Microsoft Gets Gartnered
If you want attention, you must do something outrageous, even if it's falsely outrageous. We have Madonna kissing Britney, celebs purposely leaking risqué tapes, and now Gartner publicly questioning whether Microsoft is still relevant. And, like a dope, I'm falling for the Gartner bait.
At a recent Gartner event, analysts grilled Stephen Elop, head of the MS business division. These know-it-alls argued that Microsoft hasn't adapted to the new world and still pushes fat clients and monolithic applications.
Now, I also believe in leaner software, but let's look at a few facts. The Mac -- a good, old-fashioned fat client if I've ever seen one -- is the gold standard for many as to what's cool. And while I believe Office is bloated and unwieldy, it remains the standard. (Its open source rival, OpenOffice, is not much slimmer and it's doing just fine.) Microsoft is moving to Web-based apps at about the same speed as IT -- slow and steady.
If these Gartner analysts are so smart, why aren't they running Microsoft? As they say, those who can't do, analyze.
Am I too rough on the self-inflated eggheads from Gartner? Tell me where I'm wrong at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on October 28, 2009