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Microsoft is luring in non-tech companies with Active Directory and Office 365 and then catches them with promises about good integration into all services. Onc

by foepys 3y ago

Microsoft is luring in non-tech companies with Active Directory and Office 365 and then catches them with promises about good integration into all services. Once the companies are in the Azure dashboard, why not try those fancy services they offer? It's all smoke and mirrors but it works.

evrimoztamur 3y ago
My old boss directed us to Azure because one potential benefit was 'getting all invoices from Microsoft.' It was a separate invoice and not with O365...
xyzzy_plugh 3y ago
I'm honestly surprised they haven't been trying to bundle GitHub more (or vice versa). It does work and it is very compelling, at least on the tin. The problem is convincing powers that be that it doesn't do what it says is borderline impossible. The most they've built is equal parts astounding and terrifying. In a sort of funny twist I feel like this is an area Google could really excel in if they got their shit together. Signing up for Workspace and GCP and everything else makes you feel like they don't want you to use their products. TFA seems strangely relevant as there seems to be some cultural values reflected in both Microsoft's security posture and reputation, and the ability to bundle and market disparate and downright broken (at least in some cases) products effectively.
- carstenhag 3y ago
  Observation from german companies (smaller eg 250 employees, mid, big): Azure DevOps is used. Noone uses GitHub. I am sure it's widespread, but rather for small companies
  - mongol 3y ago
    Where I work (globally well-known brand) GitHub is chosen as the future platform, since apparently that is where MS invests more. DevOps is seen as legacy. Curious if others have different info.
    - WorldMaker 3y ago
      From open source documentation commits and feature lag (new features for DevOps are old GitHub features and even now include GitHub branding) I think it is impossible to avoid the impression that GitHub is active development and DevOps is legacy. The problem is that Microsoft still hasn't said that officially and directly out loud despite the writing on the wall. They continue to sell DevOps to new teams and point to its "active roadmap" (despite it being mostly unambitious and increasingly "copy X from GitHub"). So a lot of companies still have just enough doubt in the message that DevOps is legacy/dead that they keep inside it and don't migrate to GitHub, because Microsoft keeps giving them that doubt. I'm not sure if it is superstition on Microsoft's part to not kill DevOps (it is an ancient team with quite a legacy; it's maybe Microsoft's albatross), some sort of "magic" migration strategy they want to keep secret until complete, or just that Microsoft loves telling customers what they want to hear and enough companies want to hear "DevOps is alive and in good health" for a number of sunk cost or emotional support reasons.
      - carstenhag 3y ago
        Are you sure? I have had the "pending/reviewed file" feature in DevOps for years, months before it was available at GitHub afaik. But maybe I'm mixing it up.
    - nullindividual 3y ago
      ADO was dead, until customers told Microsoft ADO wasn’t dead. Once Microsoft learned that ADO was not, indeed, dead, they began to reformulate the path forward for ADO and have actually released a fair amount of preview and release features since the pivot back. Enterprises like ADO and even when ADO was “legacy”, MSFT continued to see an uptick in adoption. ADO has better integration with Azure, at least for the web app space I play in.
  - Jka9rhnDJos 3y ago
    In many many many ways, they’re the same thing. GitHub Actions is Azure DevOps.
erksa 3y ago
From what I've heard from cloud consultants in Scandinavia (which is going through a huge move to the cloud as many places) the Microsoft Azure sales machine is on another level compared to competitors. Microsoft will show up with 10 sales engineer, while others might just be a contractor or a zoom call. They present themself as the authority for non-technical business and is winning a lot on that. They're good at capturing market share, no doubt about it.
- tonoto 3y ago
  One incentive spells kickback. When money, and not quality is the measurement.

by foepys 3y ago

evrimoztamur 3y ago

My old boss directed us to Azure because one potential benefit was 'getting all invoices from Microsoft.' It was a separate invoice and not with O365...

xyzzy_plugh 3y ago

I'm honestly surprised they haven't been trying to bundle GitHub more (or vice versa). It does work and it is very compelling, at least on the tin. The problem is convincing powers that be that it doesn't do what it says is borderline impossible. The most they've built is equal parts astounding and terrifying. In a sort of funny twist I feel like this is an area Google could really excel in if they got their shit together. Signing up for Workspace and GCP and everything else makes you feel like they don't want you to use their products. TFA seems strangely relevant as there seems to be some cultural values reflected in both Microsoft's security posture and reputation, and the ability to bundle and market disparate and downright broken (at least in some cases) products effectively.

carstenhag 3y ago
Observation from german companies (smaller eg 250 employees, mid, big): Azure DevOps is used. Noone uses GitHub. I am sure it's widespread, but rather for small companies
- mongol 3y ago
  Where I work (globally well-known brand) GitHub is chosen as the future platform, since apparently that is where MS invests more. DevOps is seen as legacy. Curious if others have different info.
  - WorldMaker 3y ago
    From open source documentation commits and feature lag (new features for DevOps are old GitHub features and even now include GitHub branding) I think it is impossible to avoid the impression that GitHub is active development and DevOps is legacy. The problem is that Microsoft still hasn't said that officially and directly out loud despite the writing on the wall. They continue to sell DevOps to new teams and point to its "active roadmap" (despite it being mostly unambitious and increasingly "copy X from GitHub"). So a lot of companies still have just enough doubt in the message that DevOps is legacy/dead that they keep inside it and don't migrate to GitHub, because Microsoft keeps giving them that doubt. I'm not sure if it is superstition on Microsoft's part to not kill DevOps (it is an ancient team with quite a legacy; it's maybe Microsoft's albatross), some sort of "magic" migration strategy they want to keep secret until complete, or just that Microsoft loves telling customers what they want to hear and enough companies want to hear "DevOps is alive and in good health" for a number of sunk cost or emotional support reasons.
    - carstenhag 3y ago
      Are you sure? I have had the "pending/reviewed file" feature in DevOps for years, months before it was available at GitHub afaik. But maybe I'm mixing it up.
  - nullindividual 3y ago
    ADO was dead, until customers told Microsoft ADO wasn’t dead. Once Microsoft learned that ADO was not, indeed, dead, they began to reformulate the path forward for ADO and have actually released a fair amount of preview and release features since the pivot back. Enterprises like ADO and even when ADO was “legacy”, MSFT continued to see an uptick in adoption. ADO has better integration with Azure, at least for the web app space I play in.
- Jka9rhnDJos 3y ago
  In many many many ways, they’re the same thing. GitHub Actions is Azure DevOps.

erksa 3y ago

From what I've heard from cloud consultants in Scandinavia (which is going through a huge move to the cloud as many places) the Microsoft Azure sales machine is on another level compared to competitors. Microsoft will show up with 10 sales engineer, while others might just be a contractor or a zoom call. They present themself as the authority for non-technical business and is winning a lot on that. They're good at capturing market share, no doubt about it.

tonoto 3y ago
One incentive spells kickback. When money, and not quality is the measurement.