The big distributor
blew away estimates with its fourth-quarter numbers, even though revenue slipped a bit. There's a not-unexpected warning, though, that Q1 is going to be tough.
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/05/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
In the Netherlands, there's a popular
soap opera called "Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden" -- don't try to pronounce it unless you're Dutch -- which translates directly to "Good Times, Bad Times." (You know I've had my share...yeah, we're singing it, too.)
Anyway, GTST, as it's commonly known, probably won't feature a three-episode arc about the RCP reader survey any time soon, but it could. (And if the producers are out there reading, your editor still remembers a little Dutch from his time in Rotterdam and would love a guest appearance.) Because unlike in 2007, when credit default swaps and mortgage-backed securities were still mostly wonky Wall Street terms, there's some trepidation in 2009. Imagine that.
First, though, the good times, or maybe the good news...or just the good stuff. For most readers, dealing with Microsoft and the Partner Program is still a positive experience. Oh, there are a few complaints here and there -- maybe more than there were two years ago, but we're all a bit grumpy right now -- but for the most part Microsoft's partner program remains one of the best in the industry. And it ought to be, given Microsoft's position in the technology game and the amount of money its channel funnels into Redmond.
The real story here is the slechte tijden, the bad times. You don't need us to tell you that they're here. In fact, you told us. Your customers are slowing or stopping IT spending. The outlook for 2009 is mostly negative, maybe even a shade bleak. But you're not backing down; overwhelmingly, you're increasing your offerings and expanding your services. And that's good news. More good news amid the bad times: 62 percent of you expect growth this year.
What's not so good is that not all that many of you are venturing into Software as a Service. It's our position at RCPU that SaaS will grow in importance in the next few years and will probably be helped by a shaky economy. We don't see it as a revolution -- we're not on the Salesforce.com payroll, after all -- but we do see it as an alternative that more and more companies of all sizes will be looking into and a model for which pretty much every partner should at least have a strategy.
Only 20 percent of you say that you're planning to expand or start reselling Microsoft's Software plus Services offerings in the next 12 months. Almost as many of you (19.4 percent) say you don't know what you're going to be doing with S+S this year. At least knowing what you're going to do with SaaS would be a good start and probably should be a priority in 2009 for at least 19.4 percent of you. After all, SaaS just might end up being one technology that can turn bad times into good times.
Next week, we clear out the RCPU mailbag. Until then, send us your thoughts on SaaS, the economy, the Partner Program or anything else that's on your mind to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/05/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Kurt Mackie delves into the future of cloud computing at Microsoft by examining an
interview with the company's Cloud Computing Futures project director.
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/04/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
There have probably been happier occasions for Stephen Elop, head of Microsoft's Business Division, than this week's state-of-the-company address in front of the undoubtedly nervous folks from Morgan Stanley and other likely ledge-dwelling financial types.
But Elop performed admirably, it seems, answering questions that were likely beyond his (no doubt considerable) pay grade. After all, Elop runs Microsoft's Business Division -- think Office, Dynamics and unified communications -- and while that's a pretty big chunk of Microsoft, it's not the whole company, and he's not really a financial executive. Still, the up-against-the-Wall Streeters wanted to know how Microsoft would cut costs and make money online in a -- say it with us, everybody -- down economy.
Elop had a lot to say about that, as Kurt Mackie details here. We could go in quite a few directions with this, but we're going to focus on one little bit about business intelligence that's right in Elop's wheelhouse. From Kurt's story:
"Another focus that Microsoft has reconsidered is business intelligence, where Microsoft has tried to 'democratize' the segment via SharePoint and Excel. Microsoft pulled back its Performance Point Server as a separate product and consolidated its features with SharePoint. That decision represents a retrenchment from Microsoft's vertical competition with companies such as Cognos and Business Objects, Elop explained."
We're sure Elop meant to say IBM and SAP, respective owners of Cognos and Business Objects. And so we see, at least in part, the fulfillment of our little prophecy that BI as we used to know it is pretty close to being dead. Well, it's not actually dead; in fact, in terms of functionality, it's very much alive. It's just not standing alone anymore.
Oh, sure, we know that there are still BI vendors out there that are large-ish (we see you, SAS) and smaller, and some of them are doing really cool things. But the big guns -- Hyperion, Cognos, BO -- are part of other companies' arsenals now, and the disappearance of PerformancePoint as a standalone product represents yet another step in the commoditization of BI. It's part of the stack now, folded into SharePoint or embedded in Dynamics ERP suites or into Oracle's or SAP's or IBM's bigger products.
We're not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, either, unless the swallowing nearly whole of BI by huge vendors leads to a slowdown in innovation in the category. Right now, we don't really know whether it has or not -- and, as we said, some independents are still out there doing cool stuff.
Cool stuff, though, might not be enough to save BI as a difference-maker technology. It's now becoming a standard part of a larger enterprise deployment, a commodity rather than a differentiator. Where once it was a potential competitive advantage -- almost a luxury at the prices some vendors charged -- partners should be aware that it's now something IT folks are likely to expect to have rather than invest in.
And that's OK, mostly, as in the long-run native integration is almost always preferable to gluing systems together. We're fairly sure that Stephen Elop would agree. In fact, he'd probably love to talk about it and get all those nervous investor types off his back. Who wouldn't right now?
What's your take on where BI is headed? Send it to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/04/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Looking for a category of technology that won't be going pear-shaped in the -- say it again, everybody -- down economy? Look to virtualization, which the analysts at Gartner say will be a
boom technology this year. This gives us a good excuse to post a nice hypervisor comparison from Keith Ward's blog on
VirtualizationReview.com, our sister site. Check it out
here.
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/04/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
The Phoenix HyperSpace Linux quick-boot shell will
now be friendly with Microsoft's Word and Excel file formats. We just love when everybody (sort of) gets along.
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/04/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Get it? Rolls out? It's a pun wrapped in a word play. Anyway, the question here isn't how good
Microsoft's car software is, but whether there will be an auto industry in the next few months to actually buy it.
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/03/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
If we were hosting a '70s variety show or possibly "Saturday Night Live," we'd be smiling, pointing and saying, "Once again, ladies and gentlemen, Scott Bekker!" And here he is with details of
changes to Citrix's partner program. Followed by a song, we hope.
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/03/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
OK, we're not going to lie to you. (We never do lie to you, actually, but in this case we're going to be ridiculously truthful.) Your editor just spent a decent chunk of Monday afternoon shoveling snow, uncovering cars and watching the neighbor clear the driveway with the second-greatest invention of all time, the snow blower. (The greatest invention is still air conditioning.)
So this might not be the most poignant, clever or analytical RCPU entry of all time. But it will be informative, starting with this week's news, lovingly crafted by RCP Editor in Chief Scott Bekker, that Microsoft is taking its online services worldwide.
Yes, these are the "Software plus Services" offerings that partners either freaked out about or loved at the Worldwide Partner Conference last summer. Now we'll get to hear complaining or praise in multiple languages from 19 mostly European countries, some of which are actually snowier than New England in the winter. We just hope that those who need them have snow blowers. The front steps were enough of a backache.
What's your take on Microsoft's S+S plan for partners? How long and dreary has this winter been for you? Comment, complain or gloat at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/03/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Microsoft is suing the Linux-loving GPS company, and since patents are involved in the suit, the open source community is
getting nervous. And probably for good reason.
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/03/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments