Week 5 [04.12-10.12.17] Hit Refresh - On Microsoft 180 degree shift

HIT REFRESH
On Microsoft 180 degree shift

Rarely have we seen in history of what we call ‘corporate’, so big and so drastic changes as those that started in Microsoft under its new CEO - Satya Nadella and shocked the world of technology throughout recent years.
If you asked me a few years back what first few words come into my mind when I hear Microsoft, I would say: closed, corporate world, guys in suits, stagnation, exnovation. And maybe their core products: Windows and Office.
Neither me, nor (I think) any other technology enthusiast or technology critic would say, that most of what I’ve mentioned before would be obsolete and turned around as we look on this Redmond-based giant today.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO;
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/e832507c-b277-11e7-a398-73d59db9e399

Back in the past, when we thought of innovative workplace, innovative products, openness and collaboration in the world of technology, one would say: Google. The next thought possibly would be Facebook. But never you’d thought: Microsoft.
Microsoft used to be very closed to both other companies but also to other technologies, other solutions. You could say that it was the tech market top bully, buying companies out of the business or simply monopolizing certain segments like in browser wars1 in the 90s, when it killed Netscape Navigator and was punished for doing so by the U.S. Department of Justice. It was not that long ago as one of Europe’s most famous phone manufacturers, Nokia2, fell in Microsoft’s  hands, ending up not producing smartphones at all, as its new overlord decided to give upon the consumer phone market.
But that’s more or less story of yesterday.

Microsoft of today is open: open for collaboration, open for other companies, open for innovation, open for different approaches and different technologies. Also open for criticism.

From a closed-source company it emerged as one of the top contributors in open-source3 of today.
Microsoft’s standard library, .NET Framework, has new iteration called .NET Core, that is now open-source and cross-platform – works on Windows, Mac OS and various Linux distributions. Multiple solutions, such as ASP.NET MVC, Powershell or Visual Studio Code are now available for any developer to look into, learn from and contribute to. Also many other tools were made free for everyone.

What’s more, Microsoft started to listen to other companies, sharing with them but also learning from them. Not only have it started to build the future of  .NET Foundation with others, like Google or Samsung4, but it also contributed a lot of resources – including money and manpower – to its competition, Linux, from which it now also benefits through Linux Foundation5. Don’t know what’s Linux? Well, it’s more or less what’s running any device you have out there if it’s not Windows PC or Apple iPhone/iPad/Macbook, ie. Android phones, routers, TVs, smartwatches, most of servers hosting webpages you browse, ATMs and many more.

.NET Foundation and The Linux Foundation
Source: https://www.linuxfoundation.org and https://dotnetfoundation.org/blog/2016/11/16/google-join-tsg

But, to be open for innovation is another pair of shoes. Where Microsoft used to struggle and failed to get involved,  now it shines.
When you think now of innovation and trying new things in everyday, poor man’s PC world, you probably think – Surface brand. Microsoft revisited how laptop should look and behave – many now take 2-in-1 (tablet and laptop in one) for granted, but it wasn’t so obvious not so long ago.

Microsoft Surface Pro
Source: PCMAG, https://assets.pcmag.com/media/images/544756-microsoft-surface-pro-2017.jpg?thumb=y&width=980&height=416

Augmented (or so called ‘holographic’) reality of today? No problem, Microsoft HoloLens takes up the glove:

Microsoft HoloLens
Source: Windows Blog, https://winblogs.azureedge.net/devices/2017/10/898cb5b51ef132670339e511934f8f55.png

The pragmatic and hard-headed company of yesterday dares to be brave and dreams  like Google and Apple used to back then. Even so-called ‘Apple fanboys’ see the trend and push Apple to act accordingly instead of iterating6.
You can tell the difference when you see how Redmond-based tech giant markets its products nowadays, remembering its ads from the past:

Microsoft Surface Studio advert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzMLA8YIgG0

But does it make Microsoft the lesser evil now?
Well, yes… and no. Microsoft - like any other big company – lives from its profits. And sometimes demons of the greedy past come back to life, when you hear things like: “Microsoft Admits Windows 10 Automatic Spying Cannot Be Stopped7”.

Maybe it’s all good PR and greedy companies do not change.
What do you think?
Do you know other examples of companies big turnarounds?
Maybe you’ve participated in one or your company made a huge shift in the past?
Did Microsoft change affected you in any way?
Let’s discuss.
Note: “Hit Refresh” is actually name of Satya Nadella’s book on Microsoft transformation, released this September. I have not read it, so cannot recommend yet, but I loved “nerdiness” in its title (refresh-browser-tech), so there it is.

1“First Browser Wars” on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_wars

2 https://9to5mac.com/2016/05/25/microsoft-windows-phone-dead/

3 https://www.computerworld.com/article/3144063/open-source-tools/open-source-has-won-and-microsoft-has-surrendered.html and http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-microsoft-is-turning-into-an-open-source-company/

4 https://dotnetfoundation.org/blog/2016/11/16/google-join-tsg

5 https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press-release/microsoft-fortifies-commitment-to-open-source-becomes-linux-foundation-platinum-member/  

6 http://mashable.com/2016/10/27/microsoft-better-apple

7 https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/11/02/microsoft-confirms-unstoppable-windows-10-tracking/#324405943a23