What is Innovation?
Technically speaking, it's the introduction of new things or methods.
Innovation is a topic I've debated with many people, including professors at Instituto de Empresa (translated), colleagues, and in my own head. It's a tough one, who innovates and who doesn't? Does innovation matter if you're profitable and forecast growth? Is innovation too risky for established companies? People often debate if Microsoft innovates and to me that question is irrelevant. Microsoft is a platform company and well over 90% of our business is done through partners. In some cases we make the call to step back and deliver the end product (XBox, Zune, etc) but most of the time we bank on partners delivering innovative products into the market.
So the real question is not does Microsoft innovate, but does Microsoft enable their partners to innovate?
You might ask, does innovation even matter? I think the FT says it best:
Innovation used to happen by chance, if it happened at all.
Not any longer. Today, the world's most forward-thinking companies see innovation as an engine for growth and, therefore, something that must be strategically managed and securely harnessed. It is the new currency of competition. It is the key to organic growth and wider profit margins. It is, in short, the Holy Grail of business in the 21st Century and companies must keep innovating if they are to keep growing. [link]
So why is our team focussed so heavily on partner innovation? We see it as the key competitive advantage to software partners and we want to do everything possible to ensure Microsoft's partners are successful today and tomorrow. To put it even more bluntly, your success is our success.
What do you think: does Microsoft enable our partners to innovate?
post by Paul Murphy
What is this blog? This will be a technical voice to the 4,000 independent software vendors (ISV's) and 6,000 custom development software (CDS) partners in the UK. The target audience for this blog will be developers and architects within those organizations and our goal is to provide you with specific resources and insight to help you and your companies succeed with innovation.
