Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s COO: Search Is Transformative
May 28, 2008
Eileen Yu, “Microsoft COO: Standing Firm on Vista“, May 27, 2008, offers a very insightful interview with Kevin Turner, a former Wal*Mart executive, now Microsoft’s chief operating officer. Please, navigate to that link and read the full interview. Don’t delay because some ZDNet postings, particularly those on ZD sites outside the US, make it tough to locate specific stories.
The key question for me that Ms. Yu asked was:
During a conference in July 2006, you said: “Enterprise search is our business, it’s our house and Google is not going to take that business.” It’s almost two years since then — is this still the core market you see Microsoft and Google compete in? And where do you think Google stands now in this market?
Here’s Mr. Turner’s answer:
The IT industry has historically been defined by a series of periodic, transformative shifts in the way people think about computing, and we’re in the midst of another: a services transformation. With any of these transformative shifts, the prediction is that change will happen swiftly and completely. But the reality is quite the opposite. Customers want choice, and that is the foundation of our software-plus-services strategy. We are giving customers the choice of what they want to do with their data and infrastructure. If they want to run it on-site, we will support that. If customers want a partner to host a solution, we will support that as well. Finally, if a customer wants Microsoft to host a solution, as many have asked us to do, we can do that. Again, it is about giving customers a choice, which is a very different strategy than our competitors.
After thinking about this transformative comment and the fact that Google is now a decade old, I am curious about the many “flavors” of search at Microsoft. With Fast Search & Transfer providing the AllTheWeb.com index, I wonder if Live.com’s service will be enhanced with Fast’s Web search technology. The “hard” boundary in SharePoint is generating money for Certified Gold Partners’ snap-in enterprise search technology. If anything, the vendors supporting SharePoint are experiencing strong interest in their products. On Monday, May 26, I tried to locate an email in an Outlook Express archive. The search system wasn’t bad; it just couldn’t find the email. The solution was easy. I had someone go to my office, use the ISYS Search Software I used on that machine, and email me the document.
I’m looking forward to a Wal*Mart executive’s touch. But come to think about it: I have a tough find locating what I need at my local Wal*Mart. There’s no directory in my Sam’s Club or “super” Wal*Mart. My recollections is that my local greeter is chipper but clueless about where products are. The rare Wal*Mart employee, when I can attract one’s attention, knows a product category or two. The rest require the Wal*Mart professional to wander up and down aisles. Not quite as much of a hassle as sending someone to my office on a holiday but close enough for horseshoes.
Stephen Arnold, May 28, 2008
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