Microsoft-Yahoo!
I like it. Not because people say it will change the search business. To me Yahoo! is way more than search.
Along with Google, amazon and eBay, it is showing how to transform delivery of software and economics of IT infrastructure. It is a VC which nurtures and provides an exit for a number of creative startups.
Someone in the telco industry told me recently, the best acquisition BellSouth made was AT&T. Not for its long-distance business. Not for its brand. For its lobbyists in Washington, DC. Overnight it became a player at the highest levels.
Similarly with Yahoo!, Microsoft is becoming a player at the lowest levels in the Valley. Where a lot of innovation is happening.
Update: Michael Krigsman asks a fair question about whether this dilutes MS's enterprise focus even more. The issue crops up frequently including when Tony Scott was recently named CIO.
One can read many things into the strategy behind the Microsoft/Yahoo combination. It is becoming increasingly clear that Microsoft is wanting a bigger share of the pie in the consumer, lifestyle space. Whilst enterprise market is good, Microsoft is more likely to win over the hearts and minds of Governments and citizens rather than corporate CIOs.
Posted by: Ravi Kumar | February 05, 2008 at 06:09 AM