Corporate IT | 15 Jul 2009 :
In his keynote address on the third day of Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference, chief operating officer, Kevin Turner laid out a plan of attack for almost all of Microsoft's competitors, from Oracle, to Google and Apple.
Turner laid out three key areas of focus for both the company and its partners in the coming year. The first of these was to adopt, evangelise and sell the latest versions of Microsoft's technologies.
This has been a consistent theme throughout the conference in key notes, as the company exhorts all concerned to adopt the latest and greatest. The almost indecent haste that is being encouraged, particularly around Windows 7, makes Vista seem more and more like a cul-de-sac that is best left unmentioned. While Ballmer and Turner acknowledge that Microsoft got things wrong with Vista, the emphasis now seems not to be on fixing it, but rather improving perceptions of it, but most importantly, pushing Windows 7 to get beyond it. Turner did mention that Vista SP2 would "solve almost all of the problems" but it seems that Microsoft at least has learned its lesson and the Windows 7 development and launch cycle seems to hold more in common with what was done on the Windows 2008 Server launch than was done when Vista came on the scene.
The second area of focus was to continue to earn the right to be a trusted advisor. This element of the strategy has stemmed from earlier efforts to help customers save money. The trust built up through this exercise that encouraged customers to turn to turn to Microsoft and its partners for advice on what to do in difficult times is crucial, according to Turner, and must be built upon if the other elements of the strategy are to succeed.
The third area of focus was to compete to win. This was to be based on lower prices, better services and offering customers choice to take whatever elements of Microsoft offerings suited them and their business. A major element of this was also to directly compete with other companies and providers in key areas.
Turner mentioned the likes of Oracle, Google, open source and Apple directly and outlined how products such as Dynamics CRM, Bing and Windows 7 could be leveraged to take the fight to competitors.
Perhaps the most interesting element of Turner's address picked up on a theme from Ballmer's presentation the day before, and that was what the company terms ‘return on innovation'. Turner said that the company would keep its spend "flat" on research and development. This sounds reasonable until he mentioned that it was in fact a staggering $9.5 billion that would be sent on R&D.
The emphasis on innovation in IT products, said Turner, echoing Ballmer, would underpin innovation in other key areas that would support a recovery from the economic "reset" currently being experienced.
The overall impression from the company that is likely to be taken up by the partner network, is one of revitalisation.
Despite the success of Windows Server 2008, which was received with general acclaim, the poor perceptions of Vista, in consumer and business circles, damaged the company. It damaged the company's reputation for being able to listen to customer needs, bring developments in on time and respond to problems when they arose. The successes and failures in these areas can be debated ad nauseum, but the fact remains that perceptions changed. Perceptions are often more difficult to change than products.
The success stemming from Windows Server 2008 and the buzz around the upcoming Windows 7, Office 2010, Windows Server 2008 R2and other releases, are coming on the back of major internal changes for the company that have ensured that the delays and troubles around Vista are not seen again. The enthusiasm, though mixed with a fair amount of pageantry at the WPC09 event, seems to be infectious for the partner network. And, as has been emphasised throughout this event, when the partners are happy, Microsoft is happy.