Fortune/CNN: Is Microsoft the Next GM?

In a recent contributed blog post on CNNMoney.com, Jay R. Galbraith, president and founder, Galbraith Management Consultants asks, "Will Microsoft become the General Motors of software?"

Whether you are a fan of Microsoft products or a detractor, this is an interesting read.

Industry Update: Microsoft's Sidekick/Danger Failure was NOT a Cloud Failure

Over the weekend, Microsoft and T-Mobile acknowledged that the server failure earlier in the week would likely result in the total loss of user data.

While some in the "tech media and blog-o-sphere" tout this as a failure of the cloud computing model, the reality is somewhat different.

Read my post at Internet Evolution and learn more why not all hosted services are cloud-based and why it is important to know the difference.

-- Allen

As Microsoft Competes with Google, Old Habits Die Hard

A recent blog entry at CIO.com points out a disturbing practice: Microsoft is tainting Bing's search results with pro-Microsoft results. If Microsoft is rigging search results, what traps will they place in other online products?

Microsoft Readies Office in the Cloud

In a move that indicates Microsoft is looking to battle Google Apps in the cloud, Microsoft is now the owner of the Office.com domain (click here).

But, if Microsoft is going to going to compete, they will need to move away from the perpetual license business model. Some cannibalization of software sales will be inevitable as customers move to the cloud. Currently, however, Microsoft acknowledges that even the paid web version of Office 2010 will require a locally installed copy of all features to be operational.

In comparison, Google Apps stands-alone but has the ability to integrate with locally installed MS Office and Open Office software. So long as the local-copy is optional, Google Apps will have the advantage.

Google Apps vs. Exchange -- Part 1

Over the past several weeks, the Horizon team has received more questions about the comparison between MS Exchange and Google Apps as a communication and collaboration platform.

Here is a presentation that compares MS Exchange and Google Apps in terms of investment, management, and administration.

There are also many user features in Google Apps that our former Exchange/Outlook users really love. I will share some of these in upcoming posts.

Objective View of Google vs. Microsoft

Twinstrata, the company that sells Clarity AP (assessment and planning) software, conducted a comprehensive study of the costs and risks of Google Apps versus Microsoft Exchange. In his Storage Bits blog, Robin Harris provides a good summary of the results.

Robin's summary explains the stark cost difference -- 20x on capital equipment and 5x to 6x on a 3 year total cost of ownership (TCO). Some of the details warrant clarification.

First, the study narrowed the gap based on the risk of unplanned downtime. MS Exchange, however, requires downtime on a monthly basis (or expensive redundancy configurations), for system and operating system patches and updates. Planned downtime adds to the cost and should be counted when comparing availability given that Google is engineered for zero-downtime.

Second, Google is developing a robust and diverse channel to provide the implementation, migration, integration, and support services identified is lacking in the study. While purchasing through a reseller increases the cost over the direct Google pricing, the value of the services improves the quality, and therefore lowers the cost, of using Google.

While these considerations may change the equation slightly, the business case for Google Apps is valid for many small and mid-size businesses.

Microsoft Moving Towards a Real Office Cloud? Maybe.

As reported in IT World, Microsoft announced that its next generation MS Office suite (Office 14) will include Office Web Applications, a suite including lightweight versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

Signaling a potentially major shift in Microsoft's view of SaaS, the service will run in Firefox and Safari, as well as Internet Explorer, giving Microsoft office a means to run on Linux servers.

From the article and the announcement, it is still unclear if:

• Windows users will be able to run Office Web Applications in Firefox, or only IE
• If the service will require locally installed software
• If the service will require use of Office Live Workspace

While reports have the new service available in Beta later this year, the service will not launch until the release of Office 14 (which has not been announced).

Microsoft is clearly responding to threats from Google Apps, Zoho, and OpenOffice. Will Microsoft be able to shed many of its current licensing, pricing, and channel policies to effectively compete in an aggressive marketplace?

First Microsoft SMB Insight Report Highlights Virtualization and SaaS

In the first edition of an anticipated annual survey and report, the 2009 Microsoft SMB Insight Report confirms key trends in virtualization and Software as a Service. Key findings from the survey of more than 600 companies and Small Business Specialists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Brazil identified the following technologies more likely to drive SMB growth and profitability in 2009.

