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Redmond Channel Partner Update Newsletter	May 25, 2007 


SPONSORED THIS WEEK BY:
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IN THIS ISSUE:
So, Is Vista Successful or Not? 
Jeff Raikes: The Next CEO of Microsoft? 
Spam Now Somewhat Less Annoying Than Before 

SPONSOR: Free Ultimate Patching Guide
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So, Is Vista Successful or Not? 
By Lee Pender 
Forgive us if we just can't figure this one out. After offering more than a few harsh words about Vista here in RCPU (and having readers back up our hostility), we had to give Microsoft credit when it announced that Vista was a big hit after all. Flush with success, Redmond then took the opportunity to tell us again and again just how massively, incredibly, wonderfully successful Vista is. That got us to wondering: Is Microsoft, as Shakespeare might have pondered, protesting -- or in this case, promoting -- too much? How successful is Vista, really? 

Well, that's hard to say, especially given this week's revelation from analyst firm In-Stat that Vista isn't really spurring growth in the worldwide PC market. In-Stat's findings top a pile of evidence (some of it empirical and some a bit less so) that suggests that despite Microsoft's gaudy numbers, Vista just isn't the hit that Redmond is making it out to be -- especially in the enterprise, where we're still hearing from partners and RCPU readers that there's major pushback on, and problems with, Vista upgrades. Then there are a couple of nonconsecutive paragraphs of interest from the CNET story linked above:

"An influential factor in the PC market is businesses upgrading their machines, and there has been little indication that corporations are buying large numbers of PCs as part of a rush to Vista. Microsoft has maintained that the corporate move to Vista will outpace prior transitions, most notably when it claimed in September that business adoption of Vista in its first 12 months would be twice that of Windows XP. 

"[O]thers are predicting a far slower pace of Vista adoption, looking to next year as the time when most businesses will start to consider buying Vista. Even in the PC business, some of Microsoft's closest partners, notably chipmaker Intel, have yet to push Vista out to their own employees."

Maybe none of this matters. After all, Microsoft says that it's making money off Vista, and the fact is that with the 90-plus percent market share that Windows currently enjoys, we'll all probably run Vista eventually, anyway. But acceptance of Vista might also serve as a barometer for how long the old-fashioned, fat operating system will have to live in the forthcoming era of software-as-a-service and Internet-based applications. And, more importantly, partners need Vista to succeed now -- in the enterprise -- and boost their bottom lines. 

What we want to know, then, is whether that's happening for you, the partners. We've heard about Vista as a product, and Microsoft -- whose earnings numbers, at least, can't lie -- says that Vista's a big success. We're still suspicious, though. We want to know whether Vista has boosted your bottom line, and when or if you expect it to do so. We also want to know how your customers are reacting to Vista -- whether they've already adopted it, plan to adopt it or have no interest in it at all. After all, if Vista is a hit, then the channel should be getting rich off it, too -- right? 

Vista seems to be making money for Microsoft, but is it doing the same for you? Let me know at lp...@rc... or post a comment to my blog here. 


Jeff Raikes: The Next CEO of Microsoft? 
Microsoft's recent reorganization led at least one pundit to believe that the head of the Microsoft Business Division, the incredibly capable Jeff Raikes, might eventually be CEO in Redmond. 

That same pundit, Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times, also believes that the reorg will position Microsoft well for the future:

"The milestone, though, is Microsoft seems to have finally moved beyond an organization designed around its Windows desktop legacy.

"The Windows PC group is no longer the biggest gorilla, and even the developer-and-tools team has moved to Raikes' business group.

"This will probably seem really smart 10 years from now, when all of our machines and applications are connected to the Internet; computers are so small, powerful and ubiquitous we don't really think of them as PCs anymore; and operating systems fade into the background."

We'll see about that -- although it's true that Microsoft won't be able to live off Windows and Office forever, and it's positive that somebody in Redmond seems to be recognizing that development. (Click here to comment.) 


Spam Now Somewhat Less Annoying Than Before 
The conclusion of one recent study is that spam doesn't leave the kind of bad taste in our mouths that it used to. (Click here to comment.) 


SPONSOR: Free Resources for Solution Providers 
Improve your business with free resources from RCP's TechBusiness portal. Download case studies on partner solutions - no registration required. Plus get links to solution finders, Microsoft events, the Windows marketplace and much more. 

Click here and check out TechBusiness today! 


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News From RCP 
Vista Not a Magic Bullet for PC Market
Microsoft Exec Slams Door on Yahoo Deal Speculation 
Software Plus Services Means Greater Choice, Microsoft Exec Says


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Inside RCP Magazine 
RCP Magazine's First Ever Microsoft Partner Salary Survey 
In Redmond Channel Partner's first-ever salary survey, we look at how much you're getting paid -- and are paying yourselves -- and answer some questions you might have been afraid to ask. By Lee Pender 
Sinking a Putt -- and Landing a Deal 
For many partners, playing golf is an essential element for building relationships and closing deals. For others, the game is a nuisance. And for a few, it's, well, a handicap. Here's how to decide whether and when to hit the links. By Anne Stuart 
It's the Networking, Stupid
A sneak peek at the upcoming Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver, the channel's biggest networking opportunity of the year. By Scott Bekker


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