BizAnalyst Network

A Mash of New Models for Microsoft

Has Bill Gates found the hosting religion? Not likely. While his company is putting out some new hosted CRM and other business productivity apps, it's clear from recent statements that licensed software still rules. Is it possible for two business models to exist in one company? Sure, at least until the larger market decides it prefers one over the other. If there's a buck to be made either way, Gates would be a fool not to pursue.

Hosted services and mash-ups will have a place in Microsoft's future, but it's doubtful they will fully supplant the company's traditional licensed software model. Still, Redmond is recoding some Office products to make them gel more fully with an integrated world. Microsoft recently showed new Dynamics products that utilize interface cues from Vista and Office to form a tighter bond. The challenges are large. Dynamics must be rewritten to accommodate .NET, but not in such a way that it competes with hosted services from MSN/Live partners. Office and Windows have to be reinvented as on-ramps for Web-based activity. And how will Microsoft migrate its servers from providers of licensed software to managers of grid-based applications? Though Google appears to be Redmond's biggest competitor in this space, don't count out Yahoo.

Current headlines:
Gates Lays out Future of Enterprise Apps :: CIO.com
Microsoft Mixes Software for Business 'Mash-ups' :: News.com
Mashup or Meltdown for Microsoft? :: ZDnet
Google Shores up Search :: The Motley Fool

posted by Victor Lloyd Smith @ 10:41 PM