I spent some time with a colleague this week discussing how partners work with Microsoft, and it''s a conversation I''ve had in many shapes and forms for almost 15 years with many Microsoft partners in partner briefings, conferences, advisory boards, executive round tables, and other less formal venues (ie/eg, over beers). We can''t make any headway without being asked to fill out some form containing information about my company that Microsoft should already know. MORE >>

The post Predictions 2016: Apple, Tesla, Google, Medium, Adtech, Microsoft, IoT, and Business on a Mission appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog. Microsoft and Google get serious about hardware. Microsoft has already committed to its well-regarded Surface line, and Google has been dabbling with hardware with what have essentially been limited-run, high-end products in the Chromebook Pixel and Nexus line of smart phones. MORE >>

I suggested last week that Microsoft Office was approaching obsolescence, rooted in archaic paper Victorian work practices. MicrosoftIn response to some of the comments and debate last week here are some further thoughts on my rationale. MORE >>

The second of the four official themes around which Microsoft organized content at this year''s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) was Big Data. In a world containing "an internet of things" where 90% of all of the world''s on-line data has been created in the last two years (per Ballmer''s keynote, evoking Al Gore-ish hockey stick graphs), Microsoft seeks to stake out high ground in the world of big data. MORE >>

Last week Microsoft convened its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), educating, listening to, and entertaining about 16,000 of its top partners in Houston, Texas. This was my sixth WPC, and my 14 th year as part of the Microsoft partner community, and I processed the week’s events and write this series of blog posts from this point of view. First and foremost was Microsoft’s reinforcement of its reinvention as a “ device and services ” company. MORE >>