I went to the final key note today by Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s new COO from Walmart. He’s good. He’s very good. He doesn’t spew the same product-focused, ’sell more licenses’ message to the partners that I’ve heard so much of in the last few days. Really, I can’t believe that the messaging from Microsoft and the language that their employees use is so product centric.
Kevin says that he’s pushing Microsoft to be more solution focused. While I’ve heard Microsoft people say this before, I actually believed him. He only mentioned licensing as a part of Microsoft’s goals for the next year. He didn’t make me feel like that’s the only thing he wanted me to talk about with my customers. All the keynotes have referenced the people ready strategy. Kevin’s the first one I believed actually understood what people ready means from a Microsoft perspective. I think he gets how this stuff needs to work because he’s been a consumer of Microsoft solutions. He’s not baked into the product focus of the Microsoft Way. He’s a guy who seems like he knows how to sell stuff to folks… both inside Microsoft, to customers, and to customers.
I also have a lot of respect for a guy who takes such a clear stand, in a very bold way, about their competitive stance against Google. His quote, as I wrote it down, is ‘we’re gonna go after Google. You heard me right. We’re going after Google…. We’re not gonna let them take food off our plate and that’s what they’re attempting to do.’ Awesome. At some level, I like the stuff that Google’s doing. At some level, I don’t really care who wins this battle. And at some level, I have a firm belief that Google’s got a legitimate place in the consumer space. I will tell you that I’m excited about a guy who is competitive, states his position so clearly, and so obviously believes it.
