Azure is Turning 17 This Year, Still Losing Money and Staff
Related:
- Microsoft Media Operative, Citing Leaked Document From Google: "Google’s Numbers Also Show Azure Had a Roughly $3 Billion Operating Loss"
- Poorly Redacted Documents From the Court Reveal That Microsoft Has Indeed Defrauded Shareholders About Azure
Microsoft's Azure is hardly new or novel. It started only a couple of years after Windows Vista and its financial situation was either a mystery or a lie (or even both). See the links above.
As we noted this morning, Microsoft is a bit low on cash (even compared to much smaller companies) and staff feels miserable because morale is terrible. Today we discovered that a lot of Microsoft staff - technical people - work overtime for no extra pay and some barely see their family; that's how fearful they are of losing the job. The climate isn't good.
Despite all this sobering dose of reality, someone posted this new thread 3 hours ago, noting that Azure has become enshittification "in the clown" and wrong assumptions are made about the economics of it:
Azure & Intune offerings is losing its shine.
I’ve been reading blog after blog of the same thing in different words. Short version.
Many people feel like its designed extortion over time.
- Azure\intune is so awesome, I wished we’d moved everything there sooner.
later in time.
- What do you mean some of the features we really liked are either no longer free or are raising in price per machine\user.
later in time
- What do you mean are getting rid of “x” feature only to replace it with something newer at a greater cost.
later in time
- What do you mean you’re increasing the price of everything per machine\user, it’d been cheaper if we stayed on prem and NOT have moved to intune and azure. Oh you know that’d cost us a fortune and then some to move back on prem.
It’s true there’s nothing out there like MS products, server, desktop, office suite etc… its all good. All of this sentiment though is encouraging creative thought to move away from Azure\Intune and\or never jump on board to begin with. Other solutions for office are being tested and even developed. Other desktop solutions (desktop gui linux) are being tested and looked into. Will there be a mass migration sooner rather than later, of course not. MS is locked in on all that incoming revenue and they know it. They have many customers by the b@lls……for now. 5 years from now, may be a different story. The whole world very well may be all 100% Azure\intune but sometimes I think MS management needs to consider that it very well also may be the other way around.
This mentions "desktop gui linux" - whatever that means. Based on some available statistics, GNU/Linux is growing and in services/online "apps" Microsoft is moving down. There are many layoffs and canceled units, products, teams...
Here's the sole comment posted on the above:
I have read many times where companies feel trapped after seeing the price hike from one contract to the other. While true they are not trapped and can move their stuff off of Azure in whatever time frame is allowed for that before turning it off, it does cost a fortune and takes time to throw up an infrastructure, hire more staff for it. Are the price hikes legal, of course it is. The MS legal department is top notch behemoth Goliath for which no David can defeat. “I’s” are dotted, “T’s” are crossed. Ethical? Meh, its just good business, for Microsoft that is, not the Davids. It does remind me of the Pirates of the Caribbean East Indian Trading captain, “its just good business”.I get it though. There’s been a loss of money, the AI wars are kicking in, MS needs to shore up the cash reservers. Layoff, without severance and claim that its performance based, raise the prices.
All at the loss of reputation vs. company brand. Is it worth it? Will it matter in the long run? I guess we’ll see, after all, its just good business.
Oh, "company brand"?
Ask Microsoft. Microsoft claims that its "goodwill" is 'worth' $119,163,000,000. At IBM they value "goodwill" at half of the company's "assets". Hallmark of pyramid schemes, deriving "value" out of things that do not really exist? █