Get Your Patches While You Can (If You Really Want Them)

Incidentally, there's a bit of talk that Microsoft's rushed (although not all that rushed) a patch for a flaw in its animated cursor (.ANI) files. The bug makes security features of Vista, which were much-touted by the company, look not so great after all. In any case, the patch, along with some others for various versions of Windows, is posted here.

Posted by Lee Pender on April 05, 20070 comments

Can Microsoft Save Us From Google World Domination?

Just look at the press this week. No less of an opinion influencer than BusinessWeek -- perhaps this country's finest weekly news magazine, period (given that The Economist is British) -- devoted its cover story to the question of whether Google is too powerful. BW did an excellent job (and, no, we haven't applied for jobs there -- we just feel this way) of canvassing the general freak-out about Google that's currently taking place in boardrooms. It's a dread that's spanning the technology, publishing, advertising and entertainment industries -- among others.

The fear is that that Google -- with its mysterious algorithms, omnipresent search engine and hunger to catalog every datum coughed up by humankind -- will eventually dominate world commerce. It might even pose a threat to America's national defense. Already, apparently, Google has an "image problem" that's hindering its ability to cut deals and perhaps encouraging huge lawsuits.

We say "already" because Google isn't even quite a decade old. It took IBM decades to become the technology industry's most feared (and often hated) entity; it took Microsoft years. But now, in the age of panic, lots of observers are worried that Google is an unstoppable monster that must be curbed before it eats the whole economy. Why, just this week, we learned that Google has started talking about buying online ad broker DoubleClick, a company that seemed last week to be almost promised to Microsoft as a key part of Redmond's quixotic effort to catch Google in the search game.

Now Microsoft, still the devil in many observers' eyes, is in the unfamiliar position of being the world's only potential savior from some other rampant corporate entity. By buying DoubleClick and Yahoo! (as we say hello to that old rumor again), Microsoft might be able to at least put a dent in Google's Internet hegemony. But if the acquisition doesn't happen, Redmond will doom us mere mortals forever to live in Google's world of unrelenting efficiency and accessibility of information. The horror.

All of this, of course, is ridiculous. First of all, many of us (as BW points out) don't want to be saved from Google and the services it provides. Those services have generally made us more productive and enhanced our computing experiences and lives. But it's also ridiculous because Microsoft isn't a search company (outside of enterprise search, maybe, which is a bit of a different game) and because Google is bound to miss something (we don't know what yet, but something).

Apple missed licensing its operating system. IBM missed client-server computing. Microsoft missed the Internet, tried to make up for it by crushing Netscape, and then got blindsided by Google and search. As Google grows -- and its employee count is currently about 12,000 -- and becomes more influential, its leaders will have to focus more on the company's stock price and corporate standing than on innovation and market trends. And somebody will sneak up behind it, develop some sort of new model and hit Google where it hurts. In other words, innovation and the free market will take care of themselves -- and of us. No need to panic.

How worried are you about Google taking over the world? What do you think of Microsoft's efforts to catch Google? We've had some great comments on this already. Friday is going to be reader e-mail day at RCPU, so hit me this week with your thoughts at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on April 03, 20071 comments

That Cute Bunny Racing Across Your Screen Could Be Very Dangerous

Posted by Lee Pender on April 03, 20070 comments

Open (Source) to Everybody but Microsoft

There's a big problem with what the FSF is doing here. Linux-Windows interoperability is a good thing for partners and users. It strikes us as odd that the very people who constantly clamor for Microsoft to be more open to other vendors and systems and less proprietary are now trying to squash one of Redmond's biggest interoperability initiatives ever. If they're so confident that Linux doesn't infringe on Microsoft's patents, why don't they just let this deal go ahead? Is Red Hat just angry that it missed an opportunity that Novell took (to Red Hat's peril thus far)?

Hey, we realize that Microsoft is probably in this Linux business for a lot of reasons, not many of them related to the pure-hearted goal of helping users. Antitrust issues are likely part of Redmond's agenda (as they always seem to be), and Ballmer might really be thinking that he can best crush Linux from the inside by partnering with a Linux distributor, which is why Novell had better be careful in how it handles this relationship. So, we understand why the FSF folks might approach this deal with some caution.

On the other hand, interoperability with Windows gives Linux -- still kind of a mess of an operating system with its lack of standards -- credibility, and it's good for customers and partners. Isn't that supposed to be the bottom line, after all? Plus, it's not as though Novell is the only Linux distributor out there. The OS will live on even if Novell doesn't -- and we're not anywhere near that stage. The FSF seems to be operating primarily out of fear and dogma here, and those are rarely good foundations for business decisions. It seems as though the open source folks are open to everybody but Microsoft. It sort of lends a bit of irony to the term "open source."

