14 DAY TRIAL // The Windows platform is currently situated at the core of Microsoft. But this aspect is bound to change as the Redmond company will evolve its business model. While Microsoft is still intimately connected with the desktop, it feels the Web's calling. The perpetual face-off with Google is a clear indication of the fact that Microsoft considers the Internet the vital future direction for development. Still, because of the Windows business, the Redmond company is anchored on the desktop.
At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 in Denver on July 10, 2007, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer revealed the company's perspective over the future of Software plus Services. Microsoft's vision is a full circle that pushes the Windows operating system to the periphery of a new core also containing the Web and enterprise solutions and services together with the device offerings. There will no longer be a focus placed on Windows, but S+S will centralize around the Internet.
"I think most of the business that we all do together this year will continue to be on traditional customer premise software, but the era of software plus service is beginning, the time is now. We are as a company innovating, writing new software. We'll be out with betas and design previews to talk to you. We'll be looking for feedback. We'll be shipping some of the most important products. It's time to engage. From a customer perspective the consumer aspect of this is already in process. The Web is the Web. Consumers do expect a move in this direction. And I think people can build these rich software plus service experiences, and have consumers accept them, even with the state of technology today," Ballmer stated.
The fact of the matter is that Microsoft will continue to be tied to the desktop. The +200 million shipping per year is a guarantee that the Redmond company will not give up its Windows supremacy. But Ballmer emphasized the fact that Microsoft is just one element of the transition to Software plus Service, and that the evolution of the business model will impact the entire industry.
"I get asked by our partners, does this affect me. This affects the ISVs in the room, and should be important to you. This affects and should be important to the hosters in the room, the system integrators in the room, the resellers in the room. And everybody is welcome. And whether you're a training partner, a distribution partner, (...) the fundamental transformation to software plus service that's happening in the model of computation and user interface is upon us, and it will affect us all, and I guarantee you Microsoft will lead in driving this next generation of computing and user interface as we have the last couple of generations of computing and user interface," Ballmer promised.