Microsoft may love its partners. But that isn’t stopping the company from continuing to encroach on areas that have traditionally been its partners’ turf. Ballmer warned the company’s channel partners that Microsoft has its sights set on some markets that partners have had to themselves until now. Elsewhere, MS countered claims it gave preferential treatment to adware maker Claria.
I don’t find it too surprising that he’s one that always wants a bigger piece of the pie. ;-D
frst pst: Sorry my I/O is down.
Look at Apple – an OS/Hardware company expanding it’s markets into the non-pc gadget (iPod).
Microsoft are faced with the same challenge.
Revenues are going to be under pressure from several sides on the OS/Application market with competition from open source offerings, MacTel and the further growth of web based apps (check out http://www.basecamphq.com for a brief glimpse at the future here).
MS, like it or not, have a duty to their shareholders to keep the profit margins up and if that means opening new markets at the expense of partners, hard cheese. MS are not known for hand wringing when making tough economic decisions about their bottom line. Partners know this, and I imagine some will work around it by building products using MS’s new CRM platform or make the move into the non-MS section of the market which will open up more and more from 2006/7 when Apple/Intel becomes a much more credible threat in corporate deskland.
I reckon that the next 2-3 years are going to be very interesting, particularly for independent software developers like me. A shaking up of the market brings new opportunities – keep your eyes open, there may be money to be made in developing applications supported across multiple platforms ( http://www.runrev.com is a good example of what I mean). Linux and Macs could absorb a greater chunk of Windows desktop share, a couple of percent is enough to create significant software sales possibilities for small companies.
Partners know this, and I imagine some will work around it by building products using MS’s new CRM platform or make the move into the non-MS section of the market which will open up more and more from 2006/7 when Apple/Intel becomes a much more credible threat in corporate deskland.
Can someone please explain to me why Apple/Intel is suddenly more credible to businesses than Apple/ppc??? Apple’s are still going to be overpowered for what a secretary needs, and cost a lot more than a piece of crap low end Dell or HP.
And I very highly doubt companies are going to have their IT staff run around and crack OS X on all of their desktops so they don’t have to buy Apples.
Am I missing something?
Can someone please explain to me why Apple/Intel is suddenly more credible to businesses than Apple/ppc??? Apple’s are still going to be overpowered for what a secretary needs, and cost a lot more than a piece of crap low end Dell or HP.
I am not talking about technology here, but rather branding. Intel have all the major PC distributors (Dell etc) using Intel branding as part of their own advertising. I see that, plus all the media hoo-haa about Mactel, giving Apple a little more of the corporate mindshare. What is better technology is not at stake. And I am only speculating about a few percent here in the market BTW, not a wholesale landslide.
And since when did any corporation give a hoot about having overpowered machines? An old 486, configured with the right open source software, can give any administrator email, internet and word processing – Go figure. Boardrooms types generally buy based more on marketing bumpf than on technical specs. Why else are there so many J2EE monstrosity projects costing $$$$$$$$$ that could have been done just as well in php/ruby/python for $$? J2EE is great for huge projects with huge needs, but not all mid-range projects need it. You don’t drive your kids to school in a Heavy Assault Tank just because you can.
Feel free to disagree, it’s just my opinion after all!
They can’t win people over with perfect technology, well then let’s make profits off monopoly!
Is there any Microsoft software besides office and VS, that people would pay money for? It seems everything that they don’t bundle with the OS is mediocre at best and no one would pay for. Then again, I refuse to use Microsoft Products, as I’m happily living in a ‘free’ world.
Why is it only Claria software was “downgraded”? If MS truly looks at everyone equally, then I would think several other apps would be changed also. I don’t believe in coincidence, especially when MS is involved.
Microsoft’s letter was, as usual, full of marketing spin.
Microsoft downgraded Claria in January – at the same time that it was a member of COAST (and at the same time when COAST started inviting spyware makers to join).
COAST was formally dissolved in April.
The “Anti-Spyware” coalition mentioned in the letter was started in June and doesn’t yet have a policy in place.
Microsoft mentions it in the letter as a deliberate smoke screen to confuse the reader into believing that their actions with Claria were somehow consistent with the opinions/statements of the new coalition.
or should it be….
Ballmer: MS Wants Bigger Piece Of Software Pie on linux as well as unix and windows….
I wonder if they see software as the only game that is left for them since they are slipping on the OS game…
“The downgrade in threat level merely represented an effort to be “fair and consistent with how Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) handles similar software from other vendors,” according to a statement published by Microsoft.”
Where are those standards published? I for one would like to see how these programs are organized.
“Microsoft may love its partners. But that isn’t stopping the company from continuing to encroach on areas that have traditionally been its partners’ turf.”
Its only a matter of time before MS starts to encroach on some other developers turf. Here is a short list:
1) Anti-Virus
2) Anti-Spyware
3) Web browsers
4) Firewalls
5) Now: Oracle and SAP (CRM and so forth)
6) Acrylic (BETA) which is a photoshop clone
7) Other areas of growth (game consoles, cell phones, embedded devices, ISP)
The list keeps growing; I think MS wants to be the only software provider. The 800 pound gorilla is more like 1600 pounds and growing.
I’ve said it before, MS will always be after your lunch.. it’s just a matter of time. MS feels that they “allow” ISVs to make money off selling their products. so when it’s time to shake the tree they don’t see themselves as doing anything wrong!!!
It’s really time for software vendors to take OSX, BSD, and Linux very seriously. After all, OSS my try to make a cheap copy of your stuff, but MS will buy up your cheapest competitor and kill the rest of you…. it only takes MS buying ONE of 5-6 suppliers to ruin the market. Once it comes bundled on a PC for “free” your business is all over.
particularly in the games industry.. jump to platforms, or Linux now!!! MS will be after your lunch with XBox 360.. count on it.
Can anyone decipher this article?What are managed services? Document Workflow Management? What are analytics Capabilities?
thanks