• 50% of the surveyed Small Business Specialists identified virtualization or IT consolidation through a small or mid-size server as the technology most likely to reduce operating costs
  
• The Small Business Specialists expect a 20% increase this year in the use of Software as a Service
  
• More than 35% percent of the Small Business Specialists considered
  customer relationship management (CRM) the best investment
  for maximizing business growth in a down economy
  
• Nearly 40% expect an increased interest in business intelligence and identified it as a critical tool for helping improve a customer's experience and increase loyalty
  
• Over 50% expect an increase in the number of SMB remote workers, and nearly 60% expect that the shift to more remote workers also will lead to bigger roles and more responsibilities for those individuals working remotely.

While "Small Business Specialists" are resources from within the Microsoft community, the report confirms broader trends towards more efficient computing solutions.

Cloud Computing to Grow by 21% This Year

As reported on PCMAG.COM, Gartner is projecting a 21% world-wide growth in Cloud Computing. The report identifies the success of Google in creating a new business and delivery model which Microsoft, Yahoo, and others are now starting to emulate.

Steve Ballmer Diagram's Microsoft's View of Cloud Computing

In an interview for a recent article in the New York Times, Steve Ballmer (Microsoft's CEO), drew a diagram of Cloud Computing.

Look at the diagram for yourself and let me now if you think that Microsoft "gets it".

All MS Systems Vulnerable to Year-Old Security Hole

Once again, Windows systems (every supported version) is vulnerable to a significant security attack. As reported in ZDNet, Microsoft was alerted to the issue a year ago and has failed to provide a patch.

Time again for IT staff to spend time and energy working around a security problem instead of on projects that help businesses thrive and grow.

Now that I think of it, maybe the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) will petition the FTC to stop Microsoft from selling systems with security holes. Given Microsoft's track record, it sounds like a better case than EPIC's complaint against Google.

Microsoft to VARs: Never Mind

In a major shift, Microsoft has changed its mind and backtracked from its decision to allow VARs to bill directly for SaaS solutions. Here is the story.

Microsoft Changes Controversial SaaS Billing Policies

After a generation of confusing and frustrating licensing policies, Microsoft may actually be listening to its channel partners. Reported by ChannelWeb, Microsoft will let channel partners bill customers for SaaS services.

Microsoft Gives Hosting Firms Toolkit and Ability to Build More Infrastructure

As reported in Web Host Industry Review, Microsoft has released a Data Center Toolkit designed to help web hosting firms host and manage other services on the MS Platform.

In doing so, Microsoft is asking web hosting firms to further expand their capital infrastructure. Why not provide web hosting firm with access to a cloud on which they can provision and offer services?

Maybe Microsoft Does See Google as a Threat in the Cloud

While Steve Ballmer failed to mention Google Apps as a threat to Microsoft's email and collaboration products and services during a recent strategy meeting, the corporate VP of Microsoft Online Services sounds like he is fighting a street brawl.

Phil Wainewright provides the blow-by-blow in is blog, Microsoft pumps cloud, trumps Google with GSK.

What are your thoughts?

10 Things Steve Ballmer (and Microsoft) is Thinking About

As reported by ChannelWeb, Steve Ballmer touched on many issues at Microsoft's Strategic Update Meeting in New York last week. Here is my take after reading the quotes:

1. SEARCH: Microsoft is not making money from Search and may be slowing its rate of investment
2. Microsoft is threatened by netbooks and is considering how to adjust its Windows 7 strategy to avoid loosing market share to Linux and other OS's
3. Google, with Android, and Linux threaten Microsoft's client operating system dominance
4. Microsoft denies they are creating a smartphone, but have they really accepted the "market mojo" of the iPhone and Blackberry?
5. Microsoft knows they need a lower cost server operating system -- watch for Foundation Server
6. Microsoft still sees pirated versions of Windows as the biggest threat to their OS business
7. Microsoft IE is losing market share: Ballmer admitted that "Browsers are key features of operating systems", in contrast to their answer to anti-trust concerns that IE is not part of the OS
8. Microsoft wants to R&D itself through the current economic times
9. Microsoft has not figured out how to make money with Office Live, yet; Windows Azure (server in the cloud) may be ready by November 2009
10. OpenOffice is a growing threat, starting with the educational market

In all of his comments, Ballmer seems to be missing the gap between the features Microsoft deliver and the subset of those features most customers actually use. If the threats he acknowledges offer simpler feature sets, but meet most customers' needs, Microsoft could be in big trouble.