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In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I analyze Microsoft’s recent memos, uncovering the underlying challenges in its security practices and the imperative for radical restructuring.
Highlights
00:21 — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Executive Vice President of Security Charlie Bell recently released two memos outlining how Microsoft intends to change its security business. The depth, scope, and range of what is changing, and the need to make these sweeping end-to-end changes reveals the shortcomings that Microsoft had in its security business.
01:28 — They both emphasize security is job one. Nothing else comes close. On the development side, they said dollars always have to go first, to security issues. He said regardless of what else is happening, new features, put those aside. Dealing with legacy systems, put those aside, if security development needs the money first.
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03:03 — Nadella has to specify here very strongly that we’re going to change the organization to make sure that our development of security technologies and solutions is uppermost, showing that it was not that way in the past.
04:26 — In my article later today, I go into a lot of detail about the remarkable achievements that Satya Nadella has posted during his little over 10 years as CEO of Microsoft. He has a challenge unlike anything he’s ever faced before.
05:07 — It isn’t just about fixing the technology within Microsoft, it’s about fixing the culture and the mindset that allowed these organizational shortcomings to fester and take hold there. It’s good they’re doing this, but there’s a very big difference between a CEO and another executive writing out a plan, and then being able to have the will to force this through.
