MICROSOFT’S “PEOPLE-READY” CAMPAIGN - TARGETING IBM?

  Invite a Friend   
  Free Email Alerts

Some analysts also felt that Microsoft sold business products that were not customized to the corporate clients’ unique business needs as they tried to sell the same product to enterprises and ordinary consumers. Michael Silver, Analyst, Gartner said,

“Microsoft has had a tendency to group home and business together, because many of those customers will be using the same features anyway. So, whenever there's a new release, there tends to be uncertainty over whether it’s for consumers or enterprises.”^[5]

The “people–ready” campaign seemed vaguely familiar to Microsoft’s earlier campaign when it launched its Windows XP. This campaign also seemed as a promotion for the upcoming launch of Microsoft’s Vista operating system. Charles King, Principal Analyst, PundIT Research said,

“Microsoft is trying to convince its business customers that they need to upgrade to Vista and Office 2007. Its Vista plus Office equals greater production for office workers. It’s the same rhetoric Microsoft used to sell XP and Office 2003. The message is identical.”^[6]

However, on March 21, 2006, Microsoft announced that it was delaying the launch of its Vista operating system from the second half of 2006 till January 2007. With reference to Microsoft’s latest announcement, Charles Cooper, executive editor at CNET News.com wrote,

“Beyond the obvious blow to its reputation, Microsoft’s inability to tame Windows--always a notoriously hairy coding project--puts the company on the defensive at the worst possible juncture. Time was when Microsoft could get away with a product slip, shrug its shoulders and promise a ‘new and improved’ version sometime soon. But that was pre-Internet, pre-Linux and pre-Google. 2006 is not 1996, and Microsoft’s customers have other alternatives.”^[7]  
 

To download this micro case study (No. MCMK0003 ) click on the button below, and select the case from the list of available micro cases:

^[5] Elizabeth Millard, “Microsoft Takes On IBM for Enterprise Dominance,” www.sci-tech-today.com, March 17, 2006.

^[6] “Microsoft’s People Strategy,” http://www.redherring.com, March 17, 2006.

^[7] Charles Cooper, “Vista delay is back to the future for Redmond,” http://news.com.com, March 21, 2006.