Archive for January, 2004

Resistance to Licensing6.0 Hits the Bottom Line for Microsoft

by eleanor on 30 Jan 2004 @ 10:55 am in Open Source   ++

Marcelo Prince in The Wall Street Journal reports on the increasing signs that Microsoft may have overplayed its hand in introducing its new licensing scheme, Upgrade Advantage. This plan is one of the first implementations of the ’software as a service’ model in a situation outside of the ASP (application service provider) space. The concept is that you pay Microsoft annually for the use of the software, moving away from the notion of buying rights to use a particular version as a one-time charge. Microsoft finance chief John Connors discusses the slow going:

“We have a $1.1 billion hole from Upgrade Advantage that we’ve got to fill going into” the fiscal year that starts July 1, Mr. Connors told investors at meetings Tuesday and Wednesday that were Webcast. As for how many customers will choose to renew, Mr. Connors said, “If it were 10%, we would be disappointed. If it were higher than 30%, we would be very surprised.”
Many customers will opt to simply buy one-time software licenses rather than pay extra for subscription plans that give them the right to product upgrades because new versions of Office and Windows are several years away, some analysts say.

This comes in robust contrast to the situation back in 2002, when Microsoft results doubled quarter-over-quarter (July to September $2.7bn) when the first incarnation of the program was first announced. The program offered two flavors - annuity model Software Assurance and supposedly limited-time offer of the transitional Upgrade Advantage. The scheme proved so confusing to customers that IT consulting firm Gartner put up a mini-site devoted to explaining the intricacies and advising the proper course of action.
As a historical note, the Upgrade Advantage mentioned above as performing poorly was originally slated to close September 30, 2002 and is still continuing…

Sources: WSJ.com -
Microsoft Says Revenue Growth Will Be Harder, Guardian article Software lock-in helps double Microsoft profits 10-18-2002, and Gartner’s mini-site for Microsoft Licensing issues and a good blog on the topic

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Encryption for the masses

by eleanor on 29 Jan 2004 @ 12:03 pm in Emergent   ++ Participate: 0 Comments | Trackback

Population, trade, and growth

by eleanor on 27 Jan 2004 @ 11:44 am in Strategy-Marketing   ++ Participate: 0 Comments | Trackback

Harvard Business Review Back Issues Now Available Electronically

by eleanor on 26 Jan 2004 @ 11:38 am in Toys, Tips, & Tricks   ++ Participate: 3 Comments | Trackback

European smartphone & handheld trends

by eleanor on @ 8:34 am in Emergent   ++ Participate: 1 Comment | Trackback

Bain & Co. presentation at Davos WEF Conference

by eleanor on 25 Jan 2004 @ 10:47 am in Strategy-Marketing   ++ Participate: 1 Comment | Trackback

Snapshot of RFID from Walmart suppliers’ perspective

by eleanor on 23 Jan 2004 @ 11:06 pm in Emergent   ++ Participate: 1 Comment | Trackback

A bet that paid off

by eleanor on 22 Jan 2004 @ 6:49 pm in   ++ Participate: 4 Comments | Trackback

Watching Venture Funds

by eleanor on 17 Jan 2004 @ 11:53 am in Venture & Startup   ++ Participate: 4 Comments | Trackback

WordPress ‘BlogThis’ Magick

by eleanor on 14 Jan 2004 @ 12:46 pm in Toys, Tips, & Tricks   ++ Participate: 4 Comments | Trackback

Speaking of free Microsoft stuff……

by eleanor on @ 12:40 pm in Open Source   ++ Participate: 4 Comments | Trackback

Evaluating ‘the package’

by eleanor on 13 Jan 2004 @ 10:05 pm in Strategy-Marketing   ++ Participate: 3 Comments | Trackback

Web Server Wars

by eleanor on @ 2:49 pm in Open Source   ++ Participate: 3 Comments | Trackback

Searching for productivity

by eleanor on 12 Jan 2004 @ 5:54 pm in Toys, Tips, & Tricks   ++ Participate: 6 Comments | Trackback

Vanishing Jobs?

by eleanor on 11 Jan 2004 @ 10:42 pm in Strategy-Marketing   ++ Participate: 7 Comments | Trackback

RFID Casino Chips

by eleanor on 10 Jan 2004 @ 10:57 am in Emergent   ++ Participate: 4 Comments | Trackback

Read your contracts

by eleanor on @ 8:46 am in Open Source   ++ Participate: 5 Comments | Trackback

Product Development is Hard - Nuclear Weapons as Case Study

by eleanor on 9 Jan 2004 @ 7:23 pm in Strategy-Marketing   ++ Participate: 4 Comments | Trackback

Ipod battery scuffle links & history

by eleanor on 8 Jan 2004 @ 3:18 pm in Strategy-Marketing   ++ Participate: 7 Comments | Trackback

Tech Firms Defend Moving Jobs Overseas

by eleanor on @ 8:20 am in Strategy-Marketing   ++ Participate: 5 Comments | Trackback