Microsoft’s mobile moves: Still your father’s technology company

Microsoft created a virtual assistant, made Windows free on small devices, and brought back the Start button – but it’s still playing catch-up

This has been a big week for Microsoft, with a flood of new announcements and changes of direction. Along with its Build conference, new CEO Satya Nadella has made a number of moves designed to reverse the public perception that the company is an aging also ran in the technology races.

The changes include
Rolling out its new Cortana digital voice assistant
Announcing that Windows would be free to manufacturers of devices with small screens
Coming out with "universal" Windows technology that helps developers build apps that run on multiple versions of Microsoft's operating system
Reviving the popular "Start" menu for Windows 8.1

Though some of those moves are more important than others, they're all good things. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be enough to solve Microsoft's problem of being seen as your father's technology vendor. Here's why:

Consumers vs. IT
As noted above, Microsoft's issues right now revolve around how the company is perceived by consumers, and it's unlikely that these initiatives will be enough to change those perceptions. While all useful, none of them are truly new. Instead, they're playing catch-up to existing products and services from Microsoft's competitors, perhaps with incremental improvements, or acknowledgements that previous Microsoft strategies simply weren't working out.

Technology professionals will welcome these changes, but the IT community isn't where Microsoft's problems lie. In my experience,, enterprise IT generally likes and trusts the company. Microsoft's challenges lie in convincing fickle consumers that it's as cool and innovative as Apple and Google. I can't imagine these moves being exciting enough to do that.

Better, but not better enough
While initial reports suggest that Cortana is a credible or even superior alternative to Apple's Siri and Google Now, the fact remains that other companies pioneered the voice assistant idea. Cortana would have to be light-years better than its already-in-place rivals to truly give Microsoft a significant advantage.

Similarly, making Windows free for mobile devices may help spark more device makers to adopt the platform, but it's not like it will make an immediate difference to consumers. Besides, Android is already free to license. Once again, Microsoft is playing catch up.

Universal Windows app development may pay off with more app choices in the long run, but it's a pretty geeky concept for most end users. Finally, bringing back the Start menu will ease the transition to Windows 8 for some holdouts, but let's face it, the cool kids aren't really interested in desktop Windows at this point.

Put it all together and you've got a collection of tweaks and that could change the substance of what Microsoft does, but won't dent the way most people think of the company.

More, please!
Still, there's a big ray of hope here. The fact that Microsoft was willing and able to make these changes could signal that more are on the way. If Microsoft can keep shaking things up and continue to show that things really are different now, eventually people will begin to notice and perhaps change their minds about the company. And then it truly won't be your father's Microsoft any more.

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Data scientists: IT's new rock stars

Data scientists: IT's new rock stars
These days, just showing up to work as a data scientist will get you attention.

The evolution of the data scientist role is making even those who are successful in IT wish they could go back.

In an interview with Network World last month, Robert Stroud, a member of ISACA’s Strategic Advisory council and vice president of innovation and strategy at CA Technologies, called the data scientist a “hard sought-after role” and compelled those entering the technology job market target that field.

"If I were starting my career again, I’d be going into this space," Stroud says.

The hype for data scientists was given some weight in American Journalism Review’s recent profile of Buzzfeed’s director of data science, Ky Harlin. Buzzfeed's growth has been massive in the past few years, reaching an average of 55.2 million uniquely visitors, according to September 2013 numbers from Quantcast. That's more than Craigslist and AOL, and within reach of Yahoo and Amazon.com. Essentially, Buzzfeed has made a business out of viral content, and Harlin is responsible for sustaining that.

RELATED: What it takes to be a data scientist

Who's hiring data scientists?
image alt text

According to the AJR profile, Harlin created his own algorithms that identify when and why specific pieces of web content will go viral.

"There are many variables we look at, both quantitative and descriptive,” Harlin told AJR. “Quantitative factors are things like the amount of times something’s been shared on Facebook, while descriptive factors are things like what’s contained in the text of the article. We employ machine learning algorithms that help us map out the relationship between those variables and shareability."

What's more interesting is where Harlin developed those skills – a medical imaging company. According to AJR, Buzzfeed's founder and CEO Jonah Peretti sought out Harlin while he was working in the medical imaging field, and brought him in for an interview about what data science could do for his media company. In the interview, Peretti found just how versatile data science skills can be.

"There are actually a lot of similarities between medical imaging and content publishing on a purely mathematical level," Peretti told AJR. "Both fields are looking for patterns in vast data sets. And during the interview, [Harlin] was clearly more interesting in understanding how content spreads than medical imaging, so I knew he would be good."

The rest of the details on Harlin's role and how he became the company's "secret weapon," as AJR described him, are available in that article, which is an interesting peak behind the curtains at the fastest-growing media company in the world.

However, the mere fact that a technology employee would be the center of a lengthy profile in the American Journalism Review should be an eye-opener. The kind of attention it’s been gathering has sent experts in the field out to start spread the word. In a June 2012 interview with Network World, Laura Kelley, Houston vice president for IT staffing and consulting firm Modis, advised those with MBAs to seek out certifications for statistical software programs, and those with computer science degrees to pursue an MBA. Facebook and Google have both been looking to bring on data scientists for years. In October 2012, the Harvard Business Review called data scientist “the sexiest job of the 21st century.” Data scientists like Harlin can go from work in the medical imaging field to a high-profile job at a media startup, and even though, like most tech workers, his day-to-day job rarely changes, they'll get press coverage. It seems the Harvard Business Review was right.

It all makes sense. Data scientists represent the new age of IT, where employees will not only contribute to a company’s business goals, but help identify them in the first place.

"This is where you add real business value," he says. "Where an IT person is not just running machines anymore, but fundamentally taking good information and helping the business make true business decisions so that they can adjust the business in real time based on this information. If used well, you’ll be able to spot trends and opportunities far faster than you could in the past."

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com