14 DAY TRIAL // As one of the world’s largest technology companies, Microsoft is constantly looking into ways to streamline its product portfolio in a way that better addresses customers’ needs.
But in the last few years, Microsoft has often been accused of migrating from a trend-setter in the consumer business to an enterprise-focused company that’s only interested in building products which can help boost profits.
At some level, this makes sense. Microsoft is first and foremost a company which at the end of the days needs to generate profit. And with enterprises becoming the main cash cow for the products that it builds, it’s very clear that Microsoft needs to be more committed to improving its offering in this regard.
Needless to say, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has often been blamed for several rather controversial decisions, and this enterprise push is just one of them. The death of Windows phone, the Windows as a Service strategy, the reduced consumer focus of the Windows operating system are only a few of the changes that many people think Satya Nadella is the one to point the finger at for.
While many believe stepping away from consumers is the right thing to do for a company whose main objective is to increase revenues, other think home users are at the front of each healthy business because, in the end, the same people are the ones using Microsoft’s products in the enterprise too.
In the last few months, I’ve heard many Microsoft fanboys criticizing the company for not being more like Apple and saying the company should invest in products that could sell in high volumes and generate substantial revenue. Satya Nadella, however, says Microsoft and Apple are completely different companies, emphasizing that the role of his firm is to develop solutions that help people like me and you to “do more.”
“Microsoft and Apple are two completely different companies.”
“Whenever we have done things that come naturally to us we’ve been successful. Even if it's a consumer product it is a tool. I fell in love with Microsoft technology because of what it created,” Nadella said last year.
“In a way, I don’t want to take away from whatever success Apple or Google are having. We are very different companies. We are not some middleman in the marketplace. We are a tool creator, we are not a luxury good manufacturer. That’s not who we are. We are about creating technologies so that others can build.”
If I were to guess, I’d say the death of Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile has been one of the moments that produced the biggest wave of criticism in the last few years against Microsoft. Even though for many this might sound weird, Windows phones indeed had a small user base, but it was one of the most loyal a mobile platform ever had. This is the reason there are some people still using Windows phone these days, despite Microsoft itself confirming that there are no plans for any new features and devices.
Users also blasted Microsoft for the changes it made to Windows 10, but also for the way the company tried to “convince” them to upgrade to this operating system. The aggressive campaign that it used, the forced installs, the popups on the desktops (or ads as many people called them), have all been received with harsh words by the user community worldwide.
So there you go, you now have the chance to decide what’s better for Microsoft and choose the next direction that the company should be embracing.
Should Microsoft launch a new Windows phone? What would you change about Windows 10? Is focusing so much on enterprises really such a good idea? Tell us what you think in the box after the jump.