Microsoft Defends its Empire
Introduction:
Microsoft is one of the top IT company in the world. But after the introduction of internet, the company is now struggling to remain competitive. Internet which grew as rival has entered in the market which brought various challenges and environmental issues to Microsoft. With the entrance of new competitor, the company had to re-think on its business module.
Review of the Analysis/Findings:
The case basically highlights how to gain competitive advantage in a changing environment. After internet and the need of internet usage grew in market, Microsoft had to change its business module. It started offering subscriptions and cloud services. It became more concentrated towards the improvement of the business and company performance. The case discusses about the risks that a company had to deal with the selling products and offering a lower subscription rate. It also discusses about the challenges of Microsoft and Stephen Elop, who is an executive VP for devices and services.
The Conclusions Steve Ballmer drew about the future of Microsoft:
The internet grew as a tough competitior to Microsoft. So, CEO Steve Balmer drew about the future of Microsoft regarding the upgrading of their existing software to more internet-collaborated software. They have the sharepoint and exchange servers that would help them adopt to demands of the internet based applications.
They started renting their software to the customers so that the customers pay less for a subscription rather than buying the program. Also, Microsoft lowered the price of their software to compete in the market.
Microsoft Subscription Model:
Microsoft’s new strategy is to let the customers rent the software rather than buying the disk. This allows the customers to use the software in a lower price than buying it. There is a benefit to both the company as well as the customers. The benefit to the customer is a less expensive route....