Ray Ozzie on the cloud, Vista lessons, and more
Ray Ozzie is a big believer in the cloud. But he knows that large businesses don't yet share his confidence.
"Enterprises will not really trust the cloud until they get some experience with it," Ozzie said, during a speech at a J.P. Morgan investment conference in Boston on Wednesday. He said that large businesses are more likely to start by going with an online version of a familiar product like Microsoft Exchange than they are today to move a major piece of their business into the cloud. A Webcast of his speech is available on Microsoft's investor relations page.
In October, Microsoft announced Windows Azure, a set of tools that is somewhat akin to a Web-based operating system that developers can use to build software that can then run in Microsoft's data centers. The software is now in testing, with large businesses mostly just kicking the tires at this point.
"In the next year or two I believe that the biggest impact of cloud computing is going to be in things like Exchange and SharePoint for us or those comparable offerings from our competitors," Ozzie said. Using one of those services allows a company to know how much bandwidth they need to communicate with the cloud, understand how cloud services can be managed, as well as just build up a certain comfort level.
"It will work its way into other parts of the enterprise IT environment over time as they get their comfort level," he said.
Ozzie
(Credit: Microsoft)One of the lighter moments came when Ozzie was asked what were the lessons Microsoft learned from Windows Vista.
"How much time do you have?" Ozzie quipped.
Ozzie then went on to discuss some of the problems with Vista, including the false starts that he said resulted from "overcommitment."
"We had a vision that was larger than what we could achieve within the period of time that we needed to bring (the product) to market," Ozzie said.
And by changing its timing and feature set, Ozzie noted that Microsoft's partners were both too early and too late when it came to deciding when to spend time on Vista.
"If we don't give very clear predictable signals to those partners...about dates," Ozzie said, "they don't know when to invest and when not to invest."
The result, he said, was that drivers weren't ready, leaving PC makers in a tough position and ultimately creating a less-than-satisfactory experience for consumers and businesses. Many of those issues, he said, were taken to heart when it came to planning and communicating around Windows 7, he said.
Some of Ozzie's more intriguing comments came when he talked about the need for partnership over time as Microsoft builds out its cloud. So far, Microsoft has built its own data centers, but they have largely been in the U.S. Because of varying regulations in different countries, though, Ozzie talked about the need for data centers "everywhere on earth."
"Every country will have data centers," he said, but added that Microsoft itself doesn't have the resources to build a cloud in each country. "We have to have partners."
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
He sucks at his job because of the economic downturn. Ozzy is that you?
Otherwise, it's just too easy to post a generic response like that.
Ray Ozzie in his lifetime will have done more for the computing world than you can even dream of. Think stuff like VisiCalc, Lotus Notes, Groove, and now he's Chief Architect at MS -- a role he's only had for a very short while now. What specific failings did you see in his performance that make you think he needs to go?
"I am not by any means a MS basher"
>>> I guess you're a comedian then?
I mean, did you just call Ray Ozzie dumb?
Your comment was absolutely worthless. The Vista team was lead by Brian Valentine and Jim Allchin -- both of whom left the company right around it's release. It's speculated that they got the axe because of the things that Ray Ozzie mentioned in the interview above.
The things you think MS got right -- Office 2007 -- the head dude for that was Steven Sinofsky. He heads the windows team now. Ray Ozzie has had the reigns at MS for less than three years (since July 2006). Try to make some comment beyond "this was a joke, that was a joke, this other thing was a disaster, ballmer and ozzie are dumb and dumber". There's absolutely no substance in that! Try stringing together one single readable post before you start hurling useless insults at tech visionaries like Ray Ozzie. Hold yourself to at least *some* standard before you feel free to throw invective around at others.
Ozzy is the CHIEF software architect not Brian Valentine or Jim Allchin, therefore he is responsible. I don?t care who got axed because of it. Microsoft has lost ground on most of its software (IE, Desktop OS, Server OS, Mobile OS) to competitors and OSS. Who is to blame? As a share holder I am pissed and blame Ozzy. I do not know why that strikes such a nerve with you. Rather than trashing my comment, why do you put some meat behind your defense of Ozzy. What has he done? Really, I am curious if he has done anything useful seeing you have some sort of insight here.
How about you blame youself for perpetuating your baseless FUD. I'm sure you're helping Microsoft's stock!
"Ozzy is the CHIEF software architect not Brian Valentine or Jim Allchin, therefore he is responsible. I don?t care who got axed because of it."
>>> Vista was in development from October 2001 to Jan 2007 (5 years and 4 months) and Ozzie got the reigns in July 2006 (6 months prior to it's release). And yet you're saying Ozzie is responsible?? If you don't know these facts, you shouldn't be posting on this article. If you know these facts and you still stick to your juvenile point of view, you are a troll.
"Microsoft has lost ground on most of its software (IE, Desktop OS, Server OS, Mobile OS) to competitors and OSS. Who is to blame?"
>>> These products were losing ground since prior to Ozzie's promotion to chief architect. There's no magic bullet to fix everything in one fell swoop -- but Ozzie's doing a great job. Win7 is looking good, and looks like it will ship on time. IE8 is a vast improvement over it's predecessors, WS08 R2 is looking good. I have no information about WM7 since they seem to be in 'stealth mode' but you can't blame the current state of WM on Ozzie -- the iPhone was your proverbial 'black swan' and it will take years for MS (or anyone else) to catch up to it -- credit to Apple where it's due.
