With Satya Nadella's Microsoft we all win

When Satya Nadella announced a change of course at Microsoft last summer, I wrote on this very website that under him the company was seeking its own identity and no longer wanted to look like Apple or Google. Nadella himself repeats that idea when he is asked what he defines Microsoft. In a meeting with the media and analysts held last fall at the company's headquarters, the CEO distinguished his company from Apple, which is geared towards manufacturing devices, and from Google, which is focused on data and intelligence. Microsoft wants to be something else, and its actions speak of it.

In February 2014 Satya Nadella is appointed CEO of Microsoft. In April, during Build 2014, the company announced that it was free to license Windows on smartphones and tablets with screens less than 9 inches. In March Office tactile lands on iPad. During the summer those from Redmond make their final change of course public. In September they launch the ambitious Windows 10 testing program in which anyone can participate. In November they announce a strategic agreement with Dropbox, the preview of Office for Android and the release of .NET. And so we could continue with so many other acts that make one wonder about what they are up to in Redmond

Rethinking Productivity

Microsoft's new identity is defined by a word that has always surrounded the company but now seems to be the most used by its managers: productivity Heard like that, plain, it doesn't seem like an attractive word or one with the capacity to attract the mass market. What's more, it seems that we are facing a strengthening of Microsoft's corporate business and a certain abandonment of the consumer side. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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Microsoft&39;s Nadella aims to rethink productivity>the ability to perform any task, of any kind, efficiently and effectively From the company that is designing a new product or service, to the user who wants to improve their physical condition or cook a simple recipe. In all this range of activities that involve our day to day, including work and daily life, Microsoft wants to be present, to help us be more productive, make better use of our time and resources, and build more and better things. "

And the central issue for Nadella is no longer talking about Microsoft and its products or services, but about his ability to empower others to build their own.The summary could not be more simple and focused: the new CEO wants his company to be the provider of the tools and platforms that allow others to build products and services That's Nadella's new Microsoft, one aimed at helping all of us in our lives and work.

The irrelevance of the system

Many may say that Nadella's Microsoft is nothing new, that this has always been the leitmotif of the company. They may argue that this was the case with that first idea of ​​a PC in every home, that it was even more so with the arrival of Windows and Office, and that it has continued to be so with services such as Azure. Since its inception, Redmond's task has been to provide the system and tools with which developers and users build their products and services. It couldn't be any other way when they represented more than 90% of the market.

Microsoft can't keep acting like it has 90% of the market when its systems only account for 14% of devices.

But the world has changed. Microsoft itself recently acknowledged that Windows computers barely represent 14% of the current device market. Its system maintains a dominant position in the stagnant PC arena, but pales in the burgeoning smartphone and tablet sectors. With users increasingly turning to them, Redmond's very idea of ​​being the productivity company had to be redefined

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In this mobile and cloud world, in which Nadella has not stopped insisting, it does not matter if the logo attached to each device is your brand or if the system that runs on it is the from the house When in Redmond they talk about mobile first >the mobility of the experience, being able to move it at any time or place without changing or compromising it.That is only possible with the cloud, that cloud first>"

The grateful cross-platform approach

The old Microsoft lived in a world where a single device was used to produce things. That was when the system mattered. In today's world, devices are multiple and different. For Nadella, the main challenge of his company consists precisely in understanding this irrelevance of the system. Understand that, no matter what device you're using, a Microsoft app or service should be there to help you, even if you can't see it.

All of the above explains why it makes sense to release Office on iOS and Android as soon as it's ready, because they currently represent the highest percentage of mobile users. That's why it also makes sense to partner with Dropbox so that Office users can use it as a storage system, because he is the industry leader.And so many other things, such as creating applications for Android, opening Azure to tools outside the company, releasing .NET, etc.

But none of the above means giving up on Windows. For a company obsessed with productivity, Windows is the paradigm Having become the computer operating system most used by companies, it is absurd to think that Redmond is leaving it aside . Not only is this not the case, but Microsoft seems determined to recover with Windows 10 the productive system image damaged after the Windows 8 experiment.

The necessary backup

Windows, Office and Azure accessible wherever you go That's Nadella's plan. Only those who insist on seeing the world of technology as a competition in which you are either with my company or the enemy can be upset by that strategy.Fortunately, both the vast majority of users, as well as the media and shareholders, seem to be supporting the path taken.

Only those who insist on seeing the world of technology as a competition in which you are either with my company or the enemy can be upset by the multiplatform and open strategy of Nadella's Microsoft.

Without going any further, last week CNN placed Satya Nadella as the third best CEO of the year. The classification is the last recognition received by the one who has been the highest representative of Microsoft since February. His work at the head of those from Redmond during these months has not gone unnoticed and many are positively assessing the change in the company's strategy and ways So much so that one begins to think that with Nadella we all win.

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