Microsoft's frequent reorganizations can easily be portrayed as a reaction to visions of its own obsolescence. More fundamentally, they are driven by changes in work patterns and lifestyles made possible by technology. The company's notoriety and its breadth of operations make its responses to these changes visible, but the need to respond is not unique to Microsoft.
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The multi-year .NET initiative, which Microsoft President and CEO Steve Ballmer called his company's "most ambitious undertaking since Internet Strategy Day in 1995," is being presented as "a new framework of software and services" aimed at consumers, businesses, and software developers. Translated, that means Windows applications will reside on and communicate over the Internet so people can access personal files, games, and, in time, their entire digital lives from any computer or gadget within a "constellation" of smart devices, such as cell phones and handhelds.
OK. So there wasn't much new in the announcement. But it's not as if anyone else has successfully delivered that basic, well-worn vision on a grand scale. And although much of the substance of .NET remains unarticulated, Microsoft's latest morphing does lend it somewhat more form.
As Below, So Above
Under the new organization, a new .NET Services Group will be led by Bob Muglia, the former group head of the Office suite, which pulls in a third of company revenues. More than a golden cow, Office is also a monument to the integrated product design that not only drives the current Internet strategy, but is at the heart of the Microsoft philosophy. Product and system integration are in Microsoft's cultural DNA and are reflected in the .NET strategy which, in effect, says, "As below, on the desktop; so above, on the Web."
The new group will have responsibility for the back-end infrastructure for .NET and for Microsoft Network (MSN), which will service as a test bed for new Internet services; subscription services enabling the purchase of software in dribs and drabs rather than in shrink-wrapped boxes; and speech-based interfaces for "greater control over personal information and preferences" -- not to mention easier eavesdropping on the next cubicle.
The .NET group is itself being positioned under a new Personal Services and Devices Group, along with MSN, a group for wireless initiatives, and Microsoft's TV Service and Platform Division, which is the new home for WebTV and other interactive TV efforts.
The Ghost of .NET Future
In one way or another, Microsoft's new reorganization touches all parts of the company, allowing them to feed off and exchange chromosomes with each other -- the groups for applications and the various flavors of Windows very much included. All have been oriented on the .NET strategy, and towards keeping revenues flowing towards Redmond as the company adjusts to an environment less PC-centric than its natural habitat.
The unfolding strategy can easily be portrayed as Microsoft's reaction to visions of its own obsolescence -- the Ghost of .NET Future. More fundamentally, it is driven by changes in work patterns and lifestyles made possible by technology. The company's notoriety and its breadth of operations make its responses to these changes visible, but the need to respond is not unique to Microsoft.
That said, there can be a groping, even manic quality to Microsoft's frequent reorganizations, and to how its "new initiatives" often sound like previous initiatives, recent enough to still be floating among our PCs' "Temporary Internet Files." A friend recently wondered, "How many new MSNs have there been?" Who can keep track? Microsoft's Internet strategy, which is in fact the strategy for the company itself, operates in auto-morph mode, an apparent corollary to Internet time. As random and aimless as that can appear, it's also perfectly sensible.
Your Turn:
Is Microsoft just wandering aimlessly on the road to nowhere? Or do its endless reorgs and new initiatives represent the ongoing calibration of the complex strategies of a complex company in anything but simple times? Share your thoughts on the company's discussion board.
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