What do you think of the Free Software Foundation's attempts to submarine the Microsoft-Novell deal? Let me know at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on March 28, 20070 comments

Deconstructing the Myth of Vista Sales

Coming Friday, reader feedback on Vista's performance so far. (Thank you to those who have sent e-mails.) We've had a lot of great comments already -- get yours in now at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on March 28, 20070 comments

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Coming in April (But Don't Call It SCOM)

Microsoft officials are trumpeting SCOM -- um, we mean "Operations Manager," but more on that later -- as the first real breakthrough for DSI, its broad systems-management program. Operations Manager is the first product to carry the "System Center" brand, Microsoft says. It's a key piece of the overall strategy Redmond envisions for helping IT people better manage their environments and provide services to users. Operations Manager does that via enhanced IT event and performance monitoring. It represents a big leap from MOM because of its ability to monitor an entire system and not just individual components.

The new release "moves from being an individual server-management tool to being a solution that can manage end-to-end IT services," according to Eric Berg, director of Microsoft System Center. "It gives you one holistic view into that end-to-end service."

Operations Manager also introduces role-based user access, client (as well as server) monitoring and audit collection services that allow companies to collect security log data from servers -- a capability that's especially important for companies wrangling with compliance issues, Berg said.

Just one thing, though. The secure, homey feel of the name MOM will be gone, and, whatever you do, don't call the new product "SCOM." Microsoft's not wild about that for reasons that are pretty obvious. The official Redmond nomenclature, short version, is "Operations Manager."

Even just calling it "OM" is a little risky, as that name is already the domain of famous French soccer club Olympique de Marseille. We do not suggest that you try to sell anything with the name "OM" in Paris. Actually, we're kind of hoping that "OpMan" will catch on.

Also today, Microsoft announced a partnership with EMC aimed at boosting OpMan's capabilities. (Here's an article that flagrantly uses "SCOM.") Redmond also talked about standardizing the Service Modeling Language as part of a broader effort to create heterogeneous systems management.

What opportunities do you see for systems management? Tell me at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on March 28, 20070 comments

Microsoft Staves Off EU Fines

Posted by Lee Pender on March 27, 20070 comments

Microsoft: Everything's Fine With Vista -- Really

But Microsoft wants you to know that everything is fine, just fine, with Vista. It's great, actually. In fact, it's selling at double the pace at which XP sold when it first came out! Of course, the PC market is a lot bigger than it was when XP came out, and all of those free Vista upgrades that folks got when they bought XP over the holidays last year figure into Microsoft's numbers. Still, why dwell on such tiny details? Hooray for Vista!

OK, enough of the snarky comments. The fact is that most of us will run Vista eventually.

It's debatable whether Vista will be the last great operating system from Microsoft before everything moves to some sort of Google-ish Web-based service (or to Microsoft's combined software-service model). However, the strong likelihood remains that Vista will be the default OS for many, probably most, of the world's computer users by the time the next version of Windows comes out. Mac OS is as great as ever (although maybe not as great as advertised -- see the next entry), but it's not a serious threat to Windows' market share, especially in the enterprise. And Linux, while gaining momentum, is still a splintered OS that won't benefit from the continued lack of organization (and now, thanks to the Microsoft-Novell deal, infighting) inside the open source community. So, Vista it is -- or will be.

For now, though, Vista has to be a disappointment. Given how long it took to release and how much of a financial boost Microsoft needs from it right now, Vista just isn't building the momentum or gaining the kind of market traction that Redmond would like to see. Maybe the main problem with Vista is that XP is actually too good -- or at least too mature and familiar. Those stringent Vista hardware requirements don't help, either. And despite the half-a-billion dollars Microsoft is spending to promote Vista, the new OS hasn't exactly captured the public's imagination.

A Gateway official in the Cnet story linked above talks about how he's seen a "pretty good reaction" to the release of Vista. That seems to be a common response to the new OS. In terms of functionality, sales and interest from consumers and companies, it's -- you know -- pretty good. Not great, not bad, just OK. You can almost hear shoulders shrugging with apathy as people make these statements. Vista isn't a disaster, but it's not exactly generating the "wow" Microsoft hoped to see.

