Microsoft focuses on 3 areas for Mobile, not including the youth

Microsoft announced a change in its focus on Mobile and three market segments.

“We plan to narrow our focus to three customer segments where we can make unique contributions and where we can differentiate through the combination of our hardware and software. We’ll bring business customers the best management, security and productivity experiences they need; value phone buyers the communications services they want; and Windows fans the flagship devices they’ll love.”

In the above there is no mention of the youth market.  Teenagers and college students are some of the most intense mobile users and Microsoft isn't targeting those users. What is missing are the apps that the youth market uses.  Microsoft's strategy is enterprise which many will want office.  Given Office apps are on iOS and Android, the value Microsoft is providing is in management, security and productivity.  Management and Security sound like the rallying cry for Blackberry.

The kids of parents who work for Microsoft have been more and more convincing their parents they want an iPhone, not a Windows phone.  Why?  Because the apps.  Microsoft won the battles of DOS and Windows vs. others with availability of apps.  The losers where OSs like CP/M that couldn't compete with the lack of apps.

Microsoft making layoffs in the summer is turning into an annual event.  Microsoft wrote off $7.8bil and the stock didn't budge.

“Microsoft Corp. plans to cut as many as 7,800 jobs and write down about $7.6 billion on its Nokia phone-handset unit, wiping out nearly all of the value of a business it acquired just 14 months ago.”

— http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/microsoft-to-cut-7-800-jobs-as-it-restructures-phone-business

Isn't Mobile-First, Cloud-First like saying you want to be Apple and AWS?

Arstechnica has an article saying that Microsoft is still Steve Ballmer's Microsoft and Satya is running things.

“One year in, it’s still Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft—Satya Nadella just runs it
Microsoft’s direction hasn’t changed. Its perception has.

by Peter Bright - Feb 4 2015, 4:01am PST
...
Over the long haul, Microsoft’s hope is that its new focus—whether you call it “Devices and Services” or “Mobile-first, cloud-first”—will make up for the dependence on PC sales. This transition is perhaps one of the best reasons for Nadella’s appointment as CEO. As one of the big cloud champions within the company under the old regime, it’s fitting that he should continue the work as leader of the new company. The new Microsoft may have started under the old CEO, but the new CEO has given it a kind of visibility and credibility that it lacked before.”

The last paragraph in closing is making a positive spin on the Mobile-first, cloud-first strategy.  But, when you think of who has made mobile-first I think of Apple and for cloud-first I think of AWS.

How can you put two things first?

And is what being said is be like Apple and AWS, but branded Microsoft?

I am confused.

The Cloud Battle, A War to Sell Data Center Bits - Amazon, Google, Microsoft

This time of year is turning into a Cloud Battle, a war between Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to deliver bits as a service from data centers. iPhone vs. Android is a battle of mobile bits.  OS X vs. Windows 7/8/10 is a battle of desktop bits.  The Cloud is a battle to deliver bits as a service from data centers.

Microsoft had their cloud, and Google just finished theirs.  Next week is AWS Reinvent.  The media covers the battles.

Google's Newest Attack On Amazon

• JILLIAN D'ONFRO

• NOV. 4, 2014, 9:34 AM
• 9,656
• 1

When I read so many of the media articles though I think they are focused on how big fleet is or the latest technology.  Huh?  Like this article makes the point of measuring the naval power by the tonnage of the fleet misses the point.

Measuring Naval Power: Bigger Ain’t Always Better

Aggregate tonnage alone doesn’t win naval battles in the modern era, and suggesting otherwise is dangerous.

By James R. Holmes

April 12, 2014

...

Navies were largely symmetrical in those thrilling days of yesteryear. That simplified matters. Size was a decent proxy for fighting power when battle fleets made up largely of capital ships bearing big guns squared off. That was before the era — an era that persists to this day — when small craft could carry armament comparable to that of capital ships. A destroyer couldn’t tote big guns back then. A lowly missile boat or sub can fire munitions comparable to those of a capital ship today — and to the same deadly effect.

I have got a chance to close hand see how executives at Google (Urs Hoelzle), Amazon (Werner Vogel), and Microsoft (Scott Guthrie) perform at Gigaom Structure on stage and behind.  It’s kind of like seeing the Generals/Admirals of the military.

This is not a simple battle where more servers and more MW of data center capacity win the war.  How well your team operates using the technology which in the case of the bits (software) was created by other team members is so important.

I think I could write a whole book on the battles between between Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. In fact, I am sure there is someone who has already made a book proposal for this.  Unfortunately or fortunately, I am too busy working on other things to document things in an entertaining way to sell a book.  What I can do is watch as an observer to see strategies being played.

The Cloud Battle may be one of the most interesting technology wars fought with billions of dollars of data centers and IT equipment and 10,000s of development staff, reaching around the world.

Below is Google’s Points of Presence.

Oh, one point I do want to make that I forgot is.  Just like Sun Tzu the Art of War Point 18.  “All warfare is based on deception”  The good know how to deceive the enemy and they can use the media to spread the deception.  Don’t believe everything you read.

18. All warfare is based on deception.

10 years of Microsoft Data Center Executives

Microsoft’s latest VP of Data Centers (Global Foundation Services) now called the Cloud Infrastructure and Operations is Suresh Kumar.  There have been a lot of changes in the past 10 years of Microsoft’s data center group. The following is an accumulation of looking at Linkedin Profiles.

