Microsoft is a marketing machine. In fact, it is so powerful it thinks it can make do with fewer cylinders. This 12-cylinder beast won't exactly turn into a four-cylinder Pinto. Instead, a small number of jobs will be jettisoned as the company tries to simplify its organization.
You might be tempted to think that all this talk about simplification is just PR double-talk (and maybe it is). But a company as large as Microsoft surely has more useless layers than a Kim Kardashian wedding cake. My guess? Microsoft marketing won't skip a beat.
So far it doesn't seem that more than the 200 or so employees rumored to be let go are involved.
My high hopes aside, it is still sad in the economy to see anyone lose a job. Thank goodness it still has around 90,000 workers to pitch in.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/08/20122 comments
I still use a BlackBerry for two reasons: When I got my first (of three) it was enterprise-ready out of the box -- and I really needed to access my company's Exchange servers. Also, Verizon didn't have anything else when I first signed up years ago. I'm on the BlackBerry bandwagon until April 16 when my Verizon contract expires.
After that I'll likely move to an iPhone, which now has little problem syncing with Exchange.
To maintain whatever enterprise edge it has, RIM (which makes the BlackBerry) will integrate its phones with Office 365. This all sounds pretty cool. Just like the integration with on-premise Exchange, BlackBerry devices can sync with Exchange mail, calendar and contacts.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/08/20124 comments
Windows 8 isn't just great for PC clients, tablets and servers -- there's also a SmartPhone version on the line. Of course what would an unreleased product be without a code name? Instead of just calling it Windows Phone 8, Microsoft refers to it as "Apollo."
While Apollo may have been the Greek God of the sun, the name is not all positive. Do you really want to name your next product in a market where you are already losing after a doomed spacecraft? How about Titanic or Mount Vesuvius instead?
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/06/20126 comments
All the major OEMs, from HP and IBM to Oracle (by virtue of Sun) and Dell, have cloud stories to tell. Some of these tales involve public cloud services. These OEMs sell hardware to fill massive server farms, and often sell services themselves.
There is also money to be made in private clouds where internal servers are highly virtualized and managed -- and turns into services where capacity shrinks and grows based on demand.
Last time I took a close look at Dell's virtualization strategy the company was closely aligned with VMware. While it still has a VMware bent, Dell is also supporting Hyper-V, and its new line of private cloud-ready servers can go either way.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/06/20120 comments
Here's the funny thing about Windows XP: Just like Rambo, it seems to be a thing that just can't die. Microsoft tried to replace it with Vista, but it was Vista that pushed up the daisies. Windows 7 was a darn good try -- but even with that XP's heart didn't skip a beat.
In fact, XP share actually grew last month, albeit a paltry 0.67 percent. XP still has nearly half the OS market. Meanwhile MacOS totals a bit more than 5 percent. I'm not sure if Net Applications, which did the research, even bothered to look at Linux.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/06/201218 comments
Readers share their opinions on two entirely different aspects of the app world:
I have a love/hate relationship with the app store concept. I love that my app can be found and that I can find other apps. But I hate that I have to give the store owner 30 percent for hosting my app. I bet even high-end marketing firms don't take 30 percent of a product's sales for a fee. Heck, even the government doesn't tax sales at 30 percent. But since it seems that our only choices in the future will be to use the app store or develop for some other platform I am hoping for in-app sales or subscriptions that would not be subject to the app store tax.
I like the idea of a declining percentage but think Microsoft should have taken it further with high volume apps (like Angry Birds) eventually getting to the point where Microsoft's cut equals their bandwidth bill for distribution since having those popular apps on the store will drive other purchases and becomes advertising for the app store.
-Scott
I'll just say that after using both Google Apps and Office 365 extensively I have pretty much abandoned both of them in favor of desktop apps and Sugar Sync to ensure my files are accessible at all times. Our university has a big pipe to the Internet and at various times the slowdowns for getting work done is just too much for me (I admit to being a bit obsessive -- some people at work and home openly call me Monk). And while I know that privacy is largely an illusion I still try to keep what I can on premises and share only when there is a very clear advantage, and I don't see the advantage of either of these services yet.
-Mark
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/06/20121 comments
NIST, otherwise known at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, thinks it knows a thing or two about building or buying a proper cloud.
