Microsoft AnalysisJoin now to read essay Microsoft AnalysisMicrosoft AnalysisIntroduction and Summary of Company History and Background InformationMicrosoft over the past 27 years has positioned itself as the arterial system of almost all computers rolled into use across the world. Albeit with no competition worth the name to challenge its existence leave alone on technology advancements, the company has still managed to keep pace with both felt and perceived needs of its customers and its niche remains robust thus far. Nevertheless disturbing winds have begun to blow. Its corporate governance is under the microscope and the world is watching as to how Microsoft is bracing itself for the challenges posed both by competition (however innocuous it may be at present) and technology proliferation.
In February, the Microsoft Research CTO, James Sells, called to explain why he thinks that competition is such a great problem. It is an issue that no other company has faced, but which Microsoft is in desperate need of answered. Sells noted that only one-third of IBM’s business uses the system at all, with only a small percentage of its business taking advantage of it. He warned against what he calls the “chilling effects” on Microsoft’s long-term outlook by a shift away from competition. “We may start seeing a shift towards higher quality hardware, lower power consumption and reduced costs, and to a certain extent new technologies are being introduced,” Sells told TechInsider.com. “It seems this means that a lot of the hardware and software that does it have to be a little less intensive, if not to some degree, a little more efficient — as a result many of us now would be a lot less productive in our offices doing the hard work that we do in Microsoft business, so it is getting harder to keep things in order, it has to be as efficient as possible.”
With regard to the cloud market, Sells said, Microsoft has a good deal to answer for in terms of its ability to meet the demand created from customers. While “the cloud is certainly a huge investment in Microsoft’s business, it is also an asset and, with other factors, a great asset of Microsoft in its business in general,” Sells commented.
Indeed, Microsoft is an important supporter of the company in terms of its cloud technology, in which some of the highest-level technologies (such as cloud-computing and Microsoft Data Center hosting) are deployed across all of the company’s devices and have been upgraded from pre-production versions. This is largely where the cloud comes in.
Sells also pointed to Microsoft’s increasing relevance in the digital age, particularly for web and mobile communications that are “focussed at some point on how to harness the energy power of the people who will use Microsoft’s devices on a daily basis.” With this in mind, though, Sells pointed out that there may remain “very few people on high-end devices and at least many people in the low end of the market.” In the context of the growing use of cloud, Sells suggested that Microsoft should “make very strong efforts to make sure everybody is using Microsoft services on the same service level as we are in any other form of enterprise operation (EEO) application where we are operating (and perhaps the future) product mix.”
Microsoft’s business model in particular is one where, Sells said, the customer “is always the customer.” For his part, Sells noted that “when you want to deploy a service level that is going through a lot of iterations and iterations, Microsoft does it better than just about every other company. We try to do more of it better than any business on Earth.”
In recent years, Microsoft’s mobile strategy has also seen some success, with the company’s Azure Mobile Cloud providing services around the world, including from cloud storage providers such as Microsoft.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, as Microsoft evolves its business model, Sells noted, it is in this regard that the team’s focus shifts. “Our focus from
Let us look at MicrosoftЎ¦s expansion plans and initiatives to integrate them to its existing competenciesMicrosoftЎ¦s role according to Mr. Gates himself is to provide a software platformthat allows everyone who is building applications to build far more powerfulapplications.MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager) 2005, which is a key management software and Virtual Server product as part of simplification of the IT lifecyclehave been launched recentlyIn hardware domain the company has had the benefit of exponential improvementin recent decades. During the first half of next year, the company is expected tohave a very smooth transition from 32-bit to 64-bit systems, with total binarycompatibility. This will provide the ability to mix 32-bit and 64-bit; a simplerecompilation for any application using the full 64-bit address base. That is awonderful milestone no longer requiring people to buy expensive systems simplyto achieve the best possible performance.New graphics chips for better visualization; larger screens, moving up to 17-inch, 19-inch or multi PAL type LCD displays; and RFID for tagging information and having them available to track is on the agenda too.
Software developments in photography, web searches and music, and advances in gaming applications are on the anvilWeb-service protocols for connecting applications ЎV Exchange and XML data are already in the pipeline.All this of course does not guarantee sound sleep to Mr. Bill Gates for too long. Guarantee of success happens in no business, not even in a long-term monopoly. Competition, technology compatibility and integration needs, pricing, delivery and service parameters can precipitate substantial threat to Microsoft and afford opportunities for other players. It is not that Microsoft is not aware of this. It is focusing on R&D and business strategies to sustain market shares in its own way. But is it enough and is it taking the right direction is the big question.
Others have started to seriously innovate and compete. For example changing technologies like Wireless Communications and Networking (WAN) etc do not complement MicrosoftЎ¦s existing competencies. Over the next five years, in all developed countries, the majority of people will be connecting through broadband and interacting with information through many devices: PCs at work and at home, portable PCs, Tablet PCs, and pocket devices such as the phone, evolving from simply a voice device to a data device. Having all these devices work very well together and be secure and up to date are very significant challenges indeed.
Therefore there is adequate scope and opportunity to review, audit and understand through SWOT analysis the company and its competencies and facilitate a new debate on possible corporate business models and revised action plans.
SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. It has to be a continuous rather than a need based exercise.
StrengthsA) Key StrengthsStrong fundamentals-Microsoft has become synonymous to computers over the last two decades. It has a massive market share and has recorded impressive sustainability and growth even in the face of disasters like 9/11.Impressive research base takes care of business cycle changes and product life cycle limitations
Strategic tie-ups