評論
打印
Leaders
來源于《社論》版塊
Microsoft
微軟
Rebooted
重振雄風
What the software company’s surprising comeback can teach other tech giants
這家軟件公司出人意料的東山再起能給其他科技巨頭帶來什么啟示
It must feel good to be back on top—and this time, almost liked. Twenty years ago Microsoft was considered an evil empire, scheming for domination and embroiled in a bruising antitrust battle with America’s Justice Department. Five years ago, having dozed through the rise of social media and smartphones, it was derided as a doddery has-been. Now, after several stellar quarters—this month it reported revenue of $33.7bn, up by 12% year on year—Microsoft is once again the world’s most valuable listed company, worth over $1trn. How did Satya Nadella, the boss since 2014, pull off this comeback? And with American trustbusters starting on a new review of “search, social media, and some retail services online”—ie, Google, Facebook and Amazon—what can the other tech giants learn from Microsoft’s experience?
回到巔峰感覺一定很好，這一次，幾乎愛慘了。20年前，微軟被認為是一個邪惡的帝國，圖謀壟斷，并卷入了與美國司法部的激烈的反壟斷斗爭。五年前，隨著社交媒體和智能手機的興起，它一直在沉默，因此被嘲笑為老態龍鐘。現在，在經歷了幾個出色的季度之后，微軟再次成為世界上最有價值的上市公司，市值超過1萬億美元。2014年上任的薩蒂亞•納德拉是如何讓微軟東山再起的？隨著美國反壟斷機構開始重新審視“搜索、社交媒體和一些在線零售服務”（指谷歌、Facebook和亞馬遜），其他科技巨頭能從微軟的經驗中學到什么？
First, be prepared to look beyond the golden goose. Microsoft missed social networks and smartphones because of its obsession with Windows, the operating system that was its main moneyspinner. One of Mr Nadella’s most important acts after taking the helm was to deprioritise Windows. More important, he also bet big on the “cloud”—just as firms started getting comfortable with renting computing power. In the past quarter revenues at Azure, Microsoft’s cloud division, grew by 68% year on year, and it now has nearly half the market share of Amazon Web Services, the industry leader.
首先，準備好超越金鵝。微軟錯過了社交網絡和智能手機，因為微軟癡迷于Windows操作系統，而Windows是其主要的搖錢樹。納德拉上任后最重要的舉措之一，就是取消Windows的使用。更重要的是，他還在“云”上押下重注——就在企業開始適應租用計算能力的時候。上個季度，微軟云計算部門Azure的營收同比增長68%，目前其市場份額接近行業領頭羊亞馬遜網絡服務的一半。
Second, rapaciousness may not pay. Mr Nadella has changed Microsoft’s culture as well as its technological focus. The cult of Windows ordained that customers and partners be squeezed and rivals dispatched, often by questionable means, which led to the antitrust showdown. Mr Nadella’s predecessor called Linux and other open-source software a “cancer”. But today that rival operating system is more widely used on Azure than Windows. And many companies see Microsoft as a much less threatening technology partner than Amazon, which is always looking for new industries to enter and disrupt.
其次，貪婪可能不會帶來回報。納德拉改變了微軟的文化和技術重心。對Windows的狂熱注定了客戶和合作伙伴會受到擠壓，競爭對手會被打發走，而這往往是以一種可疑的方式，這導致了反壟斷的攤牌。納德拉的上一任將Linux和其他開源軟件稱為“癌癥”。但如今，這個競爭對手的操作系統在Azure上的應用比Windows更廣泛。許多公司認為，與亞馬遜相比，微軟是一個威脅小得多的技術合作伙伴，亞馬遜一直在尋找新的行業進入和顛覆。
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