Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire

[ApK]

Originally Posted by chexmix

Developers, developers, developers, developers ... (et seq. ad infinitum).

Going for the infinite-monkeys approach?
Might take a while....

[ectoplasm]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

While Ballmer was CEO, Microsoft grew revenue by $55B. Dell grew by $31B, Oracle by $27B, Intel by $19B, IBM by $16B.

BOb

I don't get the point of this type of comment that I see from time to time. It's not a question of whether Microsoft has managed to stay afloat, or make XX dollars in revenue, the question is whether a better CEO would have made a difference in comparison to Ballmer? Apparently the board thinks so, and I agree. Ballmer is not in the same league as the top tier, like Musk, Bezos, etc. Ballmer is a shouting, sweaty, salesman. That might have worked in the 70s and 80s, but not anymore.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ectoplasm

I don't get the point of this type of comment that I see from time to time. It's not a question of whether Microsoft has managed to stay afloat, or make XX dollars in revenue, the question is whether a better CEO would have made a difference in comparison to Ballmer? Apparently the board thinks so, and I agree. Ballmer is not in the same league as the top tier, like Musk, Bezos, etc. Ballmer is a shouting, sweaty, salesman. That might have worked in the 70s and 80s, but not anymore.

So you are saying the "board" is forcing him out? I disagree. Please cite a source for that.

BOb

[pilotbob]

You know, it's funny how everyone clamps on to a single incident to judge a person or a single product to judge a company, etc.

For example, you hear people all the time saying, Microsoft doesn't innovate. Yet, when the release Windows 8 everyone complained and said they were sticking with Windows XP? Really? You can't have it both ways.

I'm not saying Balmer is the perfect CEO, but MS DID make money... that was the point of Microsoft and the CEOs job. Did they make products people didn't like? Erm... sure.

Also, there is no way to go back 10 years, plop a different CEO in place and see if MS does better. So, "would someone have done better" is 100% speculation.

BOb

[ectoplasm]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

So you are saying the "board" is forcing him out? I disagree. Please cite a source for that.

Here's a couple:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...ace_RT_debacle
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08...mer_time_to_go

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Did they make products people didn't like? Erm... sure.

Also, there is no way to go back 10 years, plop a different CEO in place and see if MS does better. So, "would someone have done better" is 100% speculation.

BOb

More precisely, they made some products *some* vocal people didn't like.

Microsoft customers are more interested in productivity than coolness or philosophical purity so they're less likely to be emotionally invested in the products or the company. That makes neither the product nor the company inferior to their competitors, merely quietly effective and slow to counter product libel.

Would a hype-master have been more effective in selling Microsoft products to the masses, maybe.
But corporate IT rarely buys into hype-fests; witness the limited success of Apple in the corporate world, even when they tried under Jobs.
Whatever the masses may think, Ballmer knows account control.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Microsoft customers are more interested in productivity than coolness or philosophical purity so they're less likely to be emotionally invested in the products or the company. That makes neither the product nor the company inferior to their competitors, merely quietly effective and slow to counter product libel.

It should also be noted that Microsoft make most of their money from business sales, not personal ones. An awful lot of the world's largest companies run their email systems on Exchange Server, their databases on SQL Server, their information systems on Sharepoint Server, etc. That's where the real money is, not desktops.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It should also be noted that Microsoft make most of their money from business sales, not personal ones. An awful lot of the world's largest companies run their email systems on Exchange Server, their databases on SQL Server, their information systems on Sharepoint Server, etc. That's where the real money is, not desktops.

Exactly.
Those are long term commitments and recurring revenue generators.
One "sale" doesn't generate a few dollars or even a few hundred dollars in profit but thousands to millions.
And, because of the interlocking synergy of their offerings, selling a customer on one of their corporate products brings along, sooner or later, sales of the others.
It is a very stable business to be in and MS has managed it extremely well, beating off all challengers for 20 years and counting. And Ballmer had at least a bit to do with it.

[ectoplasm]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

..It is a very stable business to be in and MS has managed it extremely well, beating off all challengers for 20 years and counting. And Ballmer had at least a bit to do with it.

He has a bit to do with it, because he sits in the CEO chair while MS exploits their monopolistic position. He's been a placeholder, and the board wants him gone.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ectoplasm

and the board wants him gone.

I'm pretty sure it is analyst Patrick Morehead that is saying this. It is supposition only from some interpretation of his farewell email and how closely it coincides with the $900 million write down on Surface RT units.

However, correlation does not mean causation. I'm not saying it wasn't the boards choice, but when there was a Balmer vs Sinofsky spat you see who came out on top, mostly due to Gates supporting Balmer all the way.

I'm not saying it isn't a boards decision, but that certainly isn't what the official communication is saying.

BOb

[K. Molen]

Here's a pretty interesting article on Ballmer and his behaviour at Microsoft:

http://www.kernelmag.com/comment/ana...t-it-too-much/