纳德拉如何实现微软的低调复兴?

上周一，我在微软呆了一整天的时间，这是一家相对低调、稍显古怪而又比较自信的公司。

萨蒂亚·纳德拉担任微软首席执行官已近五年，他清楚地知道，全世界都认为微软已经东山再起，但拒绝对此大肆宣扬。他在谈及微软曾经处于霸主地位的Windows软件时表示：“当公司的首要特许权产品不复往日风采时，推到重来是一件困难的工作。我一直在观察那些已然做到这一点的公司，并希望借此获得启发。”

在这个凸显微软独到之处的一天之中，纳德拉在活动伊始和结束之时发表了讲话，听众是一小群记者。像苹果和亚马逊这样的同行直到产品即将销售之时才会向外界透露其产品信息。作为对比，微软则向人们展示了构建其未来大作的几乎所有理念，从“魔法视窗”双面显示技术到量子计算，再到其HoloLens“混合现实”平台。

异常幸运的是，微软多年前便开始着手打造其Windows授权产品的替代品——多面手Azure云服务业务，它目前仅次于亚马逊市场领先的云服务。（上周二，微软宣布其云服务胜出，一举拿下Walgreens Boots多年期服务合约。）Azure则顺理成章地成为了微软“智能边缘”（intelligent edge）策略的核心组成部分：所有可能大热的设备和服务都将使用和培育公司的增长引擎Azure。

纳德拉完成了一个几乎不可能完成的任务，让微软成为了科技行业一家怡然自得的公司。史蒂夫·鲍尔默的日子一去不复返，当时，这家总部位于华盛顿州雷德蒙德市的公司对于竞争对手的设备可谓是不屑一顾，而微软如今则是尽可能地做好人。纳德拉仅将三家公司看作主要竞争对手：亚马逊、谷歌和阿里巴巴。他说：“这些公司都是拥有平台业务的大型综合型企业，但我们只是一家有着少量综合业务的平台公司。”（在被问及在中国本土有着强大云业务的阿里巴巴时，纳德拉回答道：“在中国有所建树的企业都有实力走出国门。”）

微软的重振以及全球资本对其仇视的消失让公司成为了多个前沿的政策领袖。总裁布拉德·史密斯于上周一的演讲中花了很长的时间介绍了科技行业在解决社会问题方面所能发挥的作用，其中的一些问题因科技和相关公司而变得更加严重。他指出，微软将通过政策途径来解决三个方面的问题：接触科技的机会，尤其是美国乡村地区的宽带问题；教育水平低下人群的技术技能差距；经济飞速增长所带来的挑战，尤其是科技行业所在主要城市区域缺乏经济住房的问题。上周四，微软计划宣布一项由其领导的普吉特湾地区动议，旨在增加当地的住房供应量。

微软还面临着很多挑战：其很多小型业务的业绩并不理想；它看到了“无缝”计算的未来，但它在关键的智能手机市场却没有话语权；全球经济的下滑将拖累微软以及所有企业。

然而，就公司的重生而言，无论是实际层面还是象征层面，微软正在拆除其西雅图郊区巨大的建筑群，并修建新的建筑、地下车库（汽车将从主园区消失）以及与公共交通相连的环保连接。

微软曾是科技行业万人恨、万人踩的公司，只不过人们已经开始淡忘这段历史。然而，就低调、古怪和自信而言，其他公司可能难以望其项背。（财富中文网）

译者：冯丰

审校：夏林

I spent Monday at Microsoft, a relatively humble, relatively quirky, and relatively confident company.

Satya Nadella, just shy of five years into his tenure as Microsoft’s CEO, is well aware of the world’s view of his company’s rejuvenation—and he refuses to gloat out loud. “When you have major franchises that run out steam,” he says, referring to Microsoft’s once-dominant Windows software, “to reinvent yourself is hard work. I’m always looking for inspiration” from companies that have done it.

Nadella spoke to a small group of journalists at the beginning and end of a day packed with evidence of Microsoft’s uniqueness. Peers like Apple and Amazon share relatively little with the world until the day they’re ready to sell it. Microsoft, by contrast, offers glimpses of seemingly every idea that might be its next big thing, from “magic window” two-way display technology to quantum computing to its HoloLens “mixed-reality” platform.

To its great good fortune, Microsoft several years ago hit on a replacement to its Windows franchise, the multi-faceted Azure cloud-services business that is No. 2 to Amazon’s market-leading product. (On last Tuesday, Microsoft announced its latest cloud services win, signing Walgreens Boots to a multi-year deal.) Azure, in turn, is the center of Microsoft’s “intelligent edge” strategy: Every potential hit device and service leverages and feeds Azure, the company’s growth engine.

Nadella has pulled off the seemingly impossible in making Microsoft the feel-good company of the tech industry. Gone are the days of Steve Ballmer, when devices by competitors were four-letter words in Redmond, Wash. Microsoft now plays nice whenever possible. Nadella identifies only three primary competitors: Amazon, Google, and Alibaba. “All are aggregators with platform businesses,” he says. “We are a platform business with a small aggregation business.” (Asked about Alibaba, a cloud powerhouse in its home country, Nadella replied: “Anyone who is doing well in China can get outside it.”)

The company’s resurgence and the evaporation of animosities once endured in global capitals allow it to be a policy leader on multiple fronts. President Brad Smith spoke last Monday at length about what the tech industry can do to alleviate societal problems, some of which technology and its companies have exacerbated. He says Microsoft sees three ills it will address through policy means: access to technology, particularly broadband in rural America; the gap in technical skills among the poorly educated; and challenges posed by explosive economic growth, notably the lack of affordable housing in the major urban areas where tech does business. On last Thursday, Microsoft plans to announce an initiative it is leading in the Puget Sound area to add to the housing supply.

Microsoft faces plenty of challenges. The track record of its smaller bets is poor. It sees a future of “seamless” computing but doesn’t have a position in the critical smartphone market. A global economic slowdown would hurt it along with everyone else.

And yet, in a physical and metaphorical sign of its rebirth, Microsoft is tearing up huge swaths of its suburban Seattle campus to build new buildings, underground garages (cars will disappear from the main campus), and eco-friendly links to public transit.

But it’s tough to remember anymore when Microsoft was the most hated company in tech or the flattest of doormats either. Other companies could do a lot worse than humble, quirky, and confident.