By R "Ray" Wang on July 18, 2010
Microsoft Continues To Embrace The Cloud And Hopes Its Partners Jump In
Microsoft kicked off arguably one of the best WPC’s in history at the Washington, DC, Convention Center. From tremendous networking opportunities to keynotes from Bill Clinton, the time was well spent despite the scorching summer heat. As expected, the key theme was Cloud, Cloud, Cloud; and Azure, Azure, Azure. In a quick and unscientific survey of 62 Microsoft Partners, only 11 truly understood how they would adopt Azure. More importantly, only 5 out of the 11 partners who understood Azure could figure out a viable revenue model. The inability to come up with a viable business model on Azure could quickly become Microsoft’s Achilles heel in gaining market adoption.
A photo collage of the event can be seen below (see Figure 1):
Figure 1. Microsoft WPC 2010 Flickr Feed
Source:Copyright © 2010 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.
The Bottom Line For Buyers (Clients) – Expect Azure Solutions To Take Some Time To Mature
Microsoft delivers its solutions via an indirect selling model – partner ecosystems. Adoption of technologies by Microsoft’s partners will determine what key features will be delivered to customers. Given that Microsoft just began marketing Azure and the Cloud to partners, and partners must determine an appropriate business model, customers can expect a trickle of solutions in the next 12 months. The majority of partners must find the right business model and this could take the next 2 to 3 years to come to fruition.
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Posted in Technology / Software | Tagged Cloud, Cloud Computing, event report, Flickr Feed, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, partner ecosystems, vendor strategy
R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Principal Analyst, Founder, and Chairman of Silicon Valley based Constellation Research, Inc. He’s the author of the popular business strategy and technology blog “A Software Insider’s Point of View”. Wang has held executive roles in product, marketing, strategy, and consulting at institutions such as Forrester Research, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. His best selling book, Disrupting Digital Business, published by Harvard Business Review Press provides insights on why 52% of the Fortune 500 have been merged, acquired, gone bankrupt, or fallen off the list since 2000.
Wang is a prominent dynamic keynote speaker, research analyst, and industry commentator working with clients to transform their business models using exponential technologies. He’s spoken around the world at almost every tech related conference including keynotes for tens of thousands of people and intimate executive settings such as Davos. Ray’s clients include a majority of the Fortune 500 and Global 200.
Ray is well quoted in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, FoxBusiness, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, CGTN, Tech Crunch, Business Week, and Fortune. He has thrice won the prestigious Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) Analyst of the Year Award and has repeatedly been in the #1 slot in the AR Power 100 list for over 10 years. Ray resides in Silicon Valley when not traveling 500,000 miles a year in the air.
