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Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

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Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#101

Post by rbanffy »

r00fus wrote: post #91
rbanffy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are, but that's also the market where their lock-in has least effect.

That sounds like an opportunity to me. Get real cloud-based software solutions that compete with Google SaaS officeware, but tie it into desktop office in a way that synergizes without forcing people to subscribe or upgrade. Apple is good at the monetization angle of this. There's no reason Microsoft couldn't do the same (except with software, not hardware). Example: 90% of the time I'm on a webex/gotomeeting, I'm lo…

> Why can't Microsoft make that kind of sharing easier?

Remember you are not their client. Your CTO/CIO/CEO are. It's not you they need to make happy and they won't even try.

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#102

Post by runarb »

me_again wrote: post #55
dm8 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think BillG would have allowed hiring someone with an MBA and no background in software/technology. He is still the majority shareholder (from what I've read) and sits on the board.

You might want to read a bit more. Gates owns approximately 4% of Microsoft stock. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=MSFT+Major+Holders

True, but that still makes him the second largest shareholder. Looks to me that only The Vanguard Group holds more.

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#103

Post by 7952 »

rbanffy wrote: post #46
mastermojo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure Microsoft is a pretty big player in Enterprise SaaS already.

They are, but that's also the market where their lock-in has least effect.

Microsoft have a lot of lock in with security that makes cloud deployment harder. You may be able to easily edit a document in the cloud; but can you authenticate access to it using Active Directory? If an employee leaves can I remove access to all the SaaS apps they use instantly? Large players like Google can make solutions to these kind of problems, but how many start-up SaaS companies can afford to integrate with something like AD? Microsoft does still act as a gatekeeper.

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#104

Post by arethuza »

7952 wrote: post #103
rbanffy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are, but that's also the market where their lock-in has least effect.

Microsoft have a lot of lock in with security that makes cloud deployment harder. You may be able to easily edit a document in the cloud; but can you authenticate access to it using Active Directory? If an employee leaves can I remove access to all the SaaS apps they use instantly? Large players like Google can make solutions to these kind of problems, but how many start-up SaaS companies can afford to integrate with…

Integrating with AD for authentication of users to an external service in the cloud isn't that difficult - I've seen a number of approaches work although I must admit I've never actually seen the "official" approach of Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) in action:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Directory_Federation_Ser...

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#105

Post by adestefan »

alienfluid wrote: post #60
dm8 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Satya has an MBA too. I was just commenting on my previous comment. I guess author meant that someone just with MBA as a qualification and no relevant tech background would have been bad deal since MBAs get hired in leadership role even if they may or may not possess relevant domain knowledge.

That's fair. I was just wondering why the MBA was specifically mentioned in the comments.

I think it was just shorthand for someone that is nothing more than a "business guy."

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#106

Post by eitally »

exelius wrote: post #59
jedmeyers wrote: post #6

My personal opinion is that for Microsoft this is a much better solution than to hire an external CEO with an MBA and no background in software/technology. If the news are true then I wish all the luck to Mr. Nadella.

I disagree. Technology people tend to focus on the shiny, which really isn't what Microsoft needs at this point. They're just too big and they play in too many fields where they end up competing with themselves in half of the markets they play in. After ten years of Ballmer, what Microsoft needs now is a professional manager to sort out the mess he left. They have no shortage of great technology people; what they nee…

In a lot of respects I agree with you. Microsoft needs someone who will fix their ridiculous enterprise agreement / contract / sales process and win back the hearts and minds of CIOs around the world. In my personal opinion, this has to be job #1... at least for the Finance+Sales organization.

They also need credibility with consumers and techies on their R&D and hardware/platforms side. Not that they don't have decent stuff now, but they have approached it like a large enterprise rather than as a hip tech company and it's really unsexy for people to proclaim their love of Azure vs [insert ANY other PAAS/IAAS here]. Just as an example.... Windows Phone and the whole Windows OS strategy is something else they should publicize better. At this point, hardly anyone is building Metro mobile apps because it's really unclear WTF Microsoft is doing beyond Windows 8.1, and what will happen to Nokia or their very few other hardware partners if sales don't take off. The Surface Pro is a really nice tab and fits well into a lot of IT strategies, given it hits both the "I want a sexy tablet!" and the "I need my freaking Excel and my goddamn PowerPoint animations!" sweet spots. MS has a ton of potential and loads of talent. They just need to motivate it toward the right objectives, and I think choosing a new CEO from within will help them get there way faster than hiring an outsider, especially one from a non-tech company.

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#107

Post by Maarten88 »

shanselman wrote: post #87
gesman wrote: post #71

Nadella is a perfect fit for MSFT CEO. MSFT's power and potential is in everything enterprise and Nadella understands this (or rather passionate about this) universe from top to bottom better than any other candidate.

Totally. He's wicked smart, very nice, and both a techie and a business guy. Note: He's my boss, 4 bosses up.

Scott,

Good to see you comment positively on this.

Does he share your views on openness? Does he listen to the opinions of forward-thinking Microsoft devs?

Do you think he'd read Hacker News?

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#108

Post by ScottWhigham »

onezeno wrote: post #93
alienfluid wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a strong correlation between being active on Twitter and being a successful CEO?

I think the point was "keeping up with the latest trends".

I agree. But, that said, I don't know that "people who are active on Twitter" and "people who are up on the latest trends" are always connected (which is what was implied).

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#109

Post by jzwinck »

kyberias wrote: post #97
jzwinck wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lync doesn't even have an option to pop up notifications when new chats come in. How well do you think that works on a workstation with four screens and no sound?

Care to elaborate? When I get new messages in a IM window on Lync, and the window is not active, the icon on the taskbar is being blinked.

Right. So imagine if you have two or more monitors, and the one with the taskbar is two or three feet away from where your focus is. The little blinking square is hardly noticeable then, especially if you rarely use the taskbar (and how would you if you have four screens, it will give you RSI just mousing over there every time).

There is one semi-cheesy third-party app which adds more obvious notification, but as it stands, email arriving in Outlook is way easier to see than IMs in Lync, even though Outlook knows all about your Lync conversations, including when you are missing one (i.e. it quietly puts the chats you are missing into your Missed Conversations, even while it is notifying you with a big popup about incoming emails). In 1999 AOL IM would just pop up the chat window on your screen where you could see it.

Re: Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO

#110

Post by cwp »

gtirloni wrote: post #98
lmg643 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally disagree on the "professional manager" - that's what ballmer was. and this is coming from someone who thinks ballmer is unfairly criticized. (eg - what google and apple unleashed on the world in the past 10 years was a major historical shift - coming from product/technical people at their core. arguably, this shift was one that only a newbie or outsider could pull off. 20/20 hindsight to say "microsoft coul…

I always thought the amount FB/GOOG spend on servers is a tiny fraction, when compared to the sum of what all the other companies in the world spend. Do you have a source where I can verify this claim that Dell/HP are having a hard with their server divisions because FB/GOOG isn't buying from them? This is a honest question as I often am not aware of the whole picture (and have a hard time picking the right sources f…

The GP isn't arguing that Dell/HP are hurting because they lost their biggest customers. It argues that they're at risk of losing many customers in the future, because enterprise IT departments will emulate Facebook and Google.
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