Microsoft CEO Says Windows No Longer the Low Cost Solution for IT
Earlier this week, VarBusiness published an account of a speech that Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, gave at the Fusion 2000 conference. According to the article, Ballmer thinks Windows is no longer the lowest cost solution for corporate IT departments. Ballmer is quoted as having said:
We have prided ourselves on always being the cheapest guy on the block--we were going to be higher volume and lower priced than anybody else out there....
One issue we have now, a unique competitor, is Linux. We haven't figured out how to be lower priced than Linux....
We are actually having to learn how to say, "We may have a high price on this one, but look at the additional value and how that value actually leads to a lower cost of ownership despite the fact that our price may be higher".
Maybe we should stop being amazed that a Microsoft executive is capable of telling the unvarnished truth. We think everyone in the IT market could deal with Microsoft if they presented their offerings as "more expensive but worth it". Then, all they have to do is deliver on the proposition.