4 ms·

I disagree. Technology people tend to focus on the shiny, which really isn't what Microsoft needs at this point. They're just too big and they play in too many

by exelius 13y ago

I disagree. Technology people tend to focus on the shiny, which really isn't what Microsoft needs at this point. They're just too big and they play in too many fields where they end up competing with themselves in half of the markets they play in. After ten years of Ballmer, what Microsoft needs now is a professional manager to sort out the mess he left. They have no shortage of great technology people; what they need is someone to bring the organization to heel behind a universal vision. Microsoft is not on the verge of great growth or in the position anymore to build "the next big thing." That ship has sailed for them, as all the people capable of building the next big thing have been run off by the ineffective management (or never hired in the first place) and work at Google or Facebook now. Microsoft is, however, at risk of losing a significant portion of their revenue should the PC industry continue its slide and start being displaced in the enterprise. Nadella is the best choice that is available. I still hold that the best candidate out there for the job is Mark Hurd, but he apparently wasn't interested for the same reason a lot of other outside candidates weren't interested: Microsoft has an infamously poisonous corporate culture, and everyone who worked for an outside CEO would be trying to undermine him and take his job.

bluthru 13y ago
>what they need is someone to bring the organization to heel behind a universal vision. Unless that vision is just next quarter's earnings, they can't afford a MBA type who doesn't have a deep understanding of technology.
- exelius 13y ago
  A CEO doesn't work in a vacuum, nor does he need to be the most knowledgeable person in the room. He can pay other people to think for him and ask the right questions. It's not an easy job, but it necessitates taking a 10,000 foot view of everything. Knowing how to navigate a corporate alliance or a merger is much more important than anything technology-specific.
lmg643 13y ago
I totally disagree on the "professional manager" - that's what ballmer was. and this is coming from someone who thinks ballmer is unfairly criticized. (eg - what google and apple unleashed on the world in the past 10 years was a major historical shift - coming from product/technical people at their core. arguably, this shift was one that only a newbie or outsider could pull off. 20/20 hindsight to say "microsoft could have dominated those arenas" when they had so many other verticals of strength to tend to. (and 20/20 hindsight for me to say this as well...)) IMHO microsoft needs to keep focusing on hacker-friendliness - they have a great lock on the corporate world, but the corporate world is starting to look to the hacker community for direction. what do i mean by this? big companies can't be trusted to just get brand loyalty and keep buying your stuff until they go out of business. look at RIM - Blackberries were mandatory company accessories, now it is BYOD. Look at the server market - the biggest consumers of servers (FB, GOOG) are using designs they made themselves. Tougher for Dell and HP to keep selling ready-made servers. How long before other major corporations are doing the same? the enterprise market is more tech savvy than times past, and only getting more so. high-level technical creativity and intuitive understanding of product potential is vital.
- gtirloni 13y ago
  I always thought the amount FB/GOOG spend on servers is a tiny fraction, when compared to the sum of what all the other companies in the world spend. Do you have a source where I can verify this claim that Dell/HP are having a hard with their server divisions because FB/GOOG isn't buying from them? This is a honest question as I often am not aware of the whole picture (and have a hard time picking the right sources for that kind of information -- not sure who to trust in a marketing war).
  - cwp 13y ago
    The GP isn't arguing that Dell/HP are hurting because they lost their biggest customers. It argues that they're at risk of losing many customers in the future, because enterprise IT departments will emulate Facebook and Google.
    - 13y ago
eitally 13y ago
In a lot of respects I agree with you. Microsoft needs someone who will fix their ridiculous enterprise agreement / contract / sales process and win back the hearts and minds of CIOs around the world. In my personal opinion, this has to be job #1... at least for the Finance+Sales organization. They also need credibility with consumers and techies on their R&D and hardware/platforms side. Not that they don't have decent stuff now, but they have approached it like a large enterprise rather than as a hip tech company and it's really unsexy for people to proclaim their love of Azure vs [insert ANY other PAAS/IAAS here]. Just as an example.... Windows Phone and the whole Windows OS strategy is something else they should publicize better. At this point, hardly anyone is building Metro mobile apps because it's really unclear WTF Microsoft is doing beyond Windows 8.1, and what will happen to Nokia or their very few other hardware partners if sales don't take off. The Surface Pro is a really nice tab and fits well into a lot of IT strategies, given it hits both the "I want a sexy tablet!" and the "I need my freaking Excel and my goddamn PowerPoint animations!" sweet spots. MS has a ton of potential and loads of talent. They just need to motivate it toward the right objectives, and I think choosing a new CEO from within will help them get there way faster than hiring an outsider, especially one from a non-tech company.

