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Microsoft Segments Linux "Personas"
RJ2770 writes "Microsoft has started a project for their partners to help identify the personas of different Linux users in an attempt to sway them toward Microsoft products. In addition to the web site there is a podcast on the market research behind the project, again directed at Microsoft's selling partners."
Microsoft is taking you seriously now - you better start doing the same thing.
MS should really start by figuring out what is useful for their users, then for Mac/Linux/BSD/something else users want.
I personally wonder at what point "innovation" was defined as get in the way of the two functions all ones users need. Just make an OS which is fast/efficient and doesn't throw up cryptic error messages regularly and I will be reasonably happy with whatever else goes on.
Linux users are, among other things:
* People who like knowing what their computer is up to (kind of like motorheads for the information age);
* People who don't like M$ deciding how their computers will work;
* People who don't want to spend money when a more reliable solution exists for Free;
* People who believe that competition is a Good Thing (tm);
* People who resent being called pirates (at least without being able to make others walk the plank!)
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
What is a Microsoft sales troll supposed to do about the missing entries:
:) Come on, come try and sell me some Windows Server 2003 licenses.
FSF True believer: If it ain't Free it isn't an option.
Disgusted Ex Microsoft customer: Experienced Microsoft products since they were in ROM chips and hasn't found one yet that wasn't a roach motel. Doesn't plan on wasting money on more of the crap until they manage to get several in a row right... i.e. never.
Political MS hater: Hates evil corporations in general, believes Microsoft more evil than Exxon-Mobil, AT&T, IBM or the MPAA. Believes Microsoft is an unrepentant monopolist hellbent on enslaving the world.
Then there is me, a little bit of all three.
Democrat delenda est
Here's my demographic.
I'm a computer user who likes my machines to be as crash-free as possible. Failing that, I'd like access to the source code so I can fix whatever problems I perceive, rather than waiting for someone else to do it.
Ok - that's my "Linux Persona". Now let's see you cater to me.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
For me it's more basic than that. I recently got a job and was plunged back into the world of Windows servers, and am now dealing with licensing issues whose only solution will be dropping money into Microsoft's pocket. I'm gonna be blunt, a lot of IT types like Linux because we don't have to worry about it. Add another user, workstation, server, whatever, and I don't have to plop down cash, or worse, have to go to my manager hat in hand and beg for more gruel to shove down Microsoft's mouth.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Is this a joke or is microsoft really that desperate???
Damn, this entire campaign sounds like one fucking sad attempt at trolling.
Really? Because for years, I've been seeing posts and articles on slashdot that talk in terms of winning people over from MS to Linux. Unless that continually played tune is also trolling, then I don't think that MS trying to understand the different stripes of people that are (or might consider) using Linux is anything other than basic market research. Not all of the Ubuntu crowd may consider themselves to be "winning" someone away from Mandriva, but I'm sure that language gets used sometimes. Just like people in the Firefox camp often talk about winning a larger share of browser users away from MS.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Not sure if "enemy" is the right word to describe a (hopefully) potential customer.
This site is a sales tool to help sales folks penetrate into different environments where Linux has some level of establishment. Based on a set of simplistic characteristics (how ingrained is Linux? how risk adverse is the customer? are they frothing-at-the-mouth OSS-kool-aid punch drunks?), the tool gives generalizations as to the type, size and length of each opportunity across 5 broad categories.
This type of tool is great for sales folks trying to get their heads around something they don't really understand. Right off certain approaches with broad strokes, and push the blue kool-aid instead.
Where a lot of this falls down is the reliance of already-proven sketchy evidence (Get The Facts, TCO studies, etc...), and some overly simplistic anecdotal evidence ("Customers are already switching from Apache/Linux to IIS6/Windows" ; "Customers are finding that development with ASP.NET is quicker and easier" ; ...). The reason that the sales cycle is longer for some of the types is that either they are rabid OSS drones (medium-length cycle; note to sales folks - do a political end-run around the geek) or they actually have successful experience with the alternative platforms (longest cycle; note to sales folks - it is going to be a hard fight and a lot of the "sales tools" relied on for other profiles likely will fail here).
