When Microsoft (MSFT) acquired Groove Networks in April, it was happy to incorporate the company's software into some Office productivity items. But the real key to the acquisition was Groove's founder and CEO, Ray Ozzie. Something of a legend in software circles, Ozzie struck digital gold in 1989 when he created Lotus Notes, the innovative messaging software.
Now Ozzie is trying to push the bounds of innovation again. Chairman William H. Gates III and CEO Steven A. Ballmer have tapped Ozzie to lead Microsoft's charge into software delivered as a service over the Internet, dubbed Windows Live and Office Live (see BW Online, 11/2/05, "Why Microsoft is going "Live"").
THE NEXT TIDAL WAVE. In a frank Oct. 28 memo to top execs, Ozzie spelled out how the company is already trailing the new breed of rivals such as search leader Google (GOOG) and Net-phone pioneer Skype. "We must reflect upon what's going on around us, and reflect upon our strengths, weaknesses and industry leadership responsibilities, and respond," Ozzie writes. "It's clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know it is at risk."
Gates heralded the seven-page memo as something of a manifesto for Microsoft. In an e-mail to top execs and engineers, Gates compared it to his famous Internet Tidal Wave memo, written 10 years earlier. That missive helped get Microsoft focused on the Net. Back then, Microsoft was already trailing Web browser pioneer Netscape Communications. "I feel sure we will look back on [Ozzie's memo] as being as critical as The Internet Tidal Wave memo was when it came out," Gates writes.
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