微软走进新时代

    它还意味着软件交付的全新方案。辛诺夫斯基也许在准时交付软件上有着令人印象深刻的记录，不过那是建立在一个长达多年的规划基础上的——而且软件基本都被封装好，不再更新。微软需要改变这点：如今的移动产品用户不仅希望智能手机上的软件能够时常更新，PC机上的软件也要同样如此。

    微软想要成功，需要加强移动性、灵活性和集成性。【我的同事亚当•拉辛斯基撰文分析苹果公司（Apple）时，提到了类似的问题。】不过，微软还需要利用自身的优势，尤其是其大型的开发群体和深厚的公司根基。没有辛诺夫斯基的全新微软在平板电脑领域起步较晚，不过尽管目前iPad市场占有率很大，微软依旧有大好的机会在这一领域发掘出新的小众市场。移动设备管理提供商AirWatch的CEO约翰•马歇尔说：“长期以来，IT业的经理和管理员已经适应了微软产品，他们都在心急如焚地等着Sharepoint、微软Office、Skype、Lync和Yammer等微软产品能够实现无缝集成。”

    当然，尽管辛诺夫斯基可能不是运营“新”微软的合适人选，但现任CEO鲍尔默能否胜任这一职务也很难说。就在鲍尔默的眼皮底下，公司在移动产品和其他消费品领域接连出错。微软前项目经理斯里兰姆•克里斯南说：“我确实认为微软需要一个人来整合员工，激励员工，领导员工，从而让公司能够与苹果、谷歌（Google）和其他挑战者竞争。许多微软员工都曾认为这个人选会是辛诺夫斯基。”

    译者：严匡正

    It also means a whole new approach to delivering software. Sinofsky may have had an impressive record for delivering software on time, but he was on a multi-year schedule--a boxed software kind of guy. Microsoft needs to change that: Today's mobile users expect constant updates not just on their smartphones but also on their PCs.

    For Microsoft to succeed, it needs to be more mobile, more agile and more integrated. (Something much more akin to the analysis of Apple by my colleague Adam Lashinsky.) But it also needs to capitalize on its strengths, particularly its large developer community and its enterprise roots. The new, Sinfosky-less Microsoft is late to tablets, but it's got a big opportunity to carve out a niche in the enterprise, regardless of the iPad's current hold on the market. "IT managers and administrators have been comfortable with Microsoft products for quite some time, and they are anxiously awaiting the next step of complete and seamless integration with the range of Microsoft products, including SharePoint, MS Office, Skype, Lync and Yammer," notes John Marshall, CEO of mobile device management provider AirWatch.

    Of course, while Sinofsky may not be the right candidate to run the "new" Microsoft, it's not clear whether current CEO Ballmer is either. Many of the company's fumbles in mobile and other consumer products have happened under Ballmer's watch. "I do think Microsoft needs someone who can unite, inspire and lead them into battle against Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and all the other challengers they face," says Sriram Krishnan, a former Microsoft program manager. "A lot of Microsofties assumed that was going to be Sinofsky."