Is Office failing? Re: Microsoft’s Rebranding.

Hi. I remember reading what Paul wrote a few months ago, that Google was rebranding Android because it was failing. 

Now that I see Microsoft is rebranding their Office products, are they failing too?

If not, what is the difference between Google’s rebranding and Microsoft’s?

Conversation 11 comments

  • waethorn

    13 April, 2020 - 8:23 pm

    <p>I actually hope that they push more stuff under the "Microsoft" brand so that they can move away from Windows-as-a-client and offer all of their software as some kind of cloud service. Windows should be pushed onto a server back-end and applications should just be presented in the web browser – ANY web browser, not just Edge. They could do this with HTML screen streaming technology as video. They had something in the works with Azure RemoteApp and an HTML web client for the RDP protocol, but they gave up on it to let Citrix take over with a massively more complicated and far more expensive offering.</p><p><br></p><p>I quit using Windows as a desktop OS a few years ago. It's just plain bad compared to Linux distros. I'm looking at setting up a Nextcloud instance with OnlyOffice. Not so much for it's MS Office compatibility, but more because the installation is simple on Nextcloud compared to Collabora (the ODF LibreOffice Online suite), which also has fewer features. I really don't care what format my documents are in because any time I'm sharing them with someone, I end up just sending them a PDF. OnlyOffice is free, open source, and available in Flatpak format for Linux distros (also available for Windows afaik), but I may stick to using the Nextcloud version because the cloud version is pretty much identical to what you get with the desktop editors (afaik the desktop editors are just HTML apps), and you can use it anywhere if your Nextcloud server is set up with Internet access. OnlyOffice even has a ribbon-style interface, if that's your thing.</p>

  • thejoefin

    Premium Member
    13 April, 2020 - 9:10 pm

    <p>My guess would be an obsessive focus on growth. If subscriptions are not growing then managers and investors freak out. </p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft is trying to broaden the appeal of their most successful consumer subscription Office 365.</p>

  • BigM72

    14 April, 2020 - 1:55 am

    <p>The '365' products were first re-branded on the commercial side where it does include more than Office – it includes endpoint security, analytics and device subscriptions too.</p><p><br></p><p>The consumer office 365 rebranding is first to align with the commercial offerings in naming and then, as Microsoft grows its technology base, the microsoft branding enables them to offer new services from across the business and not have it set in people's minds as just an office subscription.</p>

  • madthinus

    Premium Member
    14 April, 2020 - 7:19 am

    <p>I think over time the Microsoft brand is being used because more services and apps is added to the mix. What might have started as the Office suite, have expanded to an offering that goes company wide. So in a sense, what they are selling you is offering of Microsft services and products that goes further than Office. I also believe it is to eliminate the silos, by de-emphasising certain parts of Microsoft and moving control of offerings to a more centralised company wide forum. </p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      14 April, 2020 - 7:38 am

      This isn’t unique to Office. Microsoft switched the Surface logo on its PCs to the Microsoft logo, etc. The Microsoft brand is stronger than any of its product brands. And as noted here, Microsoft 365 specifically is about more than just Office.

      • BigM72

        14 April, 2020 - 8:24 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#538256">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>Is it notable that Apple did this too?</p><p>They stopped using the 'i' brand for new product lines after the iPad.</p><p>The watch, the TV and all the new services all use the 'Apple' brand.</p>

        • Alastair Cooper

          02 June, 2020 - 8:32 am

          <blockquote><em><a href="#538272">In reply to BigM72:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Also iTV wouldn't work for the UK market since ITV is one of the main broadcasting networks. It might well have gotten them into similar trouble as with Microsoft's row with BSkyB over SkyDrive (now OneDrive).</p>

      • SocialDanny123

        14 April, 2020 - 8:29 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#538256">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>Agreed, you can tell this with their twitter pages, Office 365, M365, Dynamics etc all use the Microsoft logo.</p>

  • waethorn

    14 April, 2020 - 3:09 pm

    <p>Is Intune even still a thing?</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      15 April, 2020 - 11:58 am

      Yes. It’s a primary piece of Microsoft 365.

  • peterc

    Premium Member
    02 June, 2020 - 6:24 am

    <p>Maybe everything being branded primarily "Microsoft …… " has been deemed valuable, profitable and a long term bet under the new management strategy. </p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft 365</p><p>Microsoft Azure</p><p><br></p><p>Whilst other parts, E.G. Surface, Windows, Xbox and in particular Project X Cloud are business groups working towards the goal, and maybe re-organised and re-prioritised until they make financial and strategic sense in terms of MS long term goals. </p><p><br></p><p>When Nadella said that windows might well be called "Azure Edge" last year, he wasnt joking, I took that to mean when Windows has been re-imagined and re-tasked successfully in line with the long term goals it will have become the best OS that connects to Microsoft Azure products/services. It will have become Microsoft Windows and it probably will be a version of what we currently know as Win 10X. Surface will hopefully become the de-facto hardware expression of a Microsoft Windows device – thats Pano's job description with Windows and Devices, in my opinion. Its a very big job – the biggest since Mr Gates's early days.</p><p><br></p><p>Project X Cloud will likely become Microsoft XCloud in time – if it succeeds. Will Microsoft Mobile ever exist? You bet it will, theres no way Mobile has been left behind, its just not necessarily achieved in the old school ways of develop the OS and dominate. With MS launcher MS have their mobile azure edge offering in public open development, so lets see what's standing for google and android licensing T&amp;C's once their anti-trust investigations are over…. as is the case too for apple and its app store T&amp;C's.</p>

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