A New Microsoft And A New Tech World

Things are just not what they used to be.

In the good old days, Microsoft defined technology for business and set the pace for change. They had built an empire on Windows and products that worked with Windows.

Not only did Microsoft build products, they built their own versions of things to work in their world. Microsoft adopted the attitude of "not invented here": they eschewed popular products and built their own versions.

They built their own operating system (DOS at first, then Windows). They built their own word processor, their own spreadsheet (two actually: Multiplan was their first attempt), their own database manager, their own presentation software. They built their own browser. They even constructed their own version of a "ZIP" file: OLE Structured Storage.

All of these technologies had one thing in common: they worked within the Microsoft world. Microsoft Office ran on Windows - and nothing else. Internet Explorer worked on Windows - and nothing else. Visual Studio ran on Windows - and... you get the idea. Microsoft technology worked with Microsoft technology and nothing else.

For two decades this strategy worked. And then the world changed.

Microsoft has shifted away from the "all things Microsoft" approach. Consider:

• Microsoft Word uses an open (well, open-ish) format of ZIP and XML
• So does Microsoft Excel
• Visual Studio supports projects that use JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
• Microsoft Azure supports Linux, PHP, Python, and node.js
• Office 365 apps are available for Android and iOS

These are significant changes. Microsoft is no longer the self-centered (one might say solipsistic) entity that it once was.

We must give up our old prejudices. The idea that Microsoft technology is always good ("No one was fired for buying Microsoft") is not true. It and never was. The weak reception of the Surface tablet and Windows phones shows that. (The anemic reception of Windows RT also shows that.)

We must also give up the notion that all Microsoft technology is large, expensive, bug-ridden, and difficult to maintain. It may be fun to hate on Microsoft, but it is not practical. Microsoft Azure is a capable set of tools. Their 'Express' products may be limited in functionality but they do work, and without much effort or expense.

The bigger change is the shift away from monoculture technology. We're entering an age of diverse technology. Instead of servers running Microsoft Windows and Microsoft databases and Microsoft applications with clients running Microsoft Windows and Microsoft browsers using Microsoft authentication, we have Microsoft applications running in Amazon.com's cloud with users holding Android tablets and Apple iPads.

Microsoft is setting a new standard for IT: multiple vendors, multiple technologies, and interoperability. What remains to be seen is how other vendors will follow.