The big vendor, one of the last really big technology players still based here in New England, has bought SourceLabs...
but not all of it, and not some of the open source projects it has going.
Posted by Lee Pender on 01/07/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Is there a race to successfully file patents? Well, if there is,
Microsoft leads it.
Posted by Lee Pender on 01/07/2009 at 1:22 PM1 comments
Rarely do we dive into the intricacies, dramas and ongoing story lines of personnel moves at Microsoft. The org chart in Redmond tends to resemble an ant farm -- there's tons of activity, but trying to follow the activities of one particular participant in the chaos is nearly impossible. Or so it seems sometimes, anyway.
But this week, one of those executive stories popped up that was important enough to write about here because it could have an impact on a post-Steve Ballmer Microsoft universe. Bob Muglia, Redmond magazine's January cover subject and a longtime Microsoft executive, got a bump up to president of the company's insanely successful server and tools business.
The promotion, following on the heels -- well, sort of, if heels hang around for half-a-year or so -- of the departure of Kevin Johnson, who had a similar role at Microsoft, is the culmination of a comeback of sorts for Muglia. Ballmer actually demoted Muglia back in 2001, and the whole server and tools business actually went away, getting sucked into another department in 2007 before roaring back about six months later.
Muglia is now one of four presidents at Microsoft, and -- along with Stephen Elop, who runs the business division -- he's the guy whose decisions are most likely to affect Microsoft partners. The server and tools business division contains the heart of Microsoft's enterprise offerings, the stuff that has pretty consistently put money in the pockets of both Microsoft and its channel members over the last 15 years or so.
In that sense, partners are in good hands. Muglia's a Microsoft vet, to be sure, but he doesn't have his head in the sand when it comes to innovation. In fact (please tell us you see this coming...because here it comes), he's got his head in the cloud. Cloud computing, that is! (Thank you, we'll be here all week. Well, until tomorrow, actually.)
Anyway, Muglia's playing a critical role in the development of Azure, Microsoft's Software-as-a-Service platform and arguably the future of the company and the industry. (Check out Redmond's January 2009 -- how timely are we? -- story on Azure and a Q&A between Muglia and Redmond Editor Ed Scannell here.) So what we're talking about is a guy who knows Microsoft and knows the industry, and -- here comes the important part -- has a vision for where both should go. As far as we can tell, anyway.
In a broader sense, Muglia's promotion has to set him up as a favorite to succeed Ballmer when Ballmer does finally step down. Ray Ozzie hasn't shown much of an inclination to take over as CEO -- he's more of a tech guy -- so Muglia or maybe somebody like gung-ho COO Kevin Turner has the look of an heir to the throne at this point.
And that brings us to another thought, if you'll allow us to digress a tad (and when haven't you allowed that before?). This is a time of transition in our young industry. The founders of the companies that have made the industry what it is today -- except for maybe IBM and HP, which have been around forever -- are either stepping down or figuring out how they're going to step down. And it's hard to say what the world is going to be like without them.
There's no guarantee of success for any company in any industry no matter how dominant a position it holds at any given time -- right, auto makers and investment banks? -- and we'd do well to remember that Compaq, Wang and digital were once powerhouses on the technology scene. (Also, let's remember what happened to Apple when Steve Jobs thought he was finished there. We refer you once again to the cinematic masterpiece Pirates of Silicon Valley.)
That's why we're writing about Bob Muglia today, along with everybody else. Muglia could be, and probably already is, one of the guys who is going to shape not only Microsoft but also our whole industry -- and, on some peripheral level, our lives -- over the next decade or so. That makes him a big deal, and it makes his decisions important. Is he the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?
Well, he -- and his fellow Microsoft executives, as well as a lot of other folks in top posts around the tech world -- might very well be. Although we're guessing that Muglia would prefer to be known as the first Bob Muglia rather than the next Bill Gates. And he just might get that chance.
Send your take on Microsoft's executive moves and the future of industry leadership to [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.
Posted by Lee Pender on 01/07/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
So, over the long holidays, while many of us were woofing down fatty foods and sleeping late, a Windows 7 beta version
leaked onto the Internet. Already the critics are all over the spill...and, so far,
they like it.
Posted by Lee Pender on 01/06/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Remember the "Vista Capable" lawsuit that led to a series of hilarious e-mails being made public?
Sure you do. Well, according to one expert, that Vista Capable label was apparently a
nice little earner for Redmond.
Posted by Lee Pender on 01/06/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Normally this wouldn't rate as much of a headline, but it does this week with Steve Jobs' pronunciation that his recent weight loss is down to a
hormonal problem and that he's going to be just fine.
Posted by Lee Pender on 01/06/2009 at 1:22 PM1 comments
Happy New Year! Now, for the bad news: The economy is still, well, not great. And everybody's feeling the pinch, including the folks in Redmond.
