Can a leopard change its spots? Has Microsoft converted to the spirit of open innovation?

Hardly. But what the software giant has said it will now do is, for this particular company, a pretty big step.

Microsoft has announced that it will create “open connections” to its most highly-used products, make it easier for customers to shift their data out of Microsoft software packages, act “more transparently” over its use and adoption of industry standards, and try to build better relations with others in the software industry.

Sceptics and rivals are, as you might expect, unconvinced. This is all a far cry from genuine openness and “co-creation”.

But why should we always think the worst of people? And why should Microsoft bother to make any further effort to change and open up if their first nervous steps in this direction are mocked and rejected?

Give the kids from Redmond a chance, I say.

February 26th, 2008 in Regulation, Strategy | Permalink