14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is now getting through a major transformation process that’s supposed to bring it closer to devices and services, but not everyone is impressed with how the company is going right now.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says in an interview with Venture Beat that while Bill Gates himself has clearly evolved a lot in the last few years, his Redmond-based empire hasn’t, so Microsoft could really be considered a competitor right now.
Asked how he sees Microsoft’s ability to compete right now, Benioff explains that Bill Gates is his role model, but Microsoft “needs to push the reset button on vision.” Of course, innovation is still the main problem, so the company needs both new people and new products, he believes.
Here is his response in full and, as usual, don’t forget to drop us a line in the comment box after the jump.
“It’s been very limited. I think the Steve Ballmer decision was a very good decision by Steve and by the board, but probably five years too late.
I know that company really well, and I have a huge amount of respect for them. I’ve competed with them over the last 25 years. I think Bill Gates is amazing; he’s my role model. He saved ten million lives in the last decade. It’s amazing. And if you look at Bill Gates, he’s happy, he’s joyful, he’s relaxed, he’s having a good time — and while he was at Microsoft, he was miserable and kind of a curmudgeon.
But while Bill Gates has evolved, Microsoft has not. They need to push the reset button on vision. The whole concept of Windows everywhere was a really interesting mantra 20 years ago, but it doesn’t work today, and it’s led them down some very dark paths to products that are not any good. Number two, they need to push the reset button on people.
So they’ve started with Ballmer, but they have an issue that they’re going to have to address: they’ve got two former CEOs on the board. I think it’s hard for the CEO coming in with two CEOs looking over their shoulder, so I think they’re going to have to address that. They have really unbelievable assets that every company in the world wishes they had — in brand, market position, technology, and monopoly — but they can’t execute it.”