Home Messages Index
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index

Re: [News] [Rival] Microsoft Forced to Evolve and 'Burn the Boats' (Legacy)

Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Ballmer: Caught between a software rock and a services hard place
> 
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is not one to make concessions. He has laughed 
>| about Linux's prospects. He has pooh-poohed the iPhone. He has called Google 
>| bloated.  
>|
>| [...]
>|
>| If you were Ballmer, what would you do, at this point, to make sure not to 
>| cannibalise your existing software business while moving to more of a 
>| services-focused one?  
> `----
> 
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=567

It's an interesting take, but note the term about cannibalisation.
This is the classic "innovator's dilemma" problem as noted by Christensen
in his book of the same name.  The fear is cannibalisation of existing
revenue streams, and completely fails to recognise that a new market is
forming which is quite independent of the old one.  Customers will move
between the two as they see fit, and certainly not on the timetable the
vendor would like them to.

If I were Ballmer, I'd be looking at what it would take to turn Microsoft
into a services and integration company, accepting that the days of
proprietary software dominance are over.

I'd look to find an external design house which could rework the
Xbox design to something more reliable, and I'd consider stopping the
dishonesty about Xbox failure rates, and Microsoft products in general.

But I'd also be cashing in as many shares as I could...

-- 
| Mark Kent   --   mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk          |
| Cola faq:  http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/   |
| Cola trolls:  http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/                        |
| My (new) blog:  http://www.thereisnomagic.org                        |

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index