Have you upgraded to Vista? What's your attitude toward the new OS now that it's been out for a little while? Tell me at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on March 27, 20073 comments

Big Brother Comes to BrainShare

In the background, onlookers and Mac fanatics boo and hiss at Gates' overwhelming mug. The Big Brother connotation is not exactly subtle, but what do you want from a made-for-TV movie? (By the way, if Pirates had been a theater release and not a made-for-TV flick, "I got the loot, Steve!" would have been one of the great cinematic catchphrases of the late 1990s. Alas.)

And so we jump forward a decade or so to this year's edition of BrainShare, Novell's annual user conference. Except, instead of Bill Gates -- or even Anthony Michael Hall -- it's Microsoft's Craig Mundie who's playing the role of big brother. OK, sure, the situation is different here. Microsoft's not saving Novell, and Mundie isn't exactly a lightning rod on the level of Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer. But in terms of clashes of cultures and an (at least partially) angry user base (including the ubiquitous "Microsoft-as-the-devil" reference), there's some drama playing out in Salt Lake City.

Just don't tell Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian that. He's busy telling everybody that the deal is just great for both parties. It sounds as though he'll have to do a little more convincing before he wins over his company's hardcore followers, though. But with new enterprise customers picking up on the deal and Microsoft pumping money into Novell and SUSE Linux, Hovsepian might not care all that much about the ranting of a few dogmatic Penguinites -- nor should he.

And speaking of Linux, after readers told us a few weeks ago to "Fear the Penguin!" blogger John Obeto II, managing partner and chief technology officer of Logikworx, responded with a hearty rebuttal. We'd like to thank John for his faithful readership and for taking the time to go into such detail in discussing a humble RCPU entry.

Redmond magazine, our sister publication aimed at IT folks, also got some talk stirred up with its March cover story on Microsoft opening the door to open source.

We always enjoy your comments on open source, Linux, Novell, Microsoft or just about anything else you want to talk about. Send them to [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on March 21, 20070 comments

Convergence: Too Many Dynamics Partners?

"They look [at Dynamics] because they're sick of paying millions of dollars."

Et voila! There are a lot of reasons why companies of all sizes are looking at Dynamics, but none is more compelling than the potential for getting serious functionality without paying the exorbitant prices often associated with enterprise software. Combine that with Microsoft's integration message, and what could go wrong for partners selling Microsoft's applications?

Channel congestion, that's what. Yes, apparently some partners feel as though the Dynamics channel is too crowded -- and this at a time when Microsoft officials say that partner recruiting is going "very well." More partners competing for gigs can mean tighter margins, dangerous implementations and maybe even more sales for SAP and Oracle -- especially when those companies approach with their direct sales forces customers befuddled by a flotilla of Microsoft VARs.

Jeff Sampson, founder and CEO of Kineticsware, was one of the architects of Microsoft's industry builder initiative. He's seen what can happen when Dynamics partners fight for a place at a customer's table.

"We would very frequently get involved in customer situations where you had sometimes eight VARs," Sampson says. "You're a buyer -- you have Oracle, SAP and eight Dynamics VARs, with three of them pitching one product, two pitching another and so on. The customers says, 'Microsoft, can you tell me which one to work with?' and Microsoft says, 'No.'"

Microsoft has to say no. That much is obvious. But what can Microsoft do about channel congestion? Stop recruiting new Dynamics VARs, some partners say. But a more likely scenario is for Microsoft to choose the partners it invites to bids at a customer's request more carefully.

"Why should you invite smaller partners to global accounts?" asks Aliona Geckler, vice president of global marketing for Columbus IT http://www.columbusIT.com , who calls the problem of competition within the channel "huge." "If the customer asks Microsoft, [Microsoft] shouldn't go with more than one partner, more than two partners. It should be very clear by industry and by size."

Those are all valid points, but there's nothing wrong with a little competition, right? Well, no. And channel crowding is, unfortunately, one of the disadvantages of the indirect sales model. To some extent, that's just the way it goes. At the same time, Microsoft should be careful not to submarine its strong Dynamics offering by overwhelming potential customers. Maybe carefully choosing partners to respond to customer requests is a good strategy -- not that Microsoft isn't trying to do that already, and not that that's easy to do for a vendor that's supposed to stay partner-neutral.

Perhaps, though, the best idea is for partners to police themselves. That's the message that Mark Jensen, general manager, Microsoft Dynamics market development, wants partners to get.

"Do some soul searching to find out who you really are," Jensen says. "Are you really a VAR, are you really a full-service implementation partner, are you really an ISV? We see too many examples where partner organizations might be struggling because they're trying to be what they're not. Find out who you really are and then don't fight it."

In other words (our words), don't jump into a job that you know you really can't do and ruin it for everybody. That's easier said than done, but it would be a shame to see a potentially massively successful concept like Dynamics struggle due to Microsoft's greatest asset -- its partners -- spending too much time and money fighting with each other when it's not really necessary to do so.

