The Next Wave - Software plus Services (S+S)
The concept is remarkably simple: it describes a future where local software and Internet services seamlessly interact with one another. Software makes services better and services make software better. But it also describes a technical and business journey that Microsoft, our partners and our customers have to make over the next couple years.
Different customers will use different combinations of Software + Services. Even customers in the same situation may make different decisions. The value proposition Microsoft can offer with Software + Services is to provide each customer with the optimal mix of choice, flexibility and capability.
Software + Services is very broad, touching almost every aspect of our industry. It is relevant to every role and audience we work with. It comes into play when you connect rich, local clients with services, such as Xbox Live or Windows with Windows Update. And it applies to servers running on-premise in customer data centers that interact with services , such as Exchange with Forefront.
Software + Services also provides an umbrella that spans Software-as-a-Service, SOA and Web 2.0. Each of these are interesting areas of innovation in their right, but Software + Services lets us bring them together and offer broader and better integrated solutions.
The reality is Software + Services is where the industry is going. For all the hype about everything moving to services in the cloud, even the biggest proponents of this view are furiously investing in software that runs on local clients and servers that make their services better.
Software + Services is Microsoft strategy for the coming years.
I've previously posted something similar here.
