The Ogre's New Voice: Can Blogs Save Microsoft's Image?

Although the problem hasn't exactly prevented the company from amassing the single largest cash position in technology, it has slowed Microsoft in several areas. One, in particular, concerns corporate vice president of developer and platform evangelism Sanjay Parthasarathy. A 13-year company veteran, Parthasarathy is responsible for making sure that third-party software developers bond with Microsoft in new and unique ways. For the most part, Parthasarathy's efforts have met with great success. Sixty percent of channel companies, for example, now do some level of programming work in their businesses using Microsoft technology. In addition, the number of third-party Web-enabled applications built using Microsoft's .Net technology now tops 1,000, up threefold from just a year ago. No wonder sales of Windows server tools grew 19 percent year over year in the past quarter.

Despite its success, however, Parthasarathy remains concerned that the company's image (or, frankly, lack thereof) is preventing Microsoft from achieving all the success that might otherwise come its way. More than most at Microsoft, Parthasarathy is willing to look at the empty half of the glass when it comes to influencing third parties that Microsoft needs to bring into its fray. Microsoft's corporate-centric, bureaucratic and success-oriented culture is off-putting to many in the software-development community, especially much-coveted open-source code crunchers. Parthasarathy believes that many individuals in this camp remain true to their open-source roots to this day; that is, many remain motivated by more than pure profit. Others still adopt a counterculture demeanor and, thus, find Microsoft's heavy-handed, often conformist mentality out of step with their professional and personal principles. Without saying so directly, Parthasarathy concedes that Microsoft is often seen as, right or wrong, the Borg collective in a universe of free-wheeling idealists and enthusiasts.

Despite this, he squarely believes Microsoft still has the best tools to help these people build the applications of their dreams. And, finally, he thinks he has come up with a plan to reach out to this community in a way that will appeal to even the most die-hard anti-Microsoft zealots: blogging, something an estimated 800 Microsoft employees are doing with the company's blessing. That's up eightfold in just a year.

So let's take a look at some of the more popular Microsoft blogs, which have given the ogre a new voice. They've yet to make Microsoft as cool as Shrek, but they're getting people to look at the vendor in a new light. Consider the following: Technorati, a site that ranks blogs by traffic and by the number of third-party sites that link to them, recognizes "Scoblelizer" as among the Web's top 50 blogs. The site is the brainchild of Robert Scoble, who works at Microsoft as an evangelist on the Windows team.

Scoble's site definitely has material that casts Microsoft in a favorable light--witness, at press time, a link to an article in InfoWorld praising Microsoft for its efforts to combat security woes, and another about insider Larry Larsen creating original art on his tablet PC. These musings aside, the site also contains meaningful commentary and analysis. It's especially helpful if you're looking for insights on Microsoft security. There's also a little inside Microsoft humor. One post on June 27, 2004, offers a shout-out to Scoble's ultimate boss, Bill Gates: "Hey, Bill, can we get another photocopier sent over to building 18?"

What's interesting is how truly free-wheeling some of the ramblings on these sites can be. Consider SimpleGeek, a Web site penned by Chris Anderson, who works for the vendor giant. Anderson's disclaimer reads "...No, I don't think that everything that Microsoft does and produces is wonderful and perfect..." Despite this, he clearly advances Microsoft's agenda through wit, humor and even humanity. He recently wrote about an ankle injury that laid him up for a while and of his wife's accident in her Acura MDX. But more of his energy is focused on code. In particular, Anderson offers real-world insights that are invaluable to Windows developers. Consider one recent post, for example, in which Anderson admits, "We are still debating internally if we think that a memory gate approach will produce a reliable enough platform for the core of Windows.

"There is some concern that the statistical nature of memory gates...will produce a system that will fall over too easily when running in stress conditions."

Think Microsoft's corporate communications department would have handled that differently? You can bet your life it would have. But that's where Parthasarathy comes in. He has the clout to overrule those who would put a spin on messages he believes are vital to get out. And he appreciates what a little candor and frankness can do for the company. He notes with great pride, after all, an estimated 30 percent of its traffic coming to Microsoft blogs and to the company's Channel 9 Web site, a curious experiment patterned after United Airlines' audio in-flight entertainment channel that allows passengers to listen in to cockpit conversations. The United channel is supposed to ease passenger concerns about flying, and the Microsoft channel is supposed to ease concerns anyone may have about developing Windows applications.

These and other innovations--did we mention Microsoft has a buddy program that pairs internal developers with outside programming novices?--are no doubt giving Microsoft some much needed edge and credibility in parts of the developer community where its legitimacy has been questioned.

Of course, not all efforts are as effective as others. Take the new business cards carried by members of the developer and platform-evangelism team. They are black with silver lettering and have a leathery, almost suede-like feel. But forget trying to scratch a memo or note to yourself on them--they don't take additional input all that kindly.

Time will tell, however, whether the men and women carrying them will.