The new offering is called LotusLive Notes, in cooperation with what must be some sort of law about using the word "Live" in hosted offerings...
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/07/2010 at 1:23 PM0 comments
Let's forget for a moment that Microsoft is very likely to embarrass itself with the Windows Phone 7 launch next week and try to focus on something positive. Steve Ballmer this week re-re-re-reiterated Microsoft's commitment to the cloud.
This time, he did it in Sweden, no doubt with pickled herring and outrageously priced alcohol for everybody. (What a beautiful city Stockholm is, though. So clean you could eat off the sidewalk, if you could stand to eat pickled herring.)
He also told a crowd in Germany (just in time for Oktoberfest, eh, Steve -- or does that still actually happen in late September?) that Microsoft is investing billions of dollars in data centers. On top of all that, Microsoft made its first official acquisition of 2010 this week, snapping up a company called AviCode whose products, in part, monitor cloud applications.
Although he clearly planned well in advance to say these things, Ballmer's timing in talking about the cloud is good, given Goldman Sachs's recent sage advice (eye roll here) about how Microsoft should be more involved in cloud technologies. There's no word on whether Ballmer used a one-finger or two-finger salute when referring to Goldman, as the custom is different in the U.S. and Europe. (OK, OK...so he didn't mention Goldman, as far as we've read, and he probably didn't "salute" at all. We kind of figure that he wanted to, though.)
All of this cloud stuff is good stuff, of course, although it remains to be seen how a large swatch of Microsoft partners will fit into Redmond's cloud strategy in a practical sense. In any case, we're much more comfortable with Ballmer talking enterprise technology than we will be when he takes the stage in New York next week.
Is Microsoft on the right path in the cloud? Why or why not? Send your thoughts to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/07/2010 at 1:23 PM2 comments
It's a terrible reaction, isn't it? We just can't help but have it, though. Every time Microsoft comes out with something aimed at tackling an Apple consumer blockbuster, we just cringe. The Zune still looms large in our consciousness here at RCPU.
And so we wait impatiently for Microsoft's slate computers, which Steve Ballmer says that we will see -- in some form or another; he didn't specify how -- by Christmas. We're impatient not because we want to run out and buy one but because we can't wait to start making fun of them.
Oh, come on. There's precedent here. The Zune. The Kin. Anything in the mobile space, for that matter. Outside of the Xbox, which still isn't a moneymaker in Redmond, Microsoft just isn't good at making "cool" technologies. Apple is -- witness the (apparently unprecedented) rapidity with which consumers have adopted the iPad.
So, we're pretty sure that Microsoft's Windows tablet -- or slate, or whatever -- will be embarrassingly lame and way behind the efforts of its competition, kind of the way Windows Phone 7 will be when it debuts next week. And we wonder again: Does Microsoft really need to do this? Is there anything wrong with being an enterprise-technology company first and foremost?
After all, iPad sales aren't really hurting PC sales at all. People don't just buy an iPad. They buy an iPad, a laptop, a smart phone, maybe even an iPod -- all sorts of things to use at the same time. Look around your house or your office. Have you consolidated all of your computing -- recreational and professional -- onto one machine?
We here at RCPU sure haven't. And next time we buy a smartphone or a music player (the notion of a tablet has no appeal to us), we likely won't buy a Windows device. But your editor's year-old netbook runs XP, and the next laptop that enters this house will almost assuredly be a Windows machine, as will the next PC that your editor's company doles out to him (if that ever happens again).
Microsoft, with some smart management, could thrive as an enterprise-focused company and leave the low-hanging consumer fruit to competitors. We've been banging this drum for a while now, and we're going to keep banging it -- particularly this holiday season, when Microsoft's tablet is sure to have the appeal of stale fruitcake.
Would you buy a Windows tablet? What would persuade you to purchase one? Sound off at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/06/2010 at 1:23 PM17 comments
If it seems as though this is happening, that's because it is. Microsoft is, to an ever greater extent, turning its back on the little guy in favor of huge systems integrators and other global partners. What's a smaller shop to do? And what will the consequences of Microsoft's actions be? Andrew Brust has some answers.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/06/2010 at 1:23 PM0 comments
 If you're a Microsoft partner, you need to read this. Now. Seriously, click on it before you do anything else. The title says it all
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/06/2010 at 1:23 PM0 comments
Budding MSPs, your gift from heaven is here. MSP Alliance has put together a network of angel investors to help you get your business interests off the ground and, um, into the cloud, we suppose.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/06/2010 at 1:23 PM0 comments
Interesting little piece here in Fast Company about how logos can serve almost as religious symbols to folks who aren't religious already. Do you figure anybody has the same loyalty to the Windows logo as adherents of the Church of Apple have to their fruity symbol? We're thinking probably not...
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/04/2010 at 1:23 PM1 comments
It's one of those head-slapping moments. Some guru from Goldman Sachs comes out and makes a bunch of suggestions about how Microsoft should run its business, and we at RCPU sit here and slap our heads saying, "Why didn't we think of that?" Except we did...and we weren't the only ones.
Goldman downgraded Microsoft's stock at some point over the weekend, and, in doing so, a Goldman analyst went off on a rant about what Microsoft needs to do to get itself out of the decade-long stock-price slump it's in. As Todd Bishop's always excellent blog reports, Goldman had three suggestions for Redmond. And we quote, from the Goldman report as quoted on Bishop's blog:
"(1) A materially increased dividend beyond the recent 23% increase, moving Microsoft into the top 20 dividend-paying companies in the S&P 500 in terms of dividend yield. We believe this would open the door to a larger investor base and keep the company more diligent from a spending perspective. (2) A coherent consumer strategy that could involve paring back investments and/or divesting more peripheral assets such as gaming. (3) Market leadership in Cloud. Microsoft has a strong portfolio of enterprise data center assets and could become a leader in Cloud deployments, but the competitive environment remains highly in flux, with Microsoft still not a clear 'winner,' in our view."
