Eagle-eyed Redmond Media Group Online Editor Kurt Mackie found something interesting from a close look at the 10-K document Microsoft recently filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Mackie wrote an in-depth piece detailing Microsoft's assessment of the threat it faces from open source. Check it out
here.
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 06, 20082 comments
Microsoft reached a major milestone in its journey to market with SQL Server 2008 with the
release to manufacturing of the product today.
Microsoft's launch channels and processes are so massive, varied and complex that a little explanation is required. RTM in this case means that SQL Server 2008 is available now for MSDN and TechNet subscribers. An evaluation download will be available tomorrow. Meanwhile, SQL Server 2008 Express and SQL Server Compact editions are available now. Pricing is unchanged from SQL Server 2005.
As with any major release, the official release has a kind of loose sense anyway. According to Microsoft, there had already been more than 450,000 downloads by customers and partners of community technology previews, more than 75 large-scale applications are already inn production and nearly 1,000 ISVs are developing applications on the database.
Major new features this time include support for policy-based management, larger-scale data warehousing, geospatial data and additional reporting and analysis services.
We ran a piece in the magazine a few months ago highlighting partner opportunities in the database. It's still available for download here.
Are you seeing new business possibilities with SQL Server 2008? Let me know what you're up to at [email protected].
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 06, 20084 comments
This whole race to cloud computing is getting more interesting by the day.
AT&T
officially
joined the list of major participants this morning. There are parties coming
in from nearly every side -- software players like Microsoft, Internet players
like Yahoo and Google, hardware/software players like
IBM,
e-commerce players like Amazon.com, and now a telecom.
AT&T is certainly bringing some infrastructure to the party. The company's
announcement said AT&T is investing $1 billion in the effort in 2008 and
the infrastructure includes five "super IDCs" (Internet datacenters)
in Piscataway, N.J.; San Diego, Calif.; Annapolis, Md.;, Singapore; and Amsterdam.
The company has a total of 38 IDCs worldwide.
Officially, AT&T's offering is called AT&T Synaptic HostingSM. The
company describes the offering as a "utility computing service with managed
networking, security and storage for business."
According to a statement from Ron Spears, group president of the AT&T Global
Business Services, "The AT&T global network, combined with our powerful
computing platform, is driving the convergence of networking and hosting services
in ways that are allowing companies to deliver end-user applications whenever
and wherever they are needed -- while paying only for the capacity actually
used."
An early adopter is the official Web site
of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Does that make AT&T the official cloud computing
provider for the U.S. Olympic Team?
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 05, 20080 comments
Virtualization specialist VMware Inc. added another facet to its channel efforts
today with the addition of a dedicated program for system builders.
The VMware
System Builder Program includes pre-sales technical support, training and
marketing tools. System builders who join the VMware VIP Partner Program under
the new system builder designation will also be eligible for standard VIP program
benefits such as financial incentives for new account sales, registering deals,
influencing deals, partner-to-partner deals and deals that leverage utilities'
energy efficiency rebate programs.
Steve Houck, vice president of worldwide channels at VMware, summed up the
reason for the attention to system builders in a statement: "System builders
account for a significant number of servers sold around the world, especially
to small and medium businesses, so it is important that we provide them with
the tools they need to capitalize on the global market opportunity for VMware
virtualization."
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 05, 20080 comments
So I'm watching MSNBC's "Morning Joe" this morning at the gym, and
they started talking about Bill Gates. (I think that's reason enough to ask
my boss to start reimbursing my gym membership as a business expense, don't
you?)
It seems Microsoft's chairman has a column in the next issue of TIME
magazine about how to fix capitalism. Anything that the ultimate symbol of late-20th-century
capitalism has to say about the subject should be interesting.
Even more interesting to me, though, was when Richard Stengel of TIME
noted that one of the magazine's photographers always asks portrait subjects
for the name of their favorite work by the Beatles, and then whether they prefer
the Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Gates' reply? "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band" and The Rolling Stones.