by exelius 13y ago

bluthru 13y ago

>what they need is someone to bring the organization to heel behind a universal vision. Unless that vision is just next quarter's earnings, they can't afford a MBA type who doesn't have a deep understanding of technology.

exelius 13y ago
A CEO doesn't work in a vacuum, nor does he need to be the most knowledgeable person in the room. He can pay other people to think for him and ask the right questions. It's not an easy job, but it necessitates taking a 10,000 foot view of everything. Knowing how to navigate a corporate alliance or a merger is much more important than anything technology-specific.

lmg643 13y ago

I totally disagree on the "professional manager" - that's what ballmer was. and this is coming from someone who thinks ballmer is unfairly criticized. (eg - what google and apple unleashed on the world in the past 10 years was a major historical shift - coming from product/technical people at their core. arguably, this shift was one that only a newbie or outsider could pull off. 20/20 hindsight to say "microsoft could have dominated those arenas" when they had so many other verticals of strength to tend to. (and 20/20 hindsight for me to say this as well...)) IMHO microsoft needs to keep focusing on hacker-friendliness - they have a great lock on the corporate world, but the corporate world is starting to look to the hacker community for direction. what do i mean by this? big companies can't be trusted to just get brand loyalty and keep buying your stuff until they go out of business. look at RIM - Blackberries were mandatory company accessories, now it is BYOD. Look at the server market - the biggest consumers of servers (FB, GOOG) are using designs they made themselves. Tougher for Dell and HP to keep selling ready-made servers. How long before other major corporations are doing the same? the enterprise market is more tech savvy than times past, and only getting more so. high-level technical creativity and intuitive understanding of product potential is vital.

gtirloni 13y ago
I always thought the amount FB/GOOG spend on servers is a tiny fraction, when compared to the sum of what all the other companies in the world spend. Do you have a source where I can verify this claim that Dell/HP are having a hard with their server divisions because FB/GOOG isn't buying from them? This is a honest question as I often am not aware of the whole picture (and have a hard time picking the right sources for that kind of information -- not sure who to trust in a marketing war).
- cwp 13y ago
  The GP isn't arguing that Dell/HP are hurting because they lost their biggest customers. It argues that they're at risk of losing many customers in the future, because enterprise IT departments will emulate Facebook and Google.
  - 13y ago

eitally 13y ago

In a lot of respects I agree with you. Microsoft needs someone who will fix their ridiculous enterprise agreement / contract / sales process and win back the hearts and minds of CIOs around the world. In my personal opinion, this has to be job #1... at least for the Finance+Sales organization. They also need credibility with consumers and techies on their R&D and hardware/platforms side. Not that they don't have decent stuff now, but they have approached it like a large enterprise rather than as a hip tech company and it's really unsexy for people to proclaim their love of Azure vs [insert ANY other PAAS/IAAS here]. Just as an example.... Windows Phone and the whole Windows OS strategy is something else they should publicize better. At this point, hardly anyone is building Metro mobile apps because it's really unclear WTF Microsoft is doing beyond Windows 8.1, and what will happen to Nokia or their very few other hardware partners if sales don't take off. The Surface Pro is a really nice tab and fits well into a lot of IT strategies, given it hits both the "I want a sexy tablet!" and the "I need my freaking Excel and my goddamn PowerPoint animations!" sweet spots. MS has a ton of potential and loads of talent. They just need to motivate it toward the right objectives, and I think choosing a new CEO from within will help them get there way faster than hiring an outsider, especially one from a non-tech company.