Microsoft's going to have to tighten its belt, just like almost everybody else. The question at this point surrounds just how many notches are going to get cinched in Redmond. Rumors of big layoffs persist, but Microsoft says that that sort of thing won't be necessary. A few contractors here, some cost cutting there, and 2009 will be tough but manageable, the folks in Redmond insist.
Fair enough. We certainly don't want to see anybody lose his or her job -- even if Wall Street types think that a big layoff would be a good idea. Then again, who trusts Wall Street types anymore? Aren't they one of the reasons we're in this mess?
We here at RCPU would prefer to look at the potential silver lining in the cloud gathering over Redmond as the new year dawns. Cost cutting could lead to more focus at Microsoft -- and would that really be the worst thing, as long as most folks could keep their jobs? (We'll admit that we don't know how or whether it would be possible to cut costs and refocus operations at Microsoft without shedding jobs, but then we never did go back to school and get that MBA.)
Instead of trying to dominate every facet of the technology industry and a few others, maybe Microsoft could focus more resources on reworking its business models to adapt to changes in the software industry, specifically Software-as-a-Service and other, similar "Web 2.0" models of software licensing (even if some of those models might require some trial and error). Clearly, the wheels are in motion in that direction; the Azure platform, Dynamics CRM and a raft of other announcements are proof that Microsoft sees a changing tide on the horizon and is bracing to ride the coming waves.
But battleships like the USS Microsoft, while resilient, are also tough to steer, and this economic hiccup might be a great opportunity for Redmond to de-emphasize, say, its quixotic quest for search dominance or its obsession with competing with Apple's consumer gadgets. Hey, we understand that Microsoft needs to diversify, but the quicker and more coherently a SaaS plan comes together, the more effectively partners -- who hopefully will play a big part in it -- can take it to their customers.
And the more effectively Microsoft can continue to remake itself in a changing software industry. Again, we know that Microsoft's on board with new business models. It's just that now might be the time to jettison some of the peripheral stuff while there's an easy excuse for doing it.
What would you like to see Microsoft focus on in 2009? Let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 01/06/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
This is our last edition of the year, and with it I'd like to thank the people who make RCPU possible. That's right -- I'm dropping the royal "we" for today because this is personal. (That sounds sort of menacing, but it's about to get very sappy.)
First, to the readers, the e-mailers and the contributors to entries on the blog site, thank you for your attention and participation. I hope that at least you're entertained here and occasionally even informed. I love reading your comments and enjoy having e-mail discussions with you -- something I'm going to try to do more often in 2009. You are the lifeblood of RCPU, and I wouldn't have a newsletter (or possibly even a job) without you. So thanks for being part of our little community, and I hope to hear more from you in 2009. Â
To Mike Domingo, Becky Nagel, Gladys Rama and all our Web folks in SoCal, thanks for never complaining about having to read copy that can sometimes, um, ramble a bit, and thanks for doing such a great job of putting together a beautiful e-mail newsletter and a very snappy blog site. Y'all are the best, and I hope to get to see you again in person in 2009. (Let's do it in L.A., though -- preferably during the winter months.)
To Doug Barney, who helped me so much when I started writing this newsletter regularly almost three years ago, thanks for your continued guidance and support. To Scott Bekker -- who fills in so ably here, very often at the very last minute when I'm overwhelmed with other stuff -- and Anne Stuart, thanks for your continued suggestions and for catching some of the dumber things I write and correcting them for me. (Anne did just that for me yesterday, actually.) You've spared me a lot of blushes, as our English friends would say.
To Ed Scannell, my boss at Redmond since July, thanks for having the patience to let me continue to write a newsletter for the RCP wing of the empire. Oh, and to Scott Shultz, RCP art director and my office neighbor, thanks for making me laugh and getting me in the right frame of mind to at least try to be entertaining and clever here.
I really enjoy writing RCPU and connecting with the people who read it. I'm very proud of the work we've all done on it, and I'll do my best to keep my end up. Happy holidays to all and have a great new year. Don't forget to send your top-10 (or however many you want) lists for 2009 to [email protected]. I'll see you again next year.
Posted by Lee Pender on 12/18/2008 at 1:22 PM1 comments
Well, how is this going to work now? This is like "Laverne & Shirley" after Cindy Williams left, except worse -- there's not even a Laverne to carry Macworld Expo, which is
losing both Apple and Steve Jobs. It's sort of like Kentucky Fried Chicken without chicken or a wine bar without wine. Really, what's the point?
Posted by Lee Pender on 12/18/2008 at 1:22 PM2 comments
The CTP of the new SQL implementation is
due in January from PASS. (Seriously, we can't get enough of acronyms.)
Posted by Lee Pender on 12/17/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Sometimes we really do wonder why people pay so much for Office when there are free or cheaper alternatives out there. But then we remember that everybody has Office, and it can be something of a pain to exchange non-Office documents. Is that changing? With Microsoft seemingly willing to
open Office to other file formats, maybe.
Posted by Lee Pender on 12/17/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments