Microsoft Clarifies Its Mobile-First, Cloud-First Strategy

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After receiving feedback from partners and end users that there was confusion around its 18-month-old mobile-first, cloud-first push, Microsoft wants to clear up some misunderstandings.

"Sometimes the misconception we've gotten around mobile-first, cloud-first, it does not mean cloud only. We certainly came out maybe a little strong around Office 365 and some of the things around Azure," said Senior Product Manager Mark Cashman.

Cashman wants partners to know that just because it wants to "make cloud great," it does not mean the company views progress in on-prem technology as any less important.

"We've always been about enabling the individual," Cashman said. "Whether it's cloud, on-prem, across products ... there's a real big focus on productivity. And a lot of what we're doing around productivity is at the user level."

Cashman also wants to communicate that mobile-first works around more than access through devices.

"On the mobile-first side, it doesn't just mean that you have a device and we want you to be able to access information on it. It is also meaning you're mobile, you're out and about, and you may not be at your machine," he said.

PUBLISHED AUG. 26, 2015