Saturday, May 21, 2011

Why Microsoft’s Mobile Screw-up is Worse Than They Realize

It was not long ago when popular Microsoft products such as Windows, Office, Outlook, Internet Explorer, etc. were used for just about everything.  Macs continue to erode the Windows gold standard operating systems.  Firefox, Safari, and Chrome have made the once monopolistic Internet Explorer capture only 50% of the internet browser market today.  And Open Office and Google Docs are starting to steal users from Microsoft’s profitable Office suite, especially rendering their complex collaboration features obsolete.

The one thing that may appear to be stable today is Microsoft Outlook and the associated Exchange client-server.  For those not familiar, the basic idea of Microsoft Exchange is that it provides a powerful email, scheduling, and global address service for medium and large businesses.  The Exchange server acts as the back-end service while Outlook (the Exchange client) provides end-users with email, calendar, contacts and task tools, among other features.

It was also not too long ago when Windows Mobile was a powerful operating system for mobile phones.  While never priding itself as a great web browsing or multi-media experience, the one thing Windows Mobile operating systems have had are native Exchange clients.  In other words, Microsoft Outlook penetrated much of the pre-installed software on the phone.  Unlike a lot of other “bloatware” that comes preloaded on phones, the native Exchange was actually a good thing.  Emails would be delivered directly to your Messages app, phone numbers of Outlook contacts would be stored in the phonebook, and calendar items would synchronize between your phone and Outlook automatically and over the air.

Realizing that Microsoft Exchange nearly served the complete market of enterprise businesses, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android incorporate Exchange synchronization and functionality.  However, as one would expect, the synchronization is not nearly as seamless as it is on a Windows Mobile phone.  For instance, fields that may contain data in an Outlook contact may not be available on a BlackBerry.  Another example is that calendar/appointment reminders are different between Outlook and iPhone.  And perhaps worst of all, the powerful Outlook task list doesn’t even synchronize with Android mobile operating systems.

Given the utility of a Windows Mobile phone with a native Exchange client, it had everything going for it.  The whole Microsoft ecosystem could be leveraged.  As other phone manufacturers and mobile operating systems began to gain popularity, Microsoft just rode its laurels.  This is not news though – we all know this, and Steve Ballmer eventually fired the head of mobile.

"Right now, [Microsoft] is selling millions and millions and millions of phones, and Apple is selling zero."


After Microsoft’s mocking of the iPhone, they effectively disappeared from the landscape of mobile phones.  They have tried to reinvigorate the product with Windows Phone 7, but this has all but failed.  (On a side note, there are 6 unique models of Windows Phone, and none are available on Verizon and not one has a fixed qwerty keyboard.  Who are they actually trying to compete with?)  But the worst is yet to come.  Because of this mobile screw-up, Microsoft’s “old faithful” – the Exchange server and Outlook client – are in trouble.  Why would users deal with the inconsistent integration of Exchange into other mobile phones when they can just use native applications, e.g., gmail and calendar for Android?  Indeed, Google Apps is being heavily marketed toward enterprise customers.  Google doesn’t currently have a task list, but something like it has to be in the works.

Therefore, because more work is continually conducted on mobiles, and because almost no one uses Windows Phones, enterprise customers may likely start switching to other services offered as native applications on mobile phones, such as those offered by Apple or Google.  The logical next step would be for those enterprise customers to adapt their office workstations to the new clients.  Losing Exchange server and Outlook revenue is when Microsoft’s real blood bath will begin.



Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Delta Airlines: A Round Trip Experience

The Departure

Our plane had left the gate in Washington, DC, and I was to fly up to New York City for a conference. I was probably engrossed in the most recent issue of Sky Mall for quite a while before I realized that the plane had been sitting on the tarmac, not moving for at least 15 minutes. I looked around and saw the flight attendant, and she informed me that there were major backups on the runway, and that we would have to wait our turn.


Fair enough, I thought. This was not uncommon and just the nature of air travel. But one hour later, not only had we not moved but there were also no announcements. I again turned to the responsive flight attendant, who apologized for not really knowing the status.

Another hour went by. This is all literal; I promise I’m not exaggerating (anyone who’s flown before knows that no exaggeration is necessary when it comes to airline horror stories). At this point, we had been sitting on the tarmac for over 2 hours. I thought to myself, if we don’t leave in 15 minutes, there’s no point in me even flying up to NYC anymore. I told this to the flight attendant, who asked me more information about it. “Where’s the conference?” she asked. “What time does it start, and what’s the latest it would make sense for you to arrive?” Her questions were obscure, but I humored her and answer them. She excused herself and headed toward the front of the plane.

A few minutes later she returns and says, “Thankfully you spoke up, sir. The pilots now have an urgency reason to tell the control tower … this should allow us to take off shortly.” Before I could gasp out of surprise, the captain announces that we’re next in line for takeoff. I assumed that she was being sarcastic with me, and I asked for clarification. She explained that it was Delta’s policy to prioritize departures based not just on the original departure time but also the priority level of passengers. As a master of the art of subtle sarcasm, I can tell you that she was telling the truth.

The flight attendant then proceeds to tell other passengers around me that I’m the one who deserves credit for the plane finally departing. Naturally, they questioned the absurdity of this, and her basic answer was, “All you had to do was ask.”

The Return

I’m not entirely convinced that overselling flights is a good business decision, but I am happy to volunteer for the voucher when it’s convenient for me.  Needless to say, my return flight was overbooked, and I was selected as a volunteer.  I stood aside while the plane was boarded, eagerly awaiting my $400 voucher, meal ticket, and hotel reservation.  The jet way door shuts, and moments later the plane begins pulling away.

Just like real money, it cannot be replaced if lost.

I continued to wait at the desk while the gate agent radioed back and forth with another individual, sounding like they were arguing about numbers.  The gate agent turned to me, and said that there was actually an open seat and they had miscounted.

They miscounted. How does this happen so often? People have to check in for their flights, and a computer scans each individual boarding pass as passengers board.  If that isn’t enough, the flight attendants walk the aisles a number of times, and I would think that an empty seat on a supposedly oversold flight would be pretty damn obvious.

The plane pulls back up to the gate, the jet way door reopens, and I’m rushed aboard the plane.  As I make my way to the back of the plane, I’m given looks of disgust by other passengers who reasonably assume that I was running late and was responsible for holding up their departure.  I head home with no $400 voucher, no available overheard cargo space, and more personal disgust of airlines.

You can’t make this stuff up.