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November 09, 2005
More on the microbusiness software market
Just in case you think we've been howling into the wind on microbusiness software market, check this out, from a Working Tech column published Monday in Business 2.0.
| Here's how Microsoft's strategy will work. Currently, for small businesses to get the most out of Microsoft Office applications like Outlook e-mail software and collaboration tools, they need to buy and maintain the corresponding Exchange and SharePoint server software, without which the desktop software isn't nearly as powerful. For many small-business owners, though, that expense is too high, so rather than buy server software, they opt for hosted services from ISPs, many of which use open-source e-mail and Web-server software and applications instead of Microsoft products. |
That says to me that there are still a lot of people who don't really understand why microbusinesses go with the software-as-a-service route. It's not that the full functionality software is too expensive. It's that the full functionality software comes with full functionality — that is, lots of bells and whistles that micros don't need.
That and, of course, since so many micros aren't geeks and don't have geeks on staff, it's just eaiser for them.
Then there's this:
| So why does Microsoft want to get into the low end of the small-business market? When young companies start with open-source technologies, they tend to stick with them as they grow. If Microsoft can hook small-business owners and IT managers with its own, cheaper hosted services, it can then sell them more expensive and lucrative enterprise server software products as those small businesses grow into large ones. |
See, Microsoft isn't really interested in the microbusiness market. They are interested in the growth oriented small business market. They are not the same thing.
So, it'll be interesting to see how this ploy works out for the big M.
Posted by The Journal Blogger at November 9, 2005 03:07 PM
