IBM Eye

Jack Vaughan writes about Ray Ozzie now that he has moved to Microsoft as a result of the Groove acquisition. Jack observes that it seems like Microsoft played a very strategic game to entice Ray to join them, outwitting IBM along the way.

Now at MS, Ray Ozzie becomes central figure again in software

Last January over club sodas, beers and such at an IBM Lotusphere cocktail reception, Groove Technology’s Ray Ozzie regaled Domino Notes devotees with tales of software wars past. The larger Lotus community was heartened later when Ozzie, a founder of Notes collaborative software, appeared in a keynote panel.

As the high-tech world now knows, Ozzie was soon to sell his Groove Networks start-up and its collaboration platform to Microsoft, and to place himself more firmly than ever in the Microsoft camp. If Ozzie’s presence at Lotusphere 2005 was a tonic for the Notes crowd, the effect soon wore off.

In taking on a role as Microsoft chief technology officer, Ozzie managed to place himself at the center of today’s most heated software battles. In September, he was tapped by Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates to lead planning of Microsoft’s efforts in software-based services.

Only time will tell whether Ozzie will be able to make a difference at Microsoft. I think it will depend on how much freedom the powers that be are prepared to grant Ozzie in relation to radically altering their strategies and the implementations of their existing products. Microsoft have a long way to go to even come close to the integrated capabilities of Lotus Notes, or even IBM Workplace - not that this seems to matter to most people. If Ray can bring the various divisions of Microsoft together and develop a real strategy for collaboration - something that has been obviously missing for a long time now - then I think Microsoft could really make some major advances in this area.

I think this quote from Vaughan’s article sums it up well:

Peter O’Kelly, senior analyst for Application Platform Strategies at Burton Group, saw Microsoft’s endorsement of collaboration via its Groove purchase as good for collaborative software generally. “Both Microsoft and IBM are bringing very competitive collaborative portfolios [to market],” said O’Kelly. “It is a good time to be a customer.”

With Microsoft pushing hard into this market - IBM has no choice but to step up and respond in kind, relying on innovation and integration to offer a viable alternative to what will most likely be a powerful competition from Microsoft.

But then again, perhaps everyone is placing too much faith in Ozzie’s ability to steer a large and cumbersome organisation, as Microsoft has become.

Interesting times ahead.