Saturday, May 12, 2001

Microsoft - The Good, The Bad, and The.NET

Zona Research announces the release of Microsoft – The Good The Bad and The .NET, an evaluation of Microsoft’s vision of its future. This Zona Internet Business Review provides an overview of the elements of Microsoft’s .NET business plan and appraises what political, technological, market and organizational factors will be key in determining the success or failure of Microsoft’s plan.

Zona Research’s report states that .NET will turn “the world’s largest software vendor into the Internet’s biggest application service provider.” While there are compelling reasons for Microsoft to pursue its .NET strategy “the project is enormously ambitious and technologically complex, which requires Microsoft employees to reconsider and the company’s customers to re-imagine what the company means to them.”

Key subjects covered include:

- A description of the four ‘pillars’ of .NET: .NET Framework and Visual Studio, .NET Enterprise Servers, .NET Devices and Experiences, and .NET Services

- The technological, political and competitive issues that will impact the realization of the .NET vision

- The business case for Microsoft to launch .NET, and the internal and customer challenges it will face in making .NET a reality

“The shape of .NET suggests that Gates and Associates believe the future is moving emphatically online, and that anyone who fails to understand the point runs the risk of being left behind” states Charles King, Practice Director, Zona Research. King continues “While we are inclined to accept this vision, and that Microsoft’s marketing prowess makes them a contender for the Internet throne, there are many pitfalls into which Microsoft is well qualified to fall - the importance of recognizing consumer convenience over technology, potential future legislation relating to. NET’s proposed leasing model, competitive offerings, and a market wary of a post-DOJ Microsoft."