We'll toss out the first suggestion as being sensible enough but a little too insider-Wall Street for our purposes. It's the last two that have caused the self-inflicted red marks on our collective RCPU forehead. Basically, No. 2 is talking about Microsoft focusing on core products and either spinning off or paring down its flailing consumer businesses, including the money-losing entertainment division.
What a radical concept! We've only been banging on about that topic here in this newsletter for, oh, four years or so. If you've read RCPU at all over the years, you've noted our warnings to Microsoft that that the company should stop trying to be cool, stop trying to be everything to everybody and start honing in again on operating systems, servers and other long-time moneymakers as well as on cloud technologies (more on that in a minute).
To be fair, Microsoft has taken that tack to some extent—Windows 7 and SharePoint are good examples of enterprise technologies that are both useful and successful (or, at least, Windows 7 will be successful given time). But Redmond remains entrenched in trying to be an entertainment titan, a mobile developer and possibly still some sort of advertising agency. And all of that stuff is either a brain drag or a financial drag on the company -- or both. Microsoft should spin off, wind down or just ditch a lot of its consumer-focused efforts. But haven't we all known this for a while? And by "we," we mean most industry observers, not just RCPU? For heaven's sake, how long has Mini-Microsoft been around, anyway?
The mobile space, in particular, has been tricky for Microsoft -- as evidenced by the company's desperate Android patent lawsuit and its repeated failure to regain mobile momentum. Here again, Goldman states the obvious in observing Microsoft's place in that market. The Financial Post quotes Goldman's Sarah Friar thusly:
"'We believe that top-line momentum and hence investor sentiment on Microsoft's core Windows and Office franchises is unlikely to improve until the company gains a firmer [read: any] foothold in the growing migration to mobile devices – both smartphones and tablets,' said Ms. Friar. 'We don't see this happening this year, as Apple's iPad and iPhone plus Google's Android operating system are well established,' she said."
My goodness! What an eye-opener! We do wonder, actually, why Microsoft absolutely has to have its own mobile operating system. Is there no room for some partnership here with a more established developer? Don't Windows and, in particular, Office, still carry some weight in the marketplace?
It seems as though Microsoft would be better served to scrap plans to rely on Windows Phone 7, a mobile OS that will be obsolete the minute it comes out next week, as its candidate for entry back into the mobile market and instead maybe find a way to get other Microsoft technologies licensed onto somebody else's platform.
Sure, that's not the Microsoft way -- the company would have to (gasp!) actually cede ownership of a market. But Microsoft isn't a serious mobile competitor now, and its path toward becoming one seems quixotic at best. Maybe Microsoft has hacked away at mobile windmills for long enough.
Back to Goldman's revelations, though -- and they only get better. Dig suggestion No. 3. Here it is again: "(3) Market leadership in Cloud. Microsoft has a strong portfolio of enterprise data center assets and could become a leader in Cloud deployments, but the competitive environment remains highly in flux, with Microsoft still not a clear 'winner,' in our view."
What? Microsoft needs to be in the cloud? And nobody has claimed the cloud space yet? Geez, even Microsoft gets this one. Azure and the constant "all-in-for-the-cloud" messaging coming out of Redmond are a pretty good indication that Microsoft wants to position itself as a leader in the cloud and is making positive moves toward doing so. But, hey, Goldman, thanks for the heads up.
As expected, Goldman's rant has led to another nice wave of articles talking about how Microsoft is finished...and basically saying the same thing that Goldman said this week and that we've been saying for years. Again, it's not that we disagree with Ms. Friar or with Goldman Sachs. We actually agree, for the most part -- and maybe these words coming from Goldman will actually get somebody's attention in Redmond.
Please forgive us, though, if we say that we've heard all of this before -- because we've written it, over and over again, in this newsletter over the last few years. Then again, on second thought, Goldman might have some credibility here that we don't have.
After all, the firm is warning Microsoft about potential failures -- and nobody knows failure like Goldman Sachs, a company that likely wouldn't exist today had the U.S. government not covered it with a big TARP. So, keep preaching, Goldman. We'll be sitting behind you in the choir, which apparently either isn't singing loudly enough or is reaching the wrong members of the congregation.
What's your take on Goldman's suggestions for Microsoft? What should Microsoft do to get itself back on track? Send your thoughts to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/04/2010 at 1:23 PM5 comments
Last week, we mentioned that Microsoft's last Patch Tuesday wasn't as all-inclusive as it might have been regaring the Stuxnet worm. Well, late last week, we got an update from a Microsoft spokesperson who wanted to tell us that Microsoft hasn't just buried its head in the sand on Stuxnet. We quote:
"I just wanted to clarify that in total, the Stuxnet malware exploited four vulnerabilities. Microsoft has now issued security bulletins for two of those issues (the two most serious). For the Print Spooler vulnerability, addressed by MS10-061 this month, Microsoft collaborated with Kaspersky and Symantec to issue the security bulletin. For more information, please feel free to reference the MSRC blog post."
So, Microsoft did, at least, issue a couple of security bulletins in response to Stuxnet. They don't patch all the problems, but they're something. If you didn't know, you do now.
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/20/2010 at 1:23 PM0 comments
File this one under "E" for ewwww. Google back in July fired an engineer, which wouldn't normally be news except that he was evidently fired for spying on teens' Gmail and Google Voice accounts. We're talking minors here. Now, apparently, the fellow isn't accused of having done anything, you know, perverted or whatever. But still -- ewwww. Also, this isn't exactly an endorsement for cloud computing. It's just kind of creepy, really.
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/16/2010 at 1:23 PM2 comments