I'm not one to do a fake Steve Jobs article, but I was pulled into
this concept because of recent articles contemplating what
if Steve Jobs ran ford or
what if Steve Jobs ran Microsoft. Everyone wants to tie him to one
of these struggling companies to see if his magic would work again.
The problem is, Steve Jobs didn't rely on magic. He did three
things: cut back product lines (even for popular or slightly profitable
products), reduced expenses (moving most manufacturing operations
outside), and found innovation in otherwise normal products (just about
everything Apple does).
Could Microsoft be made to go through these same retooling
steps?
Yes, but the level of complaints would be huge.
Microsoft's two big cash cows are Windows and Office. Everything
else is unimportant if these two aren't doing well. Microsoft would
have to tune up these two while taking the axe to many other areas.
Cutting Back Successful Products
Microsoft is at heart a software company, but it has always dabbled
in selling hardware - mice and keyboards and such. Microsoft figures
that every computer needs a mouse, so just as every computer should
come with Windows, selling mice is a sure thing.
While this makes sense, selling computer game consoles is stupid. In
no way does the Xbox 360 game console help sell more copies of Windows
or Office. If you think Apple fans were vocal when Jobs killed the
Newton, that would be nothing compared to killing the Xbox.
The Xbox has to be sold at a loss in order to compete with Sony
Playstation 3. Then Microsoft makes up the difference by selling games.
The problem is that video games are expensive to produce and have a
limited selling window before they are out of date. This makes it a
high risk market for relatively low returns when compared to other
software Microsoft sells (adding profits of a few million versus the
billions in revenue from Windows and Office).
Except for satisfying some executive's ego, the Xbox is a dumb idea.
It should be cancelled or sold off. It is far better for Microsoft and
the computer industry to have video games dependent on the PC than for
Microsoft to compete with Sony in the console market.
Adding Innovation to the Mundane
The next dubious project is Internet Explorer. This has to be kept,
even if it is a money pit.
Microsoft needs to realize that meeting standards is a nice thing,
but it's not overly important. The secret of Internet Explorer is to
load it with convenient technology that developers can access to
deliver a better experience. This means banks, retailers, and bloggers
all get benefits only through Microsoft for the first one-to-two years.
Slowly release these technologies as new standards after they do their
job of connecting these markets to your software.
And make sure you release an on par version for Macs. You don't want
10% of the market left hanging to cause trouble.
Reduce Expenses
Kill off a lot of in-house development and spend more time watching
for technology to buy. Microsoft is a big company, and many of its good
ideas are wasted because of the bureaucracy required to implement new
ideas. Better to let someone else do the heavy lifting and then take it
over for ongoing innovation and integration. The billions saved on
money currently wasted in-house could go a long way in buying the
innovation needed to stay fresh.
Another good source for this is open source software. Take the parts
not attached to Windows or Office and tie them in with a software
bridge to enhance their product while adding value to your own. The
best part is you sound like a good responsible company when you do this
right, and it costs much less than developing it in house. (That is a
classic win-win. Apple used it with the Mac OS X and BSD, the
Safari browser and Webkit, etc.) Look especially for open source that
has the least restrictive license to deal with.
Making the Customer Happy
Having a monopoly has blinded Microsoft to the job of making the
customer happy. Microsoft worries first about coming up with some
restrictive software protection scheme - and later about whether the
customer will be happy using it. This includes corporate customers,
hardware vendors, and home users. All of these groups have major
complaints with Microsoft.
Microsoft makes most of its Windows revenue from the initial sale
with hardware through Dell, HP, and others. The remaining upgrade sales
are gravy. These sales should be about increasing the adoption of
Windows. Let piracy do the work of adoption for you. It is no worse
than selling stripped down versions in Asia for $5 that no one wants -
they will just pirate a full copy anyway.
Stop making your customers angry when there are competitors out
there waiting for you to screw up. Apple's Get a Mac campaign has
worked well because Microsoft screwed up so completely that the average
viewer gets all the jokes. Sure, it may be exaggeration, but the seed
of truth is there. Fix it, or else the joke isn't going away.
What are the Chances?
Do I think that Microsoft is listening? No, there are a few at
Microsoft who sound like they know what they are doing, but Steve
Ballmer is not the man to oversee this kind of change. That's why Apple
is going to continue gaining market share.
Steve Jobs isn't running Microsoft, and that's why I keep buying
Macs. 
