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A recent article purports that “With Nokia, Microsoft has no more excuses.” It has all the pieces it needs now to succeed or to fail. We found this assessment quite compelling. Microsoft is not going to become a “Devices and Services” company overnight. It takes a long time for a ship the size of Microsoft (and even bigger with Nokia now in tow) to correct course once the rudder is moved. Between the company’s massive “One Microsoft” reorganization, the eventually “retirement” of CEO Steve Ballmer, the integration of Nokia and the naming of a new CEO, Microsoft is going to be in a state of flux for the foreseeable future.
Who should take the helm post-Ballmer?
Those of us in and outside of the Microsoft community have had plenty to talk about since last Friday’s surprising announcement that the company’s CEO Steve Ballmer will be retiring sometime in the next twelve months.
Was he forced out after the debacle of a $900 million loss on the Surface RT tablets? Why is he leaving right after Microsoft’s major reorganization? What will his legacy look like? Will his exit bring a fresh wind to the company, a chance for reinvention?
“Power to the People”
Rich Barton, founder of Expedia and Zillow, has always sought to put more power in users’ hands.
We have him to thank for the revolutionary way we now plan our travel: independently. He describes the frustration he felt in the early days of the Internet, when travel agents had access to databases that regular citizens, travelers, were not privy to.
“It was giving consumers access to information and databases that they knew existed because they either saw or heard professionals over the phone clacking away on a keyboard accessing that information. I remember I wanted to jump through the phone and look at the screen myself, turn it towards me and just take control. And I knew that I would spend more time and do a better job searching than this person who was doing something on my behalf, and who really didn’t know my preferences but was just trying to approximate them.”
So he did what he’s consistently done ever since: disrupted the market and brought about a revolution in the travel industry.
