Microsoft Is Marching Ahead In Its Cloud-First, Mobile-First Journey
Two years ago, when Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as the CEO of Microsoft, he started his new job with the mission of making Microsoft the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world. Though it sounded similar to Ballmer’s vision of delivering connected devices and continuous services, it was fundamentally different. Satya embarked on an unconventional path that no one thought would be possible at Microsoft. In less than 20 months, he single-handedly turned around the perception that the old Microsoft carried for the last two decades. Microsoft got its mojo back!
Satya’s call to transform the company into a cloud-first and mobile-first entity turned into a battle cry for its employees and partners. They are not leaving any stone unturned to make Azure an enterprise cloud.
Microsoft had little success with its phone strategy. Unlike the old Microsoft that was hell-bent on winning the market against all odds, Satya, and his leadership team realized the importance of being relevant to consumers and developers, even if they don’t use Windows. This move is helping the company in making progress.
The announcements made at Build 2016, Microsoft’s annual developer conference, are indications that the company is on the right track. While continuing to invest in Windows, Office, Visual Studio, and Azure, it’s also venturing into newer areas of artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Despite being an old-school company, Microsoft must be appreciated for its innovation and agility. It’s moving much faster that its peers.
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Janakiram MSV is an analyst, advisor, and architect. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.