Microsoft’s period of congenial cooperation could be over
A couple of years ago while a guest of Marc Benioff on stage at Salesforce’s Dreamforce customer conference, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said something that seemed to signal a new period of amicable cooperation for his company. Several pieces of evidence seem to suggest that the period of friendly cooperation that was in full bloom in 2015 could be over, and not just with Salesforce. At… Read More Continue reading Microsoft’s period of congenial cooperation could be over
When long-time Microsoft COO Kevin Turner left the company last year, it marked a key turning point in the Satya Nadella era. Turner’s exit enabled Nadella to start putting his own stamp on the company, and the layoffs, strategy shifts and personnel changes we’ve seen recently are a reflection of that. 
In a month of unexpected outcomes, we have also seen some tech partnership announcements, ones we thought we might never see. In fact, just this week we witnessed Microsoft joining the Linux foundation and Google joining Microsoft’s .NET foundation. You cannot minimize just how at odds these announcements are with what has been the reality of the tech industry over the last 20 years.… 
You could make a case that Minecraft is the professional network of 10-year olds, but you’d have to work pretty hard at it. That’s not what Satya Nadella means when he uses Minecraft as an example of why LInkedIn was a great acquisition target for Microsoft, speaking to Bloomberg today in an interview reflecting on Microsoft as a company advancing in years. Here’s the key… 