5 ms·

I dont really understand this. The race for hosting VMs/Containers is a great short term opportunity but there is no long term differentiation to be had. I susp

by rb808 8y ago

I dont really understand this. The race for hosting VMs/Containers is a great short term opportunity but there is no long term differentiation to be had. I suspect in 10-20 years Azure wont make much money . Meanwhile Windows and Office are still popular but not as compelling as they used to be. Xbox? I'm not sure why Microsoft is so popular with investors.

inerte 8y ago
10-20 years is a looooong time for quarterly results focused “investment”
sanxiyn 8y ago
Differentiation is enormous amount of CAPEX required. Cloud is priting money and Azure is solid #2. I don't see both changing. (That is, profitable cloud and Microsoft's cloud position.)
outside1234 8y ago
VMs/Containers are just the loss leader to a whole set of differentiated services.
vezycash 8y ago
Computing started with dumb terminals connected to super computers. Personal computing reversed the trend. Now the trend is reversing. Computing is increasingly being offloaded to the cloud. Gaming, graphics, it won't matter if an app is ARM or x86, 32bit or 64bit or 128bit, windows, android, linux or IOS if it runs on the cloud, even part of the operating system can be handled off hand-held devices. The only limit AFAIK is network latency. As network speeds, reliability improves and costs approaches zero, cloud computing would become more valuable. If battery no longer an issue, cloud computing might wane. Until then, MS is right to bet on cloud.
- rb808 8y ago
  I completely agree there is a big demand and a big market. The issue is whether providing these services is so profitable that MS deserves to be in the top few companies in the US. Is there really enough pricing power in Azure? Windows used to be strategically important. Outsourced hardware isn't.
  - vezycash 8y ago
    I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer authoritatively. However, buzzwords drive valuations. Microsoft has a few buzzwords working for it ATM - blockchain, AI, and Cloud, Intelligent cloud.
yarrel 8y ago
Yes Azure's user experience isn't going to persuade anyone to choose it over the alternatives. It's a me-too offering that behaves like a compromise between internal factions.
beauzero 8y ago
Once you have a shared AD tenet stood up, a new web app with SSO/company user and group rights provisioning is just a Visual Studio wizard away... Microsoft's cloud is not everybody's cloud. They have distinct advantages and are using them. The race is not for hosting VMs/Containers ...it's for user subscriptions and enterprise lockin. Google theoretically gives away G Suite because they get better ad metrics the younger they understand a user.

by rb808 8y ago

inerte 8y ago

10-20 years is a looooong time for quarterly results focused “investment”

sanxiyn 8y ago

Differentiation is enormous amount of CAPEX required. Cloud is priting money and Azure is solid #2. I don't see both changing. (That is, profitable cloud and Microsoft's cloud position.)

outside1234 8y ago

VMs/Containers are just the loss leader to a whole set of differentiated services.

vezycash 8y ago

Computing started with dumb terminals connected to super computers. Personal computing reversed the trend. Now the trend is reversing. Computing is increasingly being offloaded to the cloud. Gaming, graphics, it won't matter if an app is ARM or x86, 32bit or 64bit or 128bit, windows, android, linux or IOS if it runs on the cloud, even part of the operating system can be handled off hand-held devices. The only limit AFAIK is network latency. As network speeds, reliability improves and costs approaches zero, cloud computing would become more valuable. If battery no longer an issue, cloud computing might wane. Until then, MS is right to bet on cloud.

rb808 8y ago
I completely agree there is a big demand and a big market. The issue is whether providing these services is so profitable that MS deserves to be in the top few companies in the US. Is there really enough pricing power in Azure? Windows used to be strategically important. Outsourced hardware isn't.
- vezycash 8y ago
  I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer authoritatively. However, buzzwords drive valuations. Microsoft has a few buzzwords working for it ATM - blockchain, AI, and Cloud, Intelligent cloud.

yarrel 8y ago

Yes Azure's user experience isn't going to persuade anyone to choose it over the alternatives. It's a me-too offering that behaves like a compromise between internal factions.

beauzero 8y ago

Once you have a shared AD tenet stood up, a new web app with SSO/company user and group rights provisioning is just a Visual Studio wizard away... Microsoft's cloud is not everybody's cloud. They have distinct advantages and are using them. The race is not for hosting VMs/Containers ...it's for user subscriptions and enterprise lockin. Google theoretically gives away G Suite because they get better ad metrics the younger they understand a user.