In defense of Steve Ballmer
Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is too loud, too bombastic, too sales-y, blah blah blah. He also built one of the world’s most profitable and efficient sales and channel organizations. So there.
Software-defined networking forces Juniper’s big shift
The threat of software-defined networking has prompted Juniper to revamp its business model — switching from a hardware-based model to one more familiar in enterprise software. It has also unveiled an SDN strategy that preserves the importance of specialty hardware at the lowest level of the network.
With Sinofsky out at Microsoft, let the post-Ballmer handicapping begin
Steven Sinofsky’s ability to deliver big-money products with minimal delay put him on the short list to be Microsoft’s next CEO. But, he did not work well with others and that will be a key requirement for whoever steps in for Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft Azure: B for effort, less for execution
Microsoft poured money and resources into Microsoft Windows Azure, its grand attempt to transport the company’s software dominance into the cloud computing era. For die-hard .Net heads, Azure is probably the PaaS of choice. But for the army of new-age web developers, it’s an also-ran.