One my “jobs” at WGS is to peruse the blogs on a semi-regular basis to bring you the latest tidbits, so that you don’t have to search all over the net yourself. Every once in awhile, I come across something that I just have to respond to. So it is with this article at CRN.
Most of the post I do have to agree with. Marketing at Microsoft sucks. Not that I can blame them for sucking. After all, how good a marketing department do you have to have when, in many company segments, market penetration is 90+%? Windows, Office, Visual Studio just to name a few. Such is the power of the Average Consumer and Microsoft’s entrenchment in the business environment.
In an effort to branch out into other markets, Microsoft’s marketing department is woefully unprepared to deal with a market segment that they do not already control. Take the Zune, for example. The Xbox is doing rather well against the competition, however, the last I heard was that they still have not made a profit in this segment.
But it was the comments at the end of the article that I felt was in some ways possible, but made me sit up and disagree with vehemently at the same time.
“Microsoft needs to market an embedded device instead of a machine with a large hard drive and full-fledged Windows OS,” said Patrick DeRosier, CTO of Hanson, Mass.-based solution provider CPU Guys
“I could see competitors like Linksys beating Windows Home Server by releasing a router with a 500 gigabyte hard drive that’s managed from a Web browser,” he said.
I agree with this statement in that the Average Consumer likes that appliance that you can plug-in and it works. Which is how I would view that device that Mr. DeRosier speaks about. In many ways, I am an Average Consumer. But I am also a tech enthusiast and, in particular, a WHS enthusiast.
A storage device, whether it be a NAS device, a Linux server, a WHS, or other related storage “box”, is that the data on it is MY data. Whether that data is in the form of backups, movies, music, and pictures. I expect and demand to have complete control over the how to manage that data. Anything short of that is unacceptable.
By it’s very nature, “appliances” takes control of that data out of your hands. The one appliance that comes to mind is that DVR that comes from the cable company. You can record a few shows and movies on it. As you run out of space, you have to delete the old ones to make room for the new ones. You cannot expand it and you have no access to the data. In other words, you have no control of that data.
Perhaps the Average Consumer would be quite happy with that plug-’n-play appliance. Until they need to manage that data. Whether in the form of expansion or saving that data elsewhere. There is an axiom out there somewhere that basically says “data will continue to accumulate to fill all available storage.” With an appliance, once filled, what do you do then? At that point, the Average Consumer will feel less than happy with that device.
So, in the end, I hope an appliance does not replace a WHS. I want more control of my data than an appliance will ever be able to give me. So, please Microsoft, give your marketing a department a swift kick in that pants so that this does happen! End of Rant!
July 26th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Absolutely agree. And with PP1 out now, MS should market the heck out of WHS.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:17 am
While I agree that marketing sucks at MS, I think it’s the last remaining lag-time problem that MS suffered when Internet usage took off. IIRC, MS was chained to desktop apps and had to run after the caboose while the train was leaving the station in order to catch up with shareware, freeware, postcard-ware and other methods of distribution.
But before that, MS was a marketing machine that would trammel anyone (ex. Wordstar, WordPerfect, dBase, etc.).
July 26th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Very good points (regarding the Internet). But all 3 of the programs you mention were giants in the DOS world. When MS replaced DOS with Windows, all 3 of those programs, and others, lost out to MS. Why?
MS had Windows versions of Word, Access, etc. These other programs were sloooow to port over to Windows. Was there even a dBase for Windows? I honestly cannot remember.
MS had a winner on there hands with Windows. The GUI interface killed DOS. MS had the upper hand on Windows-based programs. They were a leader. I’m not sure I would call it “good” marketing, imho, just being in the right place at the right time. And, basically, there were no other alternatives in PC world for OS’s. OS2? Trampled? The MAC? That “trendy” alternative found a niche market, but that is about it.
The problem, as I see it, is like you said. MS is now a follower, not a leader. An unaccustomed position that they have yet to overcome.
It is interesting to note the differances in Marketing strategies, tho, between MS and Apple. Apple appears to be doing quite well right now in the consumer items: Ipod, Iphone, I-whatever. And they charge a huge premium, which has always been a trademark of Apple. MS, on the other hand, has the Zune. I honestly do not ever remember seeing a TV ad for one. Of course, I don’t watch that much TV, so I might have missed it.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
BTW, Zune is kind of close to Zoom, Zoom, Zoom as in the Mazda ads. I hear Zune and I think Mazda. lol.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Zoom/Zune. LOL. Hadn’t made that connection.
July 26th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I think Microsoft’s marketing cannot achieve anything until the Company as a whole start making products that integrate well with each other. The Zune - extenders - you name it, all have problems with WHS.
They should just ‘work’.
Colin
July 27th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Patrick DeRosier doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Those devices are allready available. USB/E-Sata external drives and NAS boxes for example.
I like WHS because you can configure it the way you want to. Most people will use it to share thier stuff over the network, wich would be possible with NAS boxes. But the plus on WHS is the automatic backup solution, most people forget or don’t want to make time for thier backups. WHS is the best solution in this part. Not only having backups for your systems in the network, but also having duplications on the shares makes it a one of a kind…
I’ve usaed USB drives, they’re fine for people who know what to backup. But still, you have to make backups frequently and manually, and that takes time.
NAS products for consumers are a joke, at least the products I’ve seen and tested. WHS is the first true plug and play NAS device I’ve seen that works the way it should be. The best part is that consumers are allready comfortable with Windows, and with the console it’s very easy to set up.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
“Patrick DeRosier doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Sorry, I was being nice.
It’s the mentality of “bash Microsoft” at every opportunity that gets me. Some is justified, some not.
Having a marketing department that is proactive would be “priceless”, tho.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
one thing that is true of all hard disks… They fail. An embedded device is hand, but then you have to figure out how to backup the backup… at least with WHS there is redundancy, and even the system drive can fail and you’ll be able to recover all your files. There is still a chance for a catastrophic failure, but that is always a chance.