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A former Microsoft executive has offered up some advice for current CEO Satya Nadella: spin off Windows and Office and focus on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing crown jewel.
Ben Slivka, a 14-year veteran at Microsoft who left in 1999, gave the unsolicited advice to Nadella in an interview with CNBC, saying: “The right thing probably is to bet the future on the cloud.”
“People running the Windows business put the mobile OS people in a box and constrained what they could do,” Slivka said. “They had their little ‘Start’ button and all this other ********. Microsoft rebooted its mobile strategy three times. Finally cellphone manufacturers and developers just gave up.”
[HEADING=1]Microsoft’s wild ride[/HEADING]
Satya Nadella took over the reigns at Microsoft in 2014 at a perilous time and has done an exceptional job, equal to – and perhaps even surpassing – Tim Cook at Apple.
Since then, Microsoft’s stock has risen from around $36 to $315, where it sits today, having gained 51% in 2021 alone, outpacing the S&P 500’s 27% rise.
To achieve this turnaround, Nadella refocused Microsoft on rethinking how Office and Windows fit into its overall services business; gone were the one-time payments, replaced with recurring monthly (or yearly) fees to access Windows and Office 365.
On top of this, Nadella invested heavily in building out Azure and other enterprise-focused offerings to compete with Amazon’s AWS and Google Cloud. By some estimates, Azure hold 20% of the cloud market, below AWS’ 32% and above Google’s 9%.
[HEADING=1]Would spinning off Windows and Office work? [/HEADING]
According to analysts that CNBC spoke to, spinning off Windows and Office would make very little sense. Nadella has built significant and much-needed synergies between Microsoft’s various businesses, in such a way that the rise of one boosts the others.
Removing two of Microsoft’s most longstanding and important products from the mix would likely have a negative impact on Azure and other services, which can be bundled together and sold to companies.
[ul]
[li]Microsoft in 2021: year in review[/li][/ul]
Continue reading…
Ben Slivka, a 14-year veteran at Microsoft who left in 1999, gave the unsolicited advice to Nadella in an interview with CNBC, saying: “The right thing probably is to bet the future on the cloud.”
“People running the Windows business put the mobile OS people in a box and constrained what they could do,” Slivka said. “They had their little ‘Start’ button and all this other ********. Microsoft rebooted its mobile strategy three times. Finally cellphone manufacturers and developers just gave up.”
[HEADING=1]Microsoft’s wild ride[/HEADING]
Satya Nadella took over the reigns at Microsoft in 2014 at a perilous time and has done an exceptional job, equal to – and perhaps even surpassing – Tim Cook at Apple.
Since then, Microsoft’s stock has risen from around $36 to $315, where it sits today, having gained 51% in 2021 alone, outpacing the S&P 500’s 27% rise.
To achieve this turnaround, Nadella refocused Microsoft on rethinking how Office and Windows fit into its overall services business; gone were the one-time payments, replaced with recurring monthly (or yearly) fees to access Windows and Office 365.
On top of this, Nadella invested heavily in building out Azure and other enterprise-focused offerings to compete with Amazon’s AWS and Google Cloud. By some estimates, Azure hold 20% of the cloud market, below AWS’ 32% and above Google’s 9%.
[HEADING=1]Would spinning off Windows and Office work? [/HEADING]
According to analysts that CNBC spoke to, spinning off Windows and Office would make very little sense. Nadella has built significant and much-needed synergies between Microsoft’s various businesses, in such a way that the rise of one boosts the others.
Removing two of Microsoft’s most longstanding and important products from the mix would likely have a negative impact on Azure and other services, which can be bundled together and sold to companies.
[ul]
[li]Microsoft in 2021: year in review[/li][/ul]
Continue reading…