Every now and then, a controversial issue triggers a flood of online discourse. For our Noise Filter feature, the WHIR pans the raging rivers of opinion for shining nuggets of useful commentary.
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — In a speech delivered at the University of Washington, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed last week its new vision that will design and release container-powered cloud services vision, according to a report by Data Center Knowledge.
Ballmer emphasized the company’s focus on cloud computing services with the bold statement, “when it comes to the cloud, we are all in.”
In his presentation, Ballmer said that 70 percent of the 40,000 people who work on software at Microsoft are involved in some kind of cloud-related work.
Ballmer later reiterated the message in an email to all Microsoft employees, as well as in a major ad campaign.
Given Microsoft’s focus on desktop solutions all these years, the unveiling of its cloud computing strategy surprised many experts throughout the industry.
In a report by TechCrunch, Jason Kincaid quotes the internal email that Ballmer sent out to Microsoft employees regarding the cloud vision.
In the email, Ballmer writes:
My goal was to challenge people to look at the cloud more broadly and understand the multidimensional nature of the cloud transformation happening today. Other companies have defined the cloud in a narrow, one-dimensional way. Although these companies provide some interesting components, Microsoft is uniquely delivering on a wide range of cloud capabilities that bring increasingly more value to our customers.
Data Center Knowledge’s Rich Miller singled out Ballmer’s remarks that hinted how Microsoft’s cloud containers may be equipped with Azure technology.
From a data center perspective, one of Ballmer’s most interesting comments came during the question-and-answer session with students, in which he hinted that Microsoft may offer a container packed with Azure technology as a product for on-site installation.
“When you walk outside and see one of those containers, it would be OK with me if we have to dump one into every country or sell some to some people who want to implement them,” said Ballmer.
In a report by Virtualization Journal, Roger Strukhoff compared Ballmer’s new focus on cloud strategy to predecessor Bill Gates’ shifting approach to the Internet and Worldwide Web, several years ago, when the company was competing with Netscape for Internet browser market share.
[Ballmer's] enthusiasm was reminiscent, of course, of that of Bill Gates when, having completely missed a fundamental change in the industry, he urged the company several years ago to focus on the Internet and Worldwide Web…
The company was quicker to recognize a more recent threat to its existence in the form of Google, and now the alleged Evil Empire seems poised to combat those-who-do-no-evil and any other comers in the suddenly crystallizing Cloud Computing market.
DaniWeb IT Discussion Community’s Ron Miller seemed skeptical about Ballmer and Microsoft’s newfound drive to implementing cloud services.
Regardless, that’s really an astounding statement, and even though Ballmer often seems to be a bit clumsy when speaking in public, I’m quite sure he doesn’t say things like this without some thought beforehand (at least I would hope not). If this is true, it means a large percentage of the software giant’s focus has shifted completely, a massive cultural and corporate adjustment, the likes of which we might never have seen before in the technology industry…
I can see how Microsoft could commit to the cloud for all but the enterprise users, many of whom don’t want to live in the cloud, at least not yet, and probably not completely…
Consumers will be an easier sell, and the phone and game markets are no-brainers. Many of us are used to using online services today. Whether we use Microsoft’s or not remains to be seen, but if Ballmer is being truthful, perhaps we have seen a glimpse of a future Microsoft and it lives in the cloud. It’s just so hard to believe that a company that has feasted on the desktop for so long could do such a complete about-face.