Posted by Lee Pender on March 16, 20070 comments

Stay Classy, Microsoft: Convergence Opens in San Diego

First, and perhaps most disturbing, is that one of the editors of this newsletter (as in one of the guys who reads it and tries to put my ramblings into some sense of order) owns a Zune, aka "the uncool iPod." Bought it himself. And likes it. And sort of resents RCPU's incessant pounding of it in recent months. Who knew?

Second, I was apparently the first (and perhaps only) registrant to float a line from the Anchorman movie at the San Diego Convention Center registration booth. It went over like a lead balloon. Anchorman quotes used to be universal currency in any discussion of San Diego. However, that was par for the course. I also asked an attendant here where Jack Murphy Stadium was, and he said, "What? Jack Murphy?" I explained that I was talking about the place where the Chargers play, and his eyes lit up. "Oh, Qualcomm!" he exclaimed. Um, yes...Qualcomm. Well, it used to be Jack Murphy Stadium. Apparently, I'm spending too much time writing newsletters.

But enough of those digressions. There was a lot of serious business to talk about at Convergence. RCP's excellent wrap-up of it all is here. A few key themes have emerged. We'll be writing about them all week (remember, there are four RCPUs a week now), expanding on things as we get feedback from partners, analysts and Microsoft folks. First, though, a few tidbits about the show, just to give you an idea of what it's like to be here.

The affable Doug Burgum, senior vice president of the Microsoft Business Solutions Group, threw out some interesting numbers. There are 8,700 attendees at this year's Dynamics-oriented get-together, up considerably from the 47 who showed up for the first edition of Convergence 11 years ago. We seem to remember Microsoft saying that there were 6,000 attendees last year in Dallas (although that's not fact-checked), so interest in Dynamics appears to be increasing. Either that, or every partner, IT pro and reporter in the Northeast and Midwest couldn't resist four days in sunny San Diego. There are no fewer than 1,000 Microsoft people here this week, meaning one Microsoftian for every 8.7 attendees. It's a high-touch show.

Newswise, the big announcement was the introduction of Dynamics Client for Office and SharePoint. The app integrates Dynamics with the familiar Office interface and the useful SharePoint server in very much the same way that Duet ties the Office front end to an SAP back end. Dynamics Client delivers on the desktop integration promise that could be Microsoft's ace in the hole over competitors like Oracle and SAP. Those guys don't have 90-plus percent market share in the productivity-suite game and have a much harder time giving users the information and capabilities they need in an interface with which they are comfortable. But with Dynamics Client comes a mandate for Dynamics partners -- get up to speed on SharePoint and develop a competency around it. Dynamics is blending in the Microsoft stack just the way Redmond wants it to, and just being a "Dynamics Partner" ultimately won't be enough to guarantee success.

Also new from Microsoft and getting tongues wagging is Sure Step, an implementation methodology intended to make it easier to get Dynamics up and running. Microsoft looks at Sure Step as a universal, ever-evolving aid for partners of all sizes -- and it will be, although it's clearly aimed at smaller shops that don't have well-developed methodologies of their own.

It wasn't just the announcements that had people talking today, though. Apparently the Dynamics channel is not immune to the old problem of overcrowding. Put simply, Microsoft is recruiting Dynamics partners at a time when some partners would rather see fewer players in the field. Margins are getting tight, and some partners are calling for Microsoft to rein in companies that bid for implementations that they don't really have the expertise to pull off.

We'll explore all of those issues in greater detail and with input from Microsoft, partners and others as the week goes on. Your week's newsletters will look like this:

• Wednesday: Getting ready for Dynamics Client for Office and SharePoint and the evolving Microsoft integration story.
• Thursday: Sure Step, implementation methodologies and the roles of the little guys and the Global Systems Integrators.
• Friday: Channel crowding and a quick look ahead to Convergence 2008.

If you have any thoughts on any of these topics, send them to me at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on March 13, 20070 comments

Microsoft Pumps Up Partner Program

For starters, Microsoft now includes hardware in version 3.0 of its popular Buy Local Program, which helps system builders find customers in their hometowns. Previous versions of the program offered customers free software and Web services but stopped short of offering hardware.

The second program boost is the Influencer Revenue Program, through which partners that sell to small- and medium-sized businesses but funnel their sales through Large Account Resellers will get credit for their work. This new program will be a boost for partners that sometimes have trouble catching Redmond's attention.

Posted by Lee Pender on March 09, 20070 comments