Currently Suresh Kumar is VP of Cloud Infrastructure and Operations with Christian Belady General Manager of Data Centers.

Dayne Sampson was VP of Global Foundation Services (GFS) from 2009 - 2014 with Christian Belady and Kevin Timmons as GMs of data centers.

Debra Chrapty was VP of GFS (until 2009) with Arne Josefsberg who brought in Mike Manos from Disney Interactive in 2005 to run data centers and this was the beginning of Microsoft’s transition to building data centers.

Before 2005 data centers also existed part of Microsoft IT and that was run by John Coster.

I have talked to some of the above people, but the only one I worked with is Mike Manos.

Mike and I overlapped by a year at Microsoft, and we didn't worked together when employees.  But, we did work together after I left the company and we had many interesting conversations.  The most memorable one was in Mar 2009 in his office when Mike said he was thinking of leaving Microsoft, and he wanted to know what I thought of leaving.  Mike had been at Microsoft for 4 years.  I had been at the company 14 years.  Mike explained the situation, and I was 100% supportive of Mike’s decision to leave Microsoft, and I knew with almost the same 100% certainty that Mike would eventually be a senior executive at the CIO/CTO level.  What I didn’t expect is how quickly Mike achieved CTO status.  Which reminds me of one of the points I shared with Mike is where would he be after 5 more years at Microsoft?  He would be a senior general manager with a slim chance of being a VP.  It may seem obvious that Mike would be VP of data centers/cloud vs. Dayne Sampson, but Dayne had internal support from other senior executives as Microsoft replaced Debra Chrapty.  One supporter of Mike was Satya Nadella, so it is possible if Mike was still at Microsoft he would be the VP of Cloud Infrastructure and Operations, but not a certainty.

Since I had posted comparing Suresh to Google’s Joe Kava using LinkedIn.  I was curious what happens if you compare Suresh to Mike using LinkedIn.  Here is a picture with Mike and Joe at 7x24 Exchange. Don’t think I have ever seen Suresh at a data center event.  Will to be fair you hardly ever see an Amazon.com employee at a data center event. :-)

What became clear in the LinkedIn data is that Mike has a higher peer review, and is probably one of the best VPs Microsoft could have had to run Cloud Infrastructure and Operations in the opinion of his LinkedIn connections.

Both Mike and Suresh have 500+ connections, and I think Mike’s actual connections may be a bit bigger.  Why?  Because data like Mike’s #1 skill is cloud computing 241, #2 data centers 225, and #3 IT Operations 136.  Suresh’s #1 skill is e-commerce 28 and his Cloud Computing # is 11.   Whoa.  Mike Manos Cloud Computing skill # is 241 and Suresh’s 11.  A 22x difference.  Data Centers for Mike is 225 and Suresh is 0. 

Mike did a short stint at Nokia and if Stephen Elop backed Mike Manos, then Mike could have come back to Microsoft through the Nokia acquisition.  We’ve all witnessed boomerang executives.

Those executives who know how to operate data centers are rare.  Those who know how to run Cloud Infrastructure seem more plentiful.  But, I somehow don’t feel comfortable taking direction from a Cloud Executive who doesn’t understand the way data centers operate.

Here are Mike’s top skills

Suresh’s top skills

Comparing Microsoft's VP of Cloud Infrastructure to Google's VP of Data Centers via LinkedIn Profiles

Microsoft has put a new VP in charge of its Cloud Infrastructure group retiring the role of VP of Global Foundation Services.  GFS’s logo looked like this.

Global Foundation Services (GFS) is the engine that powers Microsoft's cloud services. Learn more.

When I Google Search “Microsoft Global Foundation Services” what shows is Microsoft Cloud Platform with little trace of Global Foundation Services and the words Global Foundation Services (GFS) are gone.

So the changes have started in Microsoft’s data center group.  What changes are there in the future?

One way to look at what the future will be like is to compare the new Microsoft VP's public profile vs. a competitor.  I could pick Amazon as competitor, but Google is bigger in terms of a data center presence.  So let’s look at Microsoft’s Suresh Kumar, VP of Cloud Infrastructure and Operations vs. Google’s Joe Kava, VP of Data Centers.  The below is from their LinkedIn profiles as of Oct 21, 8:30p.  I am referencing the date and time of this post as things may change as profile get modified.  2 days ago Sumar’s picture was this.

Suresh Kumar, via LinkedIn

Now on LinkedIn Suresh’s photo is below.

Both Suresh and Joe have 500+ connections.

On Suresh’s profile his top skill at 27 in e-commerce.  Joe’s top skill at 117 is Strategy.

Joe has 66 for Data Centers.  Suresh has 0.

Here is Suresh’s top 10 skills.

Here is Joe’s top 10 skills.

The one area where Suresh and Joe are close is 11 and 14 for Cloud Computing.  

Suresh

Joe

When you look at the above numbers who would you choose to build your Cloud/Data Center Infrastructure?  This has been an interesting way to look at two different executives using LinkedIn profiles.  With fresh eyes I went and looked at my skills listed on my LinkedIn profile.  You may want to as well and think about how your skills are listed.

Oh the other area Suresh and Joe are equal is it looks like both of them now have photos that their corporate PR groups say is OK to have on a public facing site.

Joe Kava, via LinkedIn