It's a simple matter of complex programming.
If MS made an OS that was fast, efficient, stable, and supported the hardware most folks desired, there would be no reason for customers to buy the next OS when it came out. So, to support their business model, each OS has to be slightly behind for its time, either by speed, stability, or hardware support, so consumers have a reason to buy the next OS (or PC with the new OS) when it comes out.
Or I could have this all wrong, and be corrected below.
2. Your Parents - they don't really know much about computers and will use whatever the computer they bought came with.
3. Market Follower - M$ bitches.
4. The Windows Enthusiast - these people are extremely rare. They actively believe that M$ products are superior to anything else out there and believe that if something is free, there must be something wrong with it.
5. Scientists, Engineers, Professionals - use Windows due to vital software existing only on that platform.
The more they attack linux and open source the more make it legitimate in the eyes of the business users. They will never win that war.
I suppose they tried ignoring it and it didn't go away so now there are no other options but still.
evil is as evil does
Where a lot of this falls down is the reliance of already-proven sketchy evidence (Get The Facts, TCO studies, etc...), and some overly simplistic anecdotal evidence ("Customers are already switching from Apache/Linux to IIS6/Windows" ; "Customers are finding that development with ASP.NET is quicker and easier" ; ...).
I looked at all the personas and found every one of them fell in the range of 25-28 servers with the exception of the Unix one at 31 servers. Looks like a limited market segment survey to me. The segmemt missing is the SOHO or Home Office where computing is dependant on applications such as Quicken and an Office product and web browser. TCO is a big deciding factor. Instead of upgrading from MS office 97 and such, we built a white box computer and put Ubuntu on it. As a bonus, for our graphics arts we use the Gimp instead of Photoshop. We don't need another copy of AV software. The software savings has paid for the hardware. To share files, we picked up a NAS using Linux. It uses an encrypted Reiser filesystem and we have put all our printers on stand alone prinservers. The NAS and Printservers are all Linux. Other than some drastic price changes, there is little MS can do to get us to be an all MS office. We can't justify the cost. One copy of MS office is expensive. 4 copies (main office, kids PC, & 2 laptops is a show stopper. Linux does the job with either ABI Word or Open Office and doesn't break the budget. It also works with newer MS office files sent to us. Office 97 doesn't display them properly if at all.
When the adoption rate reaches critical mass where I can pick up a copy of Turbo Tax for Linux and Quicken will be the day MS stock has a bad day. There isn't many markets with more price concious buyers than the SOHO market.
The truth shall set you free!
I do not quite understand Microsoft's strategy here, for many reasons, which I'll try to enumerate logically. I am not trying to troll. I am trying to be objective, and when I do criticize Microsoft I do so purely academically, so please do not turn this into a flame war.
Further, the main buyers and users in this segment are not average users who need to use computers for nothing more than word processing, email, and web. They are power users who are well aware of the strengths and limitations provided by the different systems. They know first hand the problems of using Microsoft server solutions.
If they really want to capture this smaller market (again, I am not sure why they would except for the pursuit of total monopoly), it seems that they need more than a new sell technique. Instead, they should develop their new programs and services to inter-operate with existing standards and systems. As they develop server solutions for power users, they'll win over the server crowd with their commitment to excellent products, not some new half-hearted add campaign, which many (such as the
I know I do not have all the answers, but I think that Microsoft is getting everything wrong here. It seems that capturing the server market has a very small return when compared to the desktop market. Additionally, the cost of "doing it right" with inter-operability-centered design of new products while maintaining backwards compatibility would greatly reduce margin (e.g. look what happened with all the grand ideas of Vista). Nevertheless, if Microsoft is determined to win this market, they need to do so with more steps of good faith and less aggressive talk about intellectual property (happy, willing customers are
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mohandas Ghandi
This article is a sign we're deep in the fighting stage now.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 Whoops, silly middle mouse button...