The clock is ticking, the days are being checked off on the calendar and industry watchers around the world are waiting for the last day of a Gates controlled Microsoft to come and with a sigh of relief see him head off into the sunset. The problem is that even in the morning after glow of him leaving Microsoft we all know that nothing is going to change at all even though in our hearts we wish otherwise.
Even though Microsoft still maintains some dominance in the software world it is a world that is changing on an almost daily basis and Microsoft still has some really big albatrosses hanging around its neck. Over at MSFTextrememakeover there is an exceptionally good post about the problems Microsoft is facing from a company insiders point of view and I strongly recommend grabbing a coffee and giving it a read as it will be the last post the author writes. Now I for one am really sorry to read this as for me both MSFTextrememakeover and Mini-Microsoft were some of the best reading to get a grasp on how Microsoft was dealing with its decline internally.
And yes I did say decline because I am really worried that Microsoft is indeed on a downward spiral. Don’t get me wrong – I definitely don’t think that Microsoft will be going out of business in my lifetime or my kids lifetime. What I do think is that if Microsoft continues the way it is it could very well become almost irrelevant in any area other than maybe legacy type operating system software company. I personally believe that the company has some really hard choices to make which I believe they need to start making as soon as possible in order to turn around a behemoth of a company. Not just in size but also in mentality.
Steve Ballmer
As MSFTextrememakeover puts it
And I admire his work ethic. He may well be the world’s hardest-working billionaire. Also, the most passionate. My concern is whether or not the company has been effective under his leadership. Rightly or wrongly, the buck stops with the CEO. And when I look at the totality of MSFT’s performance under his reign, it’s not a pretty picture. In fact, it’s an epic fail.
I as well have not hid my feeling about Ballmer either as I have written about him and Microsoft a few time here. To reiterate – until Ballmer leaves; either willingly or not, Microsoft is screwed. Besides the fact that under his leadership the company hasn’t had a serious growth quarter unlike its competitors I don’t think the problem lies just with Ballmer.
Everything that I have read or have experienced from being a part of this industry points to a major problem with much of the upper management of the company. I believe that there are a lot of really intelligent and excellent developers working in the company but it is suffering a company wide case of management reaching its Peter Principal and that is slowly strangling the company.
Windows
Personally I think that there needs to be a total separation between the consumer division and the corporate division for the Windows operating system. While this might have been very difficult in the past with the advent of Vista and Server 2008 this isn’t the case. This is because Microsoft is moving to a more modular operating system that will let them build more type specific versions of the OS.
With this being the case there should be two separate divisions for the OS with the consumer side having only one version – contrary to the current mess we are having to put up with. It make no sense whatsoever for the consumer to have to pick from mind numbing number of versions. Once you do that then you can have a smaller and more nimble team focusing totally on one thing – a useable and exciting operating system that covers all the needs of the consumer – whether they are new or minted power users.
You could actually have three sub-divisions of the spun off OS Division with there being the Core team that concentrates on just the core modules and drivers. It is that product that is then shipped out to the two other divisions – Consumer and Corporate.
Culture
The one thing you can’t say about the folks that work in the trenches at Microsoft is that they don’t love what they do. The problem it that I believe that love is being beat out of them by middle and upper management. On top of that though is the over all perception of the company by the consumer of being a monolithic uncaring face corporation that is constantly trying to rape your wallet and not even giving you a smoke afterwards.
Recently they hired one of the most cutting edge advertising company to try and bring some life; some cool, to the Microsoft brand. The company – Crispan Porter + Bogusky have been charged with turning the public perception of Microsoft around. As Andrew Keller said in an interview by Danielle Sacks at Fast Company
That may explain why Keller and Reilly are today using their team as an early focus group for learning how to persuade Mac lovers to embrace Windows. "You’ve got a lot of passionate Mac people in here, and they’ve got to get their head around this thing — why Windows is genius," says Keller.
As important as trying to get new users for Windows I think it is more important that they figure out how to convince me as a loyal Windows users as to why I should continue being one. You can convert as many Macheads or Linux users as you want but if you keep pissing off your loyal fan base no amount of advertising is going to help you.
What is even worse is if they keep demoralizing their own troops – those people who go to work everyday believing that are doing something important. But all it seems that Microsoft can do is have its dedicated workers run around like chickens with their heads cut off. In the end no amount of advertising genius is going to save the company if the management continues to kill the culture that its developers have built up over the years.
Last Point
Microsoft has a hellva lot of great people working in the company the problem is that none of them are in a position that can change the direction the company appears to be headed. I would like to believe that Microsoft can turn itself around but nothing I am seeing so far into this lead up to Bill Gates retiring from the company leads me to believe that it will. Personally I think that the company needs to make some radical changes – not with the developers within the company but rather in the leadership because right now they don’t have any.
Conversation Tags: Microsoft, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer
Loading ...
Add New Comment
Viewing 8 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
This is an excellent heartfelt post that goes beyond the usual, tired whining about "Micro$oft" being "evil" and unfair to competitors by pointing up that their current situation is unfair... to Microsoft. Just as with AT&T before the breakup, an enormous fund of creativity is locked up inside an organization charged with maintaining the status quo. The challenge for Ballmer is to reinvent something that (despite the critics) works almost too well. As a founder, I doubt he can do it, or at least he would have to be one very exceptional human being if he could. But perhaps Ray Ozzie can -- if he's allowed to.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment
Trackbacks