Microsoft – Keeping mum.

Good launches but no clues given for the longer term.

• Microsoft stuck firmly to the script at its press conference when it launched Office for iPad, Mobile Device Management and its Enterprise Mobility Suite.
• No clues were given as to whether Microsoft will focus down on the Enterprise or continue with the much more ambitious and difficult strategy to become a complete ecosystem company.
• It is still early days but we should start to get an inkling when Microsoft starts talking about plans for its consumer assets such as Bing, Skype, Xbox and MSN.

Office for iPad.

• Clearly a lot of thought has gone into this product and Microsoft has done its best to balance the user experience of programs that are designed for keyboard and mouse in a touch based environment.
• The result is three good apps (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) that are available to download for free from the App store.
• Anyone can now read office documents on an iPad but an Office 365 subscription is needed to be able to create documents or edit existing ones.
• In terms of practicalities, these apps will be used for reading, writing text and making small edits but no one will be using the iPad for creating complex PowerPoints or intricate spreadsheets.
• Hence the need for a PC will not be diminished by this launch.
• I have long been of the opinion that Office for iPad could damage Windows OS sales but I think that the situation has changed.
• The iPad (and Android tablets) represents a portion of the PC market that has already been lost.
• These users are not coming back and so if Microsoft can still push its ecosystem to them, then there may be some potential for Microsoft to win these users back at some point in the future.
• It also enriches the experience of the many office users in a PC who also own an iPad and it is likely to make them more loyal in the longer term to Office.
• Hence I see this move as a good one, but it will have no meaningful impact on Microsoft’s numbers any time soon.

Mobile Device Management / Enterprise Mobility Suite.

• Both of these functions have been available for a long time but what Microsoft is doing here is bringing them all together.
• The Enterprise Mobility Suite brings together BYOD, identity management, device management, rights management and data protection into one place to make life more seamless for the enterprise.
• Microsoft’s competitors here are smaller companies such as Good, AirWatch (bought by VMWare), MobileIron and Blackberry.
• Microsoft has a massive advantage over all of these as it has a huge share of the installed enterprise infrastructure as well as the resources to make sure that this offering is better and cheaper than the rest.
• Whether it chooses to take this route is uncertain but it is a great opportunity for Microsoft to take a dominant position in enterprise IT outside of the fixed world.

 Take Home Message

• This was a good series of product announcements but the key piece of the puzzle remains unsolved.
• Will Microsoft grab the real opportunity that lies before it and move to become a leading ecosystem in both personal and professional Digital Life or will it hunker down and become a dull enterprise company?
• There is still no clear answer.
• I hope that Nadella has the strength of character and the foresight to push Microsoft to its full potential but it will take all of his will power to blast the cobwebs from the halls of Redmond.
• Either way, Microsoft remains attractively valued for now and the outlook for further rallies in the share price is good.
• Microsoft is in my favoured list along with Yahoo! and Google.