8 Things Microsoft Must Do to Compete with Google in Education

A lot of discussion re: Microsoft going after the Google Chromebook market (in education market, see link here). Big announcement slated for early May. My two cents on what Microsoft faces:

Just to compete with Google, Microsoft must: 

1. Offer a better device (performance, features, package) for <$400 

2. Offer ALL software FREE (OS, email, office 365 (word, excel, ppt) 

3. Provide FREE unlimited online storage 

4. Provide free online collaboration spaces (teams, office 365)

On top of this, Microsoft must also:

5. Migrate all GAFE (Google Apps for Education), Google Classroom apps and infrastructure to Microsoft Cloud (for free) 

6. Convince millions of teachers and students who know and love Google to use Microsoft apps instead

7. Convince millions of students who don't need a new device to buy a new one

8. Convince tens of thousands of schools to switch

I have some personal experience here. I have two teens, both who've been using ASUS Chromebooks and Google apps for years (so have their schools). It's what they know. They have no reason to switch, and would probably resist it. And even if they did switch, they'd probably choose Mac over Windows.

This is not Microsoft's first rodeo, trying to compete in a market that got away on them; Mobile, Search, Browser, OS (Apple), Media etc. And the odds are stacked against them. It's hard to compete with free, especially when you're 5 years late.  

With $100B in cash, maybe they should take a page from Google and Uber and buy the market. Schools need $, and Microsoft has tons of it. Free devices for all students and grants for schools? Microsoft may not win even if they compete this way. But at least they’d put a nice dent in Google's P&L.