This week I was able to attend a German conference about Cloud Computing and Virtualization from Vogel IT. It was great to see how most speakers repeat to continue to spread the standard message of their vendors – a sign that field marketing in Germany is working. Of course they have been some keynotes added real value to conference, but overall more frustrating. The most interesting part was a moderated roundtable with Benny Tritsch where attendees were able to spread their ideas and challenges about Windows apps in a cloud and mobile era. On the one side it was like a revelation how much the attendees believe in the strength and products of Microsoft. It was crystal clear that the majority of this round was convinced that Microsoft will rule the end-user computing market today and in the future. At least I was able to feel the negative attitude against new technologies from vendors like Google and Apple, but also from smaller ISVs. Kudus to Microsoft, their evangelism and marketing over the past decades. There is an incredible loyalty in Germany!
I remember one thesis about “who really wants to replace a tablet for a PC“. Poor boy, it is not about replacing one for the other. The way how smartphones and tablets have changed the way people work is incredible – I don’t need nor want to write about it, there are plenty of articles around. And Microsoft tries to follow smartphone and tablet markets as usual. Yes, they have tried early and failed. Even the Microsoft Surface is not that successful:
But their is no doubt that Windows PCs declined the second quarter in a row this year, so it is a trend no one can ignore. Windows 8 could be one reason, it is not really arrived at the enterprise. PCs are not dead, don’t get me wrong. But smartphones and tablets are sold twice as much as PCs, the turnaround happened in 2011. I cannot believe how ignorant some people are, if you know the market data. Check out the latest from BI Intelligence:
(Source: http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/523376fe69bedd1c3ec8a35b-800-/chart-of-the-day-computing-share.jpg)
So Microsoft is struggling today and not the number one choice for end-users. I wish their would be more openness and freedom of choice for end-users. Let’s go for it!
Tell me about your experience? Feedback? Let me know.
Patrick Sauerwein | @virtual_patrick 