Steve Ballmer sends his last letter to Microsoft shareholders

A year ago, around the same time, Steve Ballmer sent a letter to Microsoft shareholders in which he reviewed the company's strategy. Windows 8 and Surface were only days away from launch, and Ballmer just changed everything. From being a software company they became a device and services company.

During this year we have heard a lot of those three words, words that Ballmer has repeated whenever he has had the opportunity, as if it were a mantra. And the truth is that we have not only heard them: we have also seen them. Xbox One, the structural reorganization, the purchase of Nokia, the new Surface... Each of the important steps that Microsoft has taken this year has been focused on integrating the entire ecosystem, on providing the best user experience in any format.Steve Ballmer continues to insist on this approach in this year's letter, and this time he reveals a little more about his strategy. Microsoft's main focus will be the activities most valued by users, both individuals and businesses. Where does each of the products fit here?

Services will attract users, devices and business divisions will bring money.

"The idea is that the services for the users are the ones that make the difference. Ballmer cites Bing and Skype as the ramps that will take users into the Microsoft ecosystem for both consumer and business. These services will not be the pillars in terms of profits (he only mentions some earnings with subscriptions and ads): it will be the devices and the services of the company that give economic power, the engines of the entire ecosystem."

We have said it many times: Microsoft is much better positioned than it seems to face the future, and the key is in business services. Many times we ignore them because they are not glamorous - how many of you were excited by the latest changes to Microsoft Dynamics? - but in reality they are a very stable and continuous flow of money for those in Redmond that gives them a great cushion. What other company can do whatever it wants in consumption and maintain 77% of its income (which adds up to Servers + Companies)?

Microsoft has room, a lot of room to take risks and completely change its strategy. All that remains, of course, is getting it right and making the Microsoft ecosystem stronger than Apple's or Google's. In diversity, it wins over both: the only thing missing is strength and achieving that relevance it needs in the world of consumers.

It is in this last letter that I see more clearly Ballmer's reasons for resigning from his CEO position.He has said where the company needs to go and has paved the way for change. Now all that is missing is precisely that: the change, the new products that take Microsoft to the forefront of the technological world. And for that they need a new mind that risks more and is free to think and execute a long-term strategy.

Via | Microsoft