This week's reorganisation of the leadership team at Microsoft by CEO Satya Nadella is one more step away from a hardware-led Redmond towards a company focused on delivering the best possible software, no matter the platform. That said, there was another moment that was even more telling than the press statement on the ins and outs of the senior staff.
With Terry Myerson now leading the newly named 'Windows and Devices Group', he retains control of the Windows operating system, but now has the hardware teams behind Lumia, HoloLens, Surface Hub, Xbox, and the Surface under him.
That means former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has lost his leadership role and will be retiring at the end of the transition period, as will Jo Harlow. She joined Nokia in 2003 and moved to Redmond with Elop when Nokia's devices and services section was purchased by Microsoft as one of Steve Ballmer's final decisions.
(Read how Nokia will return to the smartphone market in 2016).
With the changes above, I'm expecting the Lumia hardware teams to focus on low- and mid-range handsets, but the goal will be on bringing consumers into Microsoft's cloud-services rather than trying to fight Android and iOS on marketshare.
Staffing aside, the biggest indicator of Microsoft's strategy last week was a new mobile version of OneNote.
Microsoft's OneNote application has been around for many years, but it's a great example of using the cloud to create a synchronised experience no matter what device you access your notes with, be it the desktop app, the browser-based version, or a mobile client. Following feedback, the OneNote team has added an improved checkbox/list system to the mobile application.
We’re proud to announce the release of a better, faster and touchier version of OneNote for iPhone and iPad. We’ve been working hard on this release, and we’re excited to share it with you today... We received feedback that lists worked best with a keyboard, mouse and screens even the largest of cargo shorts couldn’t accommodate. Accordingly, checkboxes for ants have been replaced with checkboxes designed for humans.
What's worth noting is that the update has rolled out to the iPhone and iPad clients, before any other platform, including Microsoft's.
Forget personnel changes. This is the clearest implementation of Nadella's strategy to have software take the lead. OneNote had a change to make, and it has been applied to presumably the biggest audience the software has. Does it matter that the platform is iOS and not Windows 10? OneNote is also available on Android and Windows (along with OSX), and there's no guarantee that the Windows software will have any priority in OneNote's further development over the other mobile platforms.
The oft-stated strategy of 'cloud first, mobile first' is clearly to the fore in this decision. I have my suspicion that under Steve Ballmer the development of the OneNote team would have continued to be be 'Microsoft hardware first' and perhaps even 'Microsoft hardware only'.
That's no longer the case. Nadella has quietly re-invented Microsoft with a new strategy suitable for the current connected world. He has decided on a clear path forward, implemented that vision, and has brought the company with him. With the reorganisation of his executive team falling into step behind that vision, as are the various project leaders, this is the time for Microsoft to make best use of the opportunities presented in 2015, and to be seen as a driving force in cloud services for individual and enterprise customers.
