Microsoft Reorg - Changing the world as we know it.
On March 29th MS's Satya Nadella announced a major reorganization that directly impacted arguably the most recognizable MS brand - Windows.
Satya described it as Intelligent Cloud & Intelligent Edge.
First - Terry Myseron who ran the Windows & Device Group (WDG) was moving on.
Next Windows itself was being split across different groups. First Rajesh Jha will expand his existing responsibilities to lead a new team focused on Experiences & Devices.
Then various responsibilities will break out this way..
Devices: Panos Panay will now serve as our Chief Product Officer and will lead our devices vision and further our product ethos across hardware and software boundaries for our first-party devices, while creating new categories and opportunities for the entire ecosystem. He will be the key leader ensuring end-to-end devices business execution excellence.
Windows: Joe Belfiore will continue leading our Windows experiences and will drive Windows innovation in partnership with the PC and device ecosystem. The future of Windows is bright as we continue to innovate across new scenarios and device form factors, and more deeply connect to our Microsoft 365 offerings. Joe will share more about the Windows roadmap at Build.
New Experiences and Technology: Kudo Tsunoda will continue to lead this team to define how we engage users with high-value experiences to help them achieve more.
Enterprise Mobility and Management: Brad Anderson will continue to lead our Windows Enterprise deployment and management efforts with even tighter alignment across Microsoft 365 and will partner closely with the EMS teams within Cloud + AI Platform.
The goal as described by Satya is: The modern needs, habits and expectations of our customers are motivating us to bring Windows, Office, and third-party applications and devices into a more cohesive Microsoft 365 experience.
Add to this model an expansion of Scott Guthrie's role to lead a new team focused on Cloud + AI Platform.
To me this means more optional components of what MS describes as the Intelligent Edge driven on the back end by Azure services.
At the end of the day - for those of you who purchase things like Office365 for personal or home use - the movement will be to transition to Microsoft365 which will add Windows and Security aspects.
Then more offerings or optional features will become available via similar subscription models.
How all of this will impact Windows the OS and the current approach to development / deployment is yet to be seen. With the PC Market continuing to struggle, MS is focusing more on Cloud - so Office365 & Azure which continue to grow at very good pace.
It makes sense to try and push Windows to that model as well and bundle it with Office & Security. The big key will be if Enterprises will also purchase new AI offerings as well outside of Azure VMs.
With all the above said - what I do expect is for the pace of change for Windows to slow somewhat. The big focus now is Sets and along with the transition to PWA apps may allow MS to better deliver on AI offerings. I expect Sets to take 2 full branches - so 1809 and 1903 before it becomes main stream. After that who knows.
To me this means that Windows is starting it's fade to black phase. It may take 10 or more years to get there - but MS is not going to invest heavily in Windows going forward. It's just not their future.
Satya described it as Intelligent Cloud & Intelligent Edge.
First - Terry Myseron who ran the Windows & Device Group (WDG) was moving on.
Next Windows itself was being split across different groups. First Rajesh Jha will expand his existing responsibilities to lead a new team focused on Experiences & Devices.
Then various responsibilities will break out this way..
Devices: Panos Panay will now serve as our Chief Product Officer and will lead our devices vision and further our product ethos across hardware and software boundaries for our first-party devices, while creating new categories and opportunities for the entire ecosystem. He will be the key leader ensuring end-to-end devices business execution excellence.
Windows: Joe Belfiore will continue leading our Windows experiences and will drive Windows innovation in partnership with the PC and device ecosystem. The future of Windows is bright as we continue to innovate across new scenarios and device form factors, and more deeply connect to our Microsoft 365 offerings. Joe will share more about the Windows roadmap at Build.
New Experiences and Technology: Kudo Tsunoda will continue to lead this team to define how we engage users with high-value experiences to help them achieve more.
Enterprise Mobility and Management: Brad Anderson will continue to lead our Windows Enterprise deployment and management efforts with even tighter alignment across Microsoft 365 and will partner closely with the EMS teams within Cloud + AI Platform.
The goal as described by Satya is: The modern needs, habits and expectations of our customers are motivating us to bring Windows, Office, and third-party applications and devices into a more cohesive Microsoft 365 experience.
Add to this model an expansion of Scott Guthrie's role to lead a new team focused on Cloud + AI Platform.
To me this means more optional components of what MS describes as the Intelligent Edge driven on the back end by Azure services.
At the end of the day - for those of you who purchase things like Office365 for personal or home use - the movement will be to transition to Microsoft365 which will add Windows and Security aspects.
Then more offerings or optional features will become available via similar subscription models.
How all of this will impact Windows the OS and the current approach to development / deployment is yet to be seen. With the PC Market continuing to struggle, MS is focusing more on Cloud - so Office365 & Azure which continue to grow at very good pace.
It makes sense to try and push Windows to that model as well and bundle it with Office & Security. The big key will be if Enterprises will also purchase new AI offerings as well outside of Azure VMs.
With all the above said - what I do expect is for the pace of change for Windows to slow somewhat. The big focus now is Sets and along with the transition to PWA apps may allow MS to better deliver on AI offerings. I expect Sets to take 2 full branches - so 1809 and 1903 before it becomes main stream. After that who knows.
To me this means that Windows is starting it's fade to black phase. It may take 10 or more years to get there - but MS is not going to invest heavily in Windows going forward. It's just not their future.
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