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 31, 20080 comments
On Tuesday, I
blogged
about Citrix's move to concentrate all North American efforts on one distributor,
Ingram Micro, ending relationships with Alternative Technology, Avnet and Tech
Data. One poster had this response for Craig Stilwell, a vice president whose
explanation of Citrix's reasoning was included in the blog post:
"Well if Craig Stillwell thinks this is a good move for Citrix and
it pans out, he's a hero. But if it doesn't pan out (which historical experience
on this shows otherwise) then [Citrix CEO] Mark T[empleton] will bounce his
a** out the door so fast, people won't even remember him a year from now."
-Anonymous
There were also a flurry of responses to another entry on Tuesday about Microsoft
striking
back against Forrester analyst Thomas Mendel's report about enterprise adoption
problems for Vista, and about Microsoft's new Mojave
Experiment.
"Stand tall Mr. Mendel. It is not always easy stating the truth when
the 800lb gorilla is getting smacked upside the head."
-Anonymous
"I find it very interesting that Microsoft built the Mojave Experiment
site using Adobe Flash, NOT Silverlight. Microsoft continues to push developers
to use increasingly bloated, unworkable, buggy and undocumented software like
Silverlight and Vista. I've been a Microsoft partner for over 10 years, but
no longer."
-Anonymous
"Good name, 'Mojave.' If you're out in the desert, with no other
apps around, then Vista is great. Once you try to actually USE applications
with it...that's when it heads south (into strange foreign lands)."
-Anonymous
Feel free to chime in. Send your thoughts to [email protected].
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 31, 20080 comments
Tech news sites, including
our
own, are abuzz with details of a new Microsoft operating system, codenamed
"Midori." There's no official confirmation from Microsoft, other than
that Midori exists as one of many incubation projects.
But some sources describe the OS as being componentized, Internet-centric and
designed for cloud computing. The project is separate from the Windows 7 effort,
which is based on the Vista code-base.
There was a time before Windows at Microsoft and, theoretically, there could
be a time after Windows. After all, who would have thought the enforcers of
Microsoft's "strategy tax" would ever have allowed the half-step of
Server Core, with its command line rather than Windows GUI, to get off the drawing
board?
Windows uber-enforcer Jim Allchin has retired, and Bill Gates is down to one-day
a week. One reason to take this seriously: It's reportedly under the supervision
of Eric Rudder, a heavy hitter within Microsoft.
Still, Windows is the franchise, and the details are all pretty fuzzy at this
point. What do you think? Could Microsoft ever move beyond Windows? Let me know
at [email protected].
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 31, 20081 comments
One of the things I thought was missing from the Microsoft Worldwide Partner
Conference earlier this month was a speech from Ray Ozzie. While Microsoft made
substantive announcements about its
Software
Plus Services strategy and the role it hoped partners would play, the conference
didn't include any kind of overarching vision on S+S from the company's chief
technical officer and resident expert on the subject.
Microsoft did drag out Ozzie at its Financial Analyst Meeting last week. In
some ways, that's more interesting. In the course of giving Wall Street the
big picture, Microsoft executives sometimes reveal how much they are -- or are
not -- thinking about the channel in their plans.
First the good news. Ozzie mentioned partners -- and not just ISVs but also
VARs -- repeatedly during his
talk. He wasn't the only one. Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner also
emphasized to the financial analysts that Microsoft's 645,000 partners,
which he described as "the most comprehensive partner ecosystem in the
technology industry," were a "tremendous strategic asset" for
the company. It's good to hear Turner talk about the importance of partners
to audiences not made up entirely of Microsoft partners.
Now for the mixed news from the Ozzie talk. Ozzie painted a rosy picture for
the analysts about Microsoft's positioning as cloud computing approaches. He
repeated all the usual stuff about how Microsoft's ability to be on the client,
on the server or in the cloud is just what the real world needs.
"Every major technology inflection point over the years, at least as long
as I've been in this business, has yielded new opportunities for those who are
able, willing and well-positioned to act on those opportunities," Ozzie
said, with the implication that Microsoft was able, willing and well-positioned.
Certain partners will be ready, or will make themselves ready, to join in on
this envisioned money-fest. "Many business ISVs and many VARs will be looking
to move their applications and solutions to the cloud just like we have,"
Ozzie said. "For them, like us, this technology shift towards services
represents a significant opportunity, a chance for them to deliver to their
enterprise customers the power of choice within their own application or solution."
