7,999 and Counting-
A Day in the Life of Jeff Raikes
Adriana Boden (OI), Co-News & Campus Affairs Editor
Issue date: 10/20/03 Section: News
In fact, today is my 7,999th day at Microsoft. I decided after 20 years it was more interesting to talk about it every 1,000 days - so tomorrow I am celebrating my 8k!
Harbus: Congratulations! With over 22 years at Microsoft you have certainly had a front row seat to the company's growth and evolution. "Integrated Innovation" is a term that has fairly recently emerged as a critical part of the Microsoft strategy - can you tell us a little more about it and why it is so important?
Raikes: We are in the midst of a fairly important transformation of our company - and "integrated innovation" is a way for us to be more agile in the way that we run our businesses, and address the customers' expectation that we are focused on combining our technologies to meet their needs. That's where integrated innovation is so important. It's probably the most unique value that Microsoft can bring to customers in software.
Number One - we are a software company - that is our lifeblood. But
Number Two - we are a software company that has the broadest and deepest investment in R&D. A lot of what our customers look to is how we bring those software assets together to really make a difference in their business, and that is the heart of what integrated innovation means. How does the combination of the Windows operating environment, the server operating environment, the Office applications, MSN, and the mobile devices - come together in ways that deliver new and enhanced value for the customer? That is what integrated innovation is all about.
Harbus: Microsoft has recently stated that they plan to double the size of their Office business from $10 billion in revenues/year to $20 billion - how exactly do you plan to achieve that?
Raikes: That's a number I tossed out a year ago which may not have been the right way to make the point. The point I was trying to make was that two to three years ago, people said, "You are kind of done in the Office business, right? I mean there is not that much more to do." And the answer is - there is a huge amount of work to do. Why? Because there is an incredible amount of productivity left to gain in information work, and there is a lot of technological opportunity underway that will help us deliver on that. What I was really trying to do was get people to take a much broader view of the world of information work and what Microsoft can do. I am not sure that I can accurately predict our revenues eight years down the road, but what I can do is share my enthusiasm for what is going to occur in terms of information work and collaboration. If I may ask, to what extent do the students here at HBS use instant messaging (IM) here at school?
Harbus: Congratulations! With over 22 years at Microsoft you have certainly had a front row seat to the company's growth and evolution. "Integrated Innovation" is a term that has fairly recently emerged as a critical part of the Microsoft strategy - can you tell us a little more about it and why it is so important?
Raikes: We are in the midst of a fairly important transformation of our company - and "integrated innovation" is a way for us to be more agile in the way that we run our businesses, and address the customers' expectation that we are focused on combining our technologies to meet their needs. That's where integrated innovation is so important. It's probably the most unique value that Microsoft can bring to customers in software.
Number One - we are a software company - that is our lifeblood. But
Number Two - we are a software company that has the broadest and deepest investment in R&D. A lot of what our customers look to is how we bring those software assets together to really make a difference in their business, and that is the heart of what integrated innovation means. How does the combination of the Windows operating environment, the server operating environment, the Office applications, MSN, and the mobile devices - come together in ways that deliver new and enhanced value for the customer? That is what integrated innovation is all about.
Harbus: Microsoft has recently stated that they plan to double the size of their Office business from $10 billion in revenues/year to $20 billion - how exactly do you plan to achieve that?
Raikes: That's a number I tossed out a year ago which may not have been the right way to make the point. The point I was trying to make was that two to three years ago, people said, "You are kind of done in the Office business, right? I mean there is not that much more to do." And the answer is - there is a huge amount of work to do. Why? Because there is an incredible amount of productivity left to gain in information work, and there is a lot of technological opportunity underway that will help us deliver on that. What I was really trying to do was get people to take a much broader view of the world of information work and what Microsoft can do. I am not sure that I can accurately predict our revenues eight years down the road, but what I can do is share my enthusiasm for what is going to occur in terms of information work and collaboration. If I may ask, to what extent do the students here at HBS use instant messaging (IM) here at school?