"As a share holder I am pissed and blame Ozzy."
>>> For your own sake, please sell all your MSFT shares instantly. In this thread you have displayed zero knowledge about any facts regarding MS. You have displayed zero logic. You have displayed zero insight. Don't invest in something you know so little about. If anything, your comments give the impression that you want the share price to go down & and you want the company to fail, and you will say anything to help that happen (like calling for Ozzie's removal).
"I do not know why that strikes such a nerve with you."
>>> It doesn't. If you post rubbish in a public forum, don't expect that nobody will call you out on it. I merely pointed out that your post was worthless (which it was).
"Rather than trashing my comment, why do you put some meat behind your defense of Ozzy. What has he done?
>>> Already did that. Re-read my first response to you (VisiCalc, Lotus Notes, Groove networks). We're talking about a tech visionary here. There's more where that came from -- and it's not just about Azure and Live Mesh etc. He's pushing interoperability and standards in a big way at MSFT. By your own logic you'll have to give credit for Win7 to Ozzie instead of Sinofsky. MS is a big ship so it'll turn slowly, but he's steering it in the right direction.
"Really, I am curious if he has done anything useful seeing you have some sort of insight here."
>>> Perhaps next time, you should satisfy your curiosity *before* you post rather than after. Or at least, if you're 'curious' you could post a question instead of a silly diatribe. At the very least, for your own sake, do a little research before you buy stock in a company.
I asked what Ozzy has done for Microsoft, not his past resume. Windows 7 and WS2008R2 are not out yet. As for interoperability and standards. Seriously? That is all you have in 3 years. Market share in just about all categories are incredible low such as live search or sliding such as IE, but it is all OK because Ozzy is working on interoperability and standards. I understand you think he has not had a long enough time to make change. I disagree. My opinion is Ozzy in not doing a good job. It is my opinion and I stand by it. If MS market share start to slide less or by some miracle increase with Ozzy there, I will be the first to eat my words. I still think MS is the best software company out there currently, I just do not think Ozzy is doing a good job as the Chief Software Architect. I really do hope that windows 7 is a success, and I hope WS08R2 is a big improvement over R1. BTW, While I have always had shares in MS, I bought more when Ozzy was hired because, like everyone else, I thought he was going to do great things there. I was wrong.
Cloud computing is in it's infancy. He's just pointing out that fact.
Every time Microsoft say something like that it is because they are ready to compete.
I am using Google Web services already. By the time Microsoft is ready, I think Google may have too much momentum.
Meanwhile? Postini, Barracuda, and the like have been happily been in what folks call "the cloud"... long before anyone thought to call it "the cloud". Quicken has been selling database access in "the cloud" since, oh, 2006 or so (and even fits the description perfectly). Hosted websites? Guess what? It's a neat little example (nay, even a foundation!) of how the enterprise has been letting outside folks do all the online grunt-work for years now.
...but you know, according to Ray Ozzie (all bend a knee at the sound of his name!), business are soooo scared of using (say it with a whisper now) "the cloud"!
Long story short? it's not like folks haven't been doing this. 'course, anyone who actually works in the industry already knows this. Ozzie is just out to scare the rubes until Azure is ready to be pushed onto the masses....
Sure sounds like he's saying wait for Azure...especially when he mentions the offerings of thier competitors.
The fact is that business are still reluctant to put their principle business data out on the internet. Hosting internet sites or services around consumers isn't what he is talking about. Companies are dabbling but they still hesitant.
You're being a drama queen dude... :)
Ozzie didn't say "there are no other companies in the cloud space"
He didn't say "there are no examples of businesses moving to the cloud"
He merely said "Enterprises will not really trust the cloud until they get some experience with it"
Also -- hosted websites in the way the exist today are specifically *not* an example of cloud computing. Look up aspects of cloud computing such as device and location independence, multi-tenancy, dynamic 'on-demand' scaling, etc.
I couldn't quite get your point -- enough time for what??
That took them all of two years to do right? Oh I forgot common sense escapes you AppleBrainFullOfRocks.
[CNET editors' note: Personal attack deleted.]
"Win7 IS Vista with modifications"
>> I bet you felt really smug after saying that. But what does it even mean? Do you think that Canonical went back to the drawing board after Ubuntu 8.10 and re-created everything from scratch for 9.04? Do you think Apple abandoned the Leopard codebase and started from scratch for Snow Leopard. Do you think MS abandoned the XP codebase and started from scratch for Vista (and likewise from Vista to Win7)?
Lastly -- do you know anything about software development at all? Or are you just wasting everyone's time with these silly one-line retorts?
You mean, you're going to say something dumb like "Win7 is Vista" and then refuse to back up that claim -- got it. You offered to provide links last time -- what are you waiting for? An invitation?
The reason you're waffling on that:
1. Either you have no actual reference
2. OR you're quoting someone completely out of context, and the context of the link will actually prove your argument wrong.
So bring it on dude.. show us your cool little link. And don't be afraid to back up your claims with a little substantive logic/facts every now and then.
Seems to me that enterprises tied to Microsoft -- by technical need or "religion" -- are most wary of the cloud. Maybe because of cost and performance of hosted Exchange and hosted Sharepoint services.
- by Inconnux May 21, 2009 9:18 AM PDT
- -One of the lighter moments came when Ozzie was asked what were the lessons Microsoft learned from -Windows Vista.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(43 Comments)-"How much time do you have?" Ozzie quipped.
Too funny... at least he is honest.