
And now that the industry is deep in bed with cloud computing, Microsoft continues to be lagging, an aftermath that's almost shameful when you think about it. Ray Ozzie warned everyone about the gathering of clouds 7 years ago. Regrettably, Microsoft made no significant haste to steer towards this direction until it was too late. Again. It was as if Ray addressed the memo to Google employees instead. Google itself, however in different battlefields right now (search/advertising, productivity/collaboration, mobility, social/geo-social, apps/gaming market, and cloud/hosted services), continues to be as dynamic, innovative and unrelenting as they said they would be. They are pretty much proving to be the company that Microsoft has failed to become. Hmmm... The funny thing about that statement is that Microsoft is nowhere near Google's belief system, which says a lot about how Microsoft's core values are miles off from what top tech companies are expected to have become by now: fast, iterative and cool. Wait, is the last word really necessary? YES.
Google Apps, for example, is the paragon of cloud productivity that truly goes the distance. Microsoft Office 365 is fully intent in doing something similar, it's years behind Google's maturity model--continuous regular improvements, vast amount of third party applications, mobile augmentation/add-ons (i.e. Google Drive), strong SLA, etc. The difference between Google Apps and Office 365 is huge in a variety of areas and it really reflects on how Microsoft placed too much attention on client software--and the profits to be had on it--even though the cloud industry was growing up to be a more effective platform. I'd go as far to say that this illustration was heavily repeated in a good number of Microsoft products that have only been recently cloudified through a SaaS model. Google has eaten them alive on the web ever since. And I can say this because our clients (about 3,000 of them) use Google Apps. No one wants to look back!
Whew! let's end there for now. Stay tuned for part two and let's dive straight into the last item (Apple) and the Windows stratagem itself.
The very best of Steven Ballmer.
