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Microsoft reorganizes

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Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#201

Post by ww520 »

cs702 wrote: post #88

I almost choked when I read Microsoft's new mission statement: "our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most." In other words, Ballmer wants the company to "focus" on being everything to everyone! Not a good sign for the business. -- PS. Compare Ballmer's long,…

All these discussion remind me how much time people wasted on mission statement.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#202

Post by Silhouette »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #138
cs702 wrote: post #88

I almost choked when I read Microsoft's new mission statement: "our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most." In other words, Ballmer wants the company to "focus" on being everything to everyone! Not a good sign for the business. -- PS. Compare Ballmer's long,…

> "our strategy will focus on creating ... bla bla bla. I parse this as follows: PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to make it; now the option is either to focus on - Windows Server and cloud services OR - copying Apple; go for closed gadgets/tracking devices with a processor Copying Apple is a bad choice, very crowded space here / everybody wants to make an IPhone. In the end t…

PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to make it

This is the part I don't understand about the new spin from MS. Sales cycles are obviously extending, but how many offices in the universe don't run on PCs? Surely Microsoft are still making a lot of money selling business software, and in several fields their software remains dominant. There is plenty they could do to improve that business software and/or to adapt it to different ways of working, driving more sales based on genuine added value, but they don't seem to have much interest in doing so. That seems bizarre to me.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#203

Post by marshray »

JOnAgain wrote: post #145
ethomson wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a division called "Cloud" being headed up by Executive VP Satya Nadella that encompasses Azure and the apps that build on top of it (Office 365, visualstudio.com...) That seems pretty first-class to me.

No, there's a division called "Cloud and Enterprise Engineering Group". This suggest that either it encompasses non-cloud offerings specific to enterprise or the cloud they're building is targeting specifically enterprise. Either way, they will not be focused on making Azure a product I wouldn't be interested in: 1 of 2 focuses or targeting someone I'm not. Furthermore, looks like they've split sales/marketing from e…

I too work in the newly-named "Cloud and Enterprise" group. Previously we were "Server and Tools Division" which also included Active Directory, Azure, and some other stuff as well.

The new name makes a lot more sense to me (and makes for a better acronym too).

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#204

Post by Silhouette »

bad_user wrote: post #199
ChuckMcM wrote: post #163

This is the change : "This means we will organize the company by function: Engineering (including supply chain and datacenters), Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and COO (including field, support, commercial operations and IT). Each discipline will help drive our overall strategy. Each discipline will also be charged with improving our core capabiliti…

> Perhaps the most profound was that Microsoft has basically said "Oh by the way, the PC is dead." and by that tacit admission they fulfill the prophecy of this being the 'post PC' era All this talk about the "Post PC" era is misguided, with people leaving out the elephant in the room. It's not PCs that are dead - PCs are fine, you can find one in most homes and most people interact with PCs daily. This isn't going t…

Software is becoming a cheap commodity, due to open-source, due to the freemium model on the web, due to piracy, due to the $0.99 or ads-enabled apps that are so popular lately.

Cheap software is becoming a cheap commodity.

It's relatively easy for any competent software developer to write a diary app with a pretty UI skin, or a basic text editor and formatting engine to drive a lightweight word processor, or a simple puzzle game. I could write a relatively good application in any of those categories in a weekend, and no doubt so could thousands of other people on HN today.

And importantly, that's just fine. There are very many people who will get some value from a fun puzzle game or a simple personal organiser, and who will pay a small amount in return, and so there are many software developers who make a decent income writing just that kind of software.

But what about the next level up? When I had to write a serious document for an organisation that normally used an on-line "office suite", I gave up and switched to more traditional software. It turns out that things like footnotes and cross-references and tables of contents and careful page layout matter if you're producing something that many people are going to spend a lot of time using, and at the time Google Docs could do exactly none of those things while Word could do them all easily. At the rate they were paying me, with the time saved by using the more powerful software, the cost of that software was probably recovered in days, if not hours.

The reality of modern web and mobile software is that a lot of it is cheap, and it should be cheap, because it adds only a little value and it isn't very hard to create it. The trouble is that some software does add a lot more value and is hard to create and shoudn't be cheap, but companies like Microsoft have inadequately defended their ground and so even software that could save a customer $1,000 a week gets comments like "$10? No way!" on app stores.

This isn't a "Post PC" era. This is the "Web Era".

Not until Google Docs does footnotes and cross-references and tables of contents and careful page layout, it isn't. Some people just got the wrong memo.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#205

Post by ChrisNorstrom »

Something must be wrong at Microsoft...

Either A) Windows 8 is not selling very well. B) Windows Surface is being ignored C) The Microsoft stores aren't doing too well either D) Windows phone is dying or E) all of the above.

Anyway they can start by adding a left and right padding to their footer.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#206

Post by samstave »

blankenship wrote: post #185
tallanvor wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? A strategy is not the same thing as a mission statement. Microsoft's mission statement is "to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential." http://www.microsoft.com/about/en/us/default.aspx

...by doing what, specifically?

Providing synergy.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#208

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Metrop0218 wrote: post #172
rpedroso wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To elaborate further, the point of this memo isn't to alert the shareholders of Microsoft's organizational changes, it's about easing this transition with a motivational message about innovation and what not. Even if the corporation's main aim is to benefit its shareholders, that unnecessary line is going to come across as alienating to employees, who probably care very little about how these changes will affect weal…

Ah yes, I see now. I definitely agree with you then. That line will most likely not sit well with employees that don't give a damn about the shareholders and would rather just create amazing products.

Most Microsoft employees are Microsoft shareholders, so we have an interest in higher stock prices also.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#210

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Silhouette wrote: post #202
MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "our strategy will focus on creating ... bla bla bla. I parse this as follows: PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to make it; now the option is either to focus on - Windows Server and cloud services OR - copying Apple; go for closed gadgets/tracking devices with a processor Copying Apple is a bad choice, very crowded space here / everybody wants to make an IPhone. In the end t…

PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to make it This is the part I don't understand about the new spin from MS. Sales cycles are obviously extending, but how many offices in the universe don't run on PCs? Surely Microsoft are still making a lot of money selling business software, and in several fields their software remains dominant. There is plenty they could do to improve that b…

It's not sufficient that the market still exists, but it is no longer growing much and is beginning to show signs of shrinkage. Ya, you can still make money there, but less and less overtime. Good to get on top of these things and find other cash pandas.
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