Last week's Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference was, as these things always
are, quite a production. But behind the bands, the fireworks, the Nobel Prize-winning
keynoters and the half-decent meals is one thing: money. It's always the bottom
line, of course, and this week, the financial rubber hits the road again.
Microsoft is announcing earnings in a market that we might call unstable if
we were in a friendly mood. In an unfriendly mood, we'd call it a bear market,
which it technically is -- or has been, at least, at times in recent days. So
Microsoft's earnings report, due Thursday after the close of the stock market
(and therefore not likely to appear in RCPU until Monday, although RCPmag.com
will have coverage) is a big deal. Maybe a bigger deal than usual.
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 16, 20080 comments
The ActiveX attacks on the database aren't done yet, the security giant
warns
.
Posted by Lee Pender on July 15, 20080 comments
Doug Kennedy sees the potential in Microsoft Dynamics. He also knows that Redmond
needs to work on its approach to the enterprise software product line.
The long-time Oracle veteran signed on to Redmond in March and is now vice
president of Microsoft Dynamics Partners. He's got a vision to fine-tune --
there's no overhaul needed -- Dynamics and help the suites continue to eat away
at the market share of SAP as well as that of Kennedy's former employer.
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 10, 20080 comments
It's not all bad news, this Microsoft Software Plus Services strategy. In fact,
for some partners, it's very, very good news.
This
week's freak-out about the partner model for S+S isn't universal. RCPU spoke
to one partner who was just fine with the notion of Microsoft
competing with his business -- and, in fact, he welcomed it.
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 10, 20080 comments
There was a Vista partner panel at the Worldwide Partner Conference on Tuesday:
Three partners sat in a small conference room and talked about their Vista experiences
at the prompting of a Forrester analyst. They said a lot of stuff, but it's
what they
didn't
say that really stuck with us.
They said that developers in their organizations loved Vista -- and developers
do tend to love it. They talked about certification processes. They discussed
driver compatibility problems a little bit. But, by design or otherwise, they
stayed miles away from the real issue surrounding the beleaguered operating
system: user acceptance.
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 09, 20082 comments
Microsoft has combined its Identity and Access Division with its Access and Security Division -- and not just because both groups had "Access" in their names.
Before we continue, is anybody else thinking what I'm thinking? You got chocolate in my peanut butter! You got peanut butter in my chocolate! OK, maybe not. Sorry, it's been a long conference already. And we like Reese's. (The theme there was famous combinations, in case you were wondering.)
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 09, 20080 comments
Steve Ballmer has a message for partners who are worried about competition
from Microsoft: That's the way it goes.
Well, OK, that's an oversimplification, but Ballmer, in response to a question
during Wednesday morning's Worldwide Partner Conference keynote,
said that Microsoft has to host its own applications or surrender the market
to its competitors.
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 09, 20080 comments
This week's announcement
at the Worldwide Partner Conference of Microsoft's partner model for its Software Plus Services initiative has led to a fairly predictable freak-out among partners.
But if the mother ship's S+S model seems to wrest control of customers away from channel members, little Microsoft satellite Tellme's budding partner program leaves partners firmly in control of their accounts. Microsoft bought Tellme, a SaaS telephony company, last year, and the little principality of Microsoft's great nation still has a fair amount of independence. It's even headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., rather than in Redmond.
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 09, 20080 comments
The haze has lifted, mostly. Not the haze that perennially envelops steamy
Houston during the summer, but the haze that has hung over Microsoft's Software
Plus Services strategy and the question of exactly how S+S will affect partners.
And the news isn't necessarily good.
 |
Ravi
Agarwal |
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 08, 20080 comments
These Microsoft people aren't stupid. When he was preparing his speech for
this week's Worldwide Partner Conference, Stephen Elop, Redmond newbie and president
of the Microsoft Business Division, clearly knew that
this
week's news
about how Software Plus Services will affect partners would
lead to something of a freak-out. And so it did.
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 08, 20080 comments