Microsoft Offers Glimpse of Net Initiative
Microsoft Corp.’s chief financial officer offered new details Wednesday into the software giant’s plans for its next major strategic initiative, an Internet-based Windows operating system.
Speaking to investors here at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray’s annual investor conference, John Connors outlined how Microsoft is moving enormous sums of money and people into creating a type of operating system for the Internet--one that allows different software applications to communicate and collaborate across the Net.
He said company executives have identified seven key categories that will represent the core components of the emerging system, known as Next Generation Windows Services. These categories--billing, publishing, relationship management, directory, communications, personalization and storage--will require intense problem-solving to make the transactions and communications over the Internet work among different computing systems, he said.
“Those really are the core of the platform and are amongst the most vexing challenges on the Internet today,” Connors said. “We feel we have the depth of resources and the talent to solve those vexing problems.”
He declined to say how much money Microsoft is throwing at the project, but analysts believe it to be a large portion of the company’s $3.8-billion research and development budget.
Microsoft’s intent is to create the “glue” for the Internet that allows information such as work schedules, health records, doctors’ appointments and flight times to be coordinated with employers, clients and family instantly and automatically over the Net.
The software company is pushing an Internet-approved technology, extensible markup language known as XML, as the basis for sending generic information over the Web and between different computer systems and devices.
Standing in Microsoft’s way are companies such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Oracle and, to a lesser extent, the Linux companies. They are Microsoft’s main rivals for control of this emerging Internet standard, Connors said.
Still, moving Microsoft from its dependence on personal computers to the uncertain world of the Internet and Web services is why co-founder Bill Gates stepped down from his position as chief executive, Connors said.
Microsoft shares rose 50 cents to $103.25 in Nasdaq trading Wedneday.
Connors’ remarks come only a month after Microsoft rolled out its Windows 2000 operating system, considered the foundation for the company’s transition to the Internet and the world of e-commerce. The company is in a hurry to make an even bigger footprint on the Web.
Microsoft plans to disclose more details about its new Internet and Web services initiative in early May.