The most impressive clouds are dark, with sharp shards of lightening, wind, rain and danger. That's perfect for watching, but dangerous for running your business. Here you want a safe, puffy cloud --one that won't hurt a soul but will feed and crops and keep those lawns fresh and green.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/03/20120 comments
PST (personal storage table) files are either a godsend or a curse. On the positive side, messages can be saved on end-users PCs without clogging corporate servers. This gives end users more control and they don't have to be backed up umpteen times (or if you buy into EMC's approach, umpteen times two).
There are two downsides. Locally stored files don't meet today's compliance standards and it can be a real bear dealing with .PST files.
As au aside, I once got a ZIP .PST file from an IT author. I didn't know off the bat how to use it and asked him for advice. This guy, who trust me is a big time expert, knew how to create a .PST but not how to use it.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/03/20121 comments
Readers share their thoughts on moving over to Windows 8 on release:
I am not sure that moving to Windows 8 will ever be a priority for me. I do not view every new version of an OS as a must-have since the operating system is just an interface to the hardware for applications. Since I do not buy most of sales hype (if you need marketing guys to sell me something, I probably don't need it anyway) there is not good reason to jump to another OS just for the fun of doing it. I am guessing we will go to Win 8 when the next version is in beta.
-Anonymous
My focus with a new OS or application is how it impacts the enterprise business. Because of this I tend to hold off on downloading betas until they are close to RTM -- so I haven't taken a look at Windows 8 yet.
Our IT visionaries have decided that we will adopt future operating systems within nine months of their release. We're still stumbling around trying to migrate to Windows 7 and can't even determine what apps need to be sent offshore to a Microsoft packaging/sequencing factory in India (we've contracted with MS to help us do the migration). It's embarrassing.
Anyway, if we stick to the new vision we'll be rolling into Windows 8 right after we finish Windows 7 (assuming we can actually finish Windows 7).
-JC
I am an early adopter so I will go to Windows 8 sooner rather than later. My employer is a 'major mid-western university' and it is pretty aggressive. But I would not expect my employer to roll out Windows 8 before Summer 2013. Or maybe as late as Summer 2014.
-Marc
Tried the developer's preview and the IE 10 trial. As the help person for a small school district, trying to keep teachers up to date with interface and system changes from XP to Vista to win 7 has been enough headaches. The changes for Win 8 even confused me when I tried to do the simple maintenance activities that I do routinely. Some I never did figure out in either of the interfaces. Using the control panels create a nightmare. Will try to avoid Windows 8 and let the person hired after I retire in a couple of years deal with it. At home -- never!
-Anonymous
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/03/20123 comments
Looks like readers didn't like the news of Google's enhanced snooping policy. Here's some responses:
I agree that this is an invasion of privacy. While I am concerned with Google having this information, my main concern is more about how well will they be able to protect the information that they collect. Google should be held financially accountable for any Personally Identifiable Information that they allow to be compromised. I guess it's time for me to start using a different search engine.
-Mike
Well, one has to remember Google has never been free and does come at a price (your info). As Lifehacker stated "If You’re Not Paying for It; You’re the Product". It still creeps me out though and I feel I should have an option to opt out of some things. Maybe if Google offered an ad-free paid subscription for it's services, then maybe one could Opt Out.
-TJ
It's a violation of my privacy - always has been and always will be. Kind of like the tracking cookies you are using on this site.
-EOS
Total violation of privacy and, like JC, I'm more worried about the government or other third parties (legit or hacked) getting access to the data. Best to not put all your eggs in one basket. Use YouTube, Bing, Yahoo email and get a Blackberry phone. That way, nobody can put all of your info into one file.
-Anonymous
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Posted on 02/01/20123 comments
For some, success just comes naturally. Einstein was born a genius and Sophia Loren was born beautiful.
Apple has a similar type of luck or magic. It hasn't made a decent pass at the enterprise in years. And instead of feeling slighted, IT responded by buying up Apple gear. Sure, the Mac has fewer shares than it would if Apple would lower the price and license the OS. But the Mac is growing, nonetheless.
What is really booming, however, are iPhones and iPads. While Apple sits on its enterprise hands, app developers and IT have taken it upon themselves to make these both serious tools. According to Forrester, close to a third of IT shops formally support the iPad.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/01/20123 comments