What’s interesting about this article is that it highlights how heavily Microsoft relies on a few core products for their business. Office is one of those products and even though it is best in class as an office suite, it’s not THAT much better than the competition.
Google Docs is free and is totally suitable for most people’s needs. Zoho is likewise free to use. Take it one step further and bring the OpenOffice suite into the mix and I wonder how much longer Microsoft can keep the Office suite charade going?
I think it’s only a matter of time before people start using other alternatives that cost far less or are free.
Excerpt:
Many companies we cover look for ways its products can work on any device and perform on any or browser. Microsoft is different. Elop’s role is to walk the path that balances the need to prepare for the future while supporting Microsoft Office, a product worth billions.
From Bloomberg:
Elop’s Office unit is Microsoft’s biggest business, accounting for a third of the company’s $58.4 billion in sales last fiscal year. The shift to Internet-based versions of Office may cut margins by 5 to 10 percentage points, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft in Kirkland, Washington.
‘Have to Do Something’
“Elop’s challenge is to move carefully and not undercut the traditional software business,” Rosoff said. “You don’t want to give everybody free Office over the Web because that jeopardizes a highly profitable business, but you have to do something.”
It’s not an easy road. Elop is right. The cloud is disrupting the market. And he seems like the right guy to guide Microsoft through the complexities that Microsoft and the rest of market faces in the months and years ahead.