3 ms·

Microsoft has been "dying" for as long as I can remember. The truth, however, is that they have continued to be a very healthy and well run business for far, f

by skc 12y ago

Microsoft has been "dying" for as long as I can remember. The truth, however, is that they have continued to be a very healthy and well run business for far, far longer than any of their peers can ever claim. The "Microsoft is in crisis" meme has always been popular but has never even remotely come close to being true.

digi_owl 12y ago
This in part because MS is operating like a pre-80s company. Old divisions support new by virtue of providing an economic war chest. so while IBM, HP and others are downsizing and "streamlining" MS is expanding and diversifying.
mattmanser 12y ago
I don't know, I remember Lotus seemingly collapsing overnight. One minute it was playing catchup all the time, but still a major player in office software, the next, it was just gone.
- simonh 12y ago
  The same pretty much happened to Nokia and Blackberry. Those were all one trick ponies though. MS is a huge company with numerous product ranges operating in many different markets. Many of those businesses are doing very well, and have been for a decade or more. If any one of their Office, exchange, SQL Server, Azure, Windows desktop, etc businesses almost completely failed the others would largely be fine. They can't afford to be complacent of course. They need to be able to crack new markets and execute effectively on their current products. Their failure in mobile and two botched updates to Windows are very worrying. But Satya was instrumental in building their Azure business, a very successful new revenue generating product in a space not generally seen as an MS strength.
parasubvert 12y ago
I suppose you can debate the definition of "crisis", but how you can you even suggest that Microsoft is not in crisis with a straight face? This is the same logic of RIM or Nokia circa 2008: sales are up, profits are up, what's the concern? If Mocrosoft were not in crisis, Steve Ballmer would still be CEO. The crisis is that the once dominant markets of Windows and Office are now becoming marginalized as PCs become dwarfed for mobile devices. The iPhone - laughed at by Ballmer in 2007 - by itself makes more annually than all of Microsofts businesses combined. Microsoft was an early mobile device player and yet was almost completely out-competed. Microsoft's only remaining stronghold, as with IBM, is the enterprise. And that's also under heavy attack by Amazon, Google, and the Linux/BSD development ecosystem.
sjwright 12y ago
You clearly can't remember very far back. Barely more than a decade ago Microsoft was widely accepted as the largest 600 pound gorilla in the industry, with its future cemented to the floor with almost universal reliance by most governments and businesses on the Windows ecosystem. Microsoft Office dominated education and small business. Enterprise and vertical software was almost exclusively built as Windows binaries. Its market position seemed impossible to budge. Of course, we know better now -- the one-two punch of standards-based web browsers and mobile computing revolution saw off that. Microsoft aren't an unassailable gorilla any more. But let's be clear, their "crisis" is one of future relevance; it's certainly not existential.
sjwright 12y ago
"Dying for as long as I can remember"? Are you sure you're not talking about Apple circa 2001?
- rescendent 12y ago
  Bailed out by Microsoft's $150 million investment?
  - sjwright 12y ago
    An investment that Microsoft cashed out as quickly as they could. If only they knew -- their shares would be worth over 100 billion dollars today.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

by skc 12y ago

digi_owl 12y ago

This in part because MS is operating like a pre-80s company. Old divisions support new by virtue of providing an economic war chest. so while IBM, HP and others are downsizing and "streamlining" MS is expanding and diversifying.

mattmanser 12y ago

I don't know, I remember Lotus seemingly collapsing overnight. One minute it was playing catchup all the time, but still a major player in office software, the next, it was just gone.

simonh 12y ago
The same pretty much happened to Nokia and Blackberry. Those were all one trick ponies though. MS is a huge company with numerous product ranges operating in many different markets. Many of those businesses are doing very well, and have been for a decade or more. If any one of their Office, exchange, SQL Server, Azure, Windows desktop, etc businesses almost completely failed the others would largely be fine. They can't afford to be complacent of course. They need to be able to crack new markets and execute effectively on their current products. Their failure in mobile and two botched updates to Windows are very worrying. But Satya was instrumental in building their Azure business, a very successful new revenue generating product in a space not generally seen as an MS strength.

parasubvert 12y ago

I suppose you can debate the definition of "crisis", but how you can you even suggest that Microsoft is not in crisis with a straight face? This is the same logic of RIM or Nokia circa 2008: sales are up, profits are up, what's the concern? If Mocrosoft were not in crisis, Steve Ballmer would still be CEO. The crisis is that the once dominant markets of Windows and Office are now becoming marginalized as PCs become dwarfed for mobile devices. The iPhone - laughed at by Ballmer in 2007 - by itself makes more annually than all of Microsofts businesses combined. Microsoft was an early mobile device player and yet was almost completely out-competed. Microsoft's only remaining stronghold, as with IBM, is the enterprise. And that's also under heavy attack by Amazon, Google, and the Linux/BSD development ecosystem.

sjwright 12y ago

You clearly can't remember very far back. Barely more than a decade ago Microsoft was widely accepted as the largest 600 pound gorilla in the industry, with its future cemented to the floor with almost universal reliance by most governments and businesses on the Windows ecosystem. Microsoft Office dominated education and small business. Enterprise and vertical software was almost exclusively built as Windows binaries. Its market position seemed impossible to budge. Of course, we know better now -- the one-two punch of standards-based web browsers and mobile computing revolution saw off that. Microsoft aren't an unassailable gorilla any more. But let's be clear, their "crisis" is one of future relevance; it's certainly not existential.

sjwright 12y ago

"Dying for as long as I can remember"? Are you sure you're not talking about Apple circa 2001?

rescendent 12y ago
Bailed out by Microsoft's $150 million investment?
- sjwright 12y ago
  An investment that Microsoft cashed out as quickly as they could. If only they knew -- their shares would be worth over 100 billion dollars today.

deleted 12y ago

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