Microsoft’s SharePoint Thrives in the Recession

Microsoft has managed to undercut even the panoply of open-source companies playing in the business software market by giving away a free basic license to SharePoint if they already have Windows Server. “It’s a brilliant strategy that mimics open source in its viral, free distribution, but transcends open source in its ability to lock customers into a complete, not-free-at-all Microsoft stack – one for which they’ll pay more and more the deeper they get into SharePoint,” Mr. Asay said.

A number of smaller software companies have been eager to piggyback on SharePoint’s success. […]

Microsoft too wants to host more software for companies as it moves toward the cloud computing model.

Mr. West recognizes that Microsoft may begin stepping on its partners’ toes. “It may certainly come to pass that they pull the switch,” he said. “That would have implications for us.”

In the meantime, however, Microsoft subsidizes training courses and consulting work for companies like Sharepoint360.

Found via Igor Schwarzmann’s posterous – an article on MOSS that is open to wide interpretation (and you can see it in the comments where pros and cons fight it out, no pun intended – yet I agree that before bashing it one needs to do some research).

What I found most interesting is the “business ecosystem” part, ie. how Microsoft is both a supporter and possibly (long-term) foe of consultants and companies offering additional and surrounding services. In my mind this is a dangerous place to live in as a company – you develop ideas and markets that may be grabbed by Microsoft if they turn out relevant.

So, while the elephant in the room is giving you a lot of benefits (and he sure knows how to market) be sure to not get trampled …

Posted via web from frogpond’s posterous

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