He called Microsoft's opportunity in the space "perfectly aligned"
with the opportunity for partners.
The reason that's mixed news for partners isn't because any of it isn't true.
It's the "many" modifier Ozzie uses to describe ISVs and VARs. The
opportunities will be out there, but the channel has to change aggressively
to meet it.
Later in the Q&A portion, Ozzie elaborated on how partners should change
to take advantage of Microsoft's cloud computing infrastructure -- a key point
given the aggressive pricing and partner margin structure in the recently announced
Office S+S offerings (partners get 12 percent for bringing in a customer and
6 percent annually for renewals).
"I think the high-level model that I would use is the enterprise space.
The costs of the service will be buried and embedded within the higher-level
pricing of the offering," Ozzie said, adding that for VARs, "margins
will increase as you go up the stack in terms of value."
Ozzie's financial analyst talk also offered some food for thought for partners
involved in Windows or Office deployments. He explained a little of his thinking
on how S+S might store both settings and data in the cloud. He discussed the
idea in the context of home users, but it could have a substantial impact on
the way organizations buy and use computers.
"By removing the psychological burden of managing many devices, by making
these devices feel more like smart appliances, by removing the worry about setting
up a new or additional PC or laptop that you might purchase, I believe we'll
ultimately see a significant opportunity for growth because of multiple PCs,"
Ozzie said.
I would have liked to hear more elaboration on Ozzie's vision for partners
in both cases -- but at least he's telling financial analysts where partners
will fit in. What do you think about Ozzie's vision for partners? Let me know
at [email protected].
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 30, 20080 comments
So after years of pitting IIS against the Apache Web server, the famous "A"
in the open source LAMP stack, Microsoft is
now
backing the Apache Software Foundation. Redmond Media Group Editorial Director
Doug Barney
has
an opinion on why Microsoft would do that.
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 29, 20080 comments
A few weeks ago, a senior Microsoft executive told partners that the company
was drawing a
"line
in the sand" that it would not allow Vista critics to cross.
Well, chalk up a first victim. Forrester Research analyst Thomas Mendel got
a face full of sand from the software giant late last week. On a Vista blog,
Chris Flores, a director at Microsoft on the Windows Client Communications Team,
lambasted Mendel and his report. Wrote Flores of the Forrester report: "This
appears to be more focused on making sensationalist statements."
You can read Flores' blog entry here.
You'll notice that comments on the blog are decidedly mixed.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has also started an Internet-based campaign to lampoon
negative impressions of Windows Vista at mojaveexperiment.com.
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 29, 20084 comments
Citrix Systems Inc. is causing some channel controversy with a decision to
dump all North American distributors except for Ingram Micro Inc.
The move means Alternative Technology (owned by Arrow Electronics), Avnet and
Tech Data are out of the North American Citrix distribution business on Aug.
30. Starting on that date, Citrix's 1,900 North American authorized Citrix Solution
Advisors will rely solely on Ingram Micro for distribution of Citrix's XenApp,
XenDesktop XenServer, NetScaler, Access Gateway, WANScaler and Provisioning
Server.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix, which had $1.4 billion in revenues in 2007,
says the enhanced partnership with Ingram Micro won't affect relationships with
distributors outside North America.
According to a statement from Craig Stilwell, the VP of Americas marketing
and sales support for Citrix, concentrating efforts on one distribution partner
will help the company drive partner recruitment and development, and provide
better, more consistent programs for those partners.
It makes sense that Citrix could get a better commitment from a distribution
giant like Ingram Micro with an exclusive agreement. But it's going to be a
hassle for Citrix partners who've worked with the other distribution firms,
and could be a negative for those Citrix resellers who used multiple distributors'
promotions to good effect. This is a deal we'll have to keep an eye on.
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 29, 20083 comments
Seattle-based SME networking vendor Napera Networks launched a channel program
this week. A company spokesperson said Microsoft channel partners will be a
good fit for the new Napera Advantage Partner Program, in part because the company's
products leverage Microsoft Network Access Protection protocols. For more information
about the program launch, go
here.
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 24, 20080 comments