Aftermath, explanation, and one strange silence (updated)

March 11 2005

When I got home last night, I read a lot of blog entries about the Microsoft/Groove deal.  Probably fifty or more.  A fair number of them talked extensively about what the acquisition might mean for Microsoft's competitive footing, whether it's about the technology or about Ray, what the status of Groove as a company and in the marketplace is (or was), and some that offered hope that the recent round of merger/acquisition activitiy in IT would lead to innovation, not just consolidation.

Three specific thoughts worth mentioning:
1) The RedHerring "The Now" blog posits:

Microsoft must be feeling at least a little desperate to shore up the web services strategy it launched with .Net.
There are other good insights in their entry as well.  However, I am more than a little disappointed at the twin torpedos they sent IBM's way, first by describing Notes as "a services and consulting business" and second by making those words a link to the IBM Lotus rebuttal of Radicati Group's June, 2004, "market analysis".  Of all the places that could be linked on ibm.com, it's an incredibly strange choice.

2) Ross Mayfield wonders why I marked yesterday's post "not-for-quote-by-press".  Simple reason: The posting isn't my complete perspective on the announcement.  I wrote my initial thoughts right after the press conference, but before reading any of the press coverage. As is natural with any event or news announcement, the human brain iterates, one collaborates with colleagues, and the picture changes or sharpens as the day goes by.  In a press interview, I'd offer a broader view of the deal, and, more importantly, put it in the context of what we at IBM/Lotus have to offer the market.  

3) As powerful as weblogs have become in shaping discussion, especially in the IT industry, I find it intriguing the Groove and Microsoft bloggers have blogged little or nothing about the deal.  I realize it is still a proposed acquisition and won't close until next quarter, but there was a full FAQ on the deal circulated to industry analysts before 9 AM EST, there was a lot covered in the press releases and press conference, and there are plenty of things that can be talked about without running afoul of merger/acquisition issues (especially when it is a privately-held company).  I know a lot of people, myself included, visited Ray's old weblog to see if anything had transpired.  The official Groove blog says nothing.  On the MS side, even Scoble only says, "gee, Microsoft made news today."

Update 1: Several Microsoft employees blogged about the acquisition on Friday, including Scoble, Tony Cocks, Barry Briggs, and others like Korby Parnell.  So, #3 is partially addressed.

Update 2: Salon's Scott Rosenberg has taken me to task on point #2 above.  See my followup posting.

Ed Brill Highland Park, IL USA Category:  In the news  Add/View Comments [14]

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  1. 1  Ben Rose http://blog.jaffacake.net | 3/11/2005 7:17:02 AM

    I don't know about silence, I reckon more people in the Industry said "Lotus Notes" yesterday than most other days in it's history.

    Lotus Notes even got a mention or two in the official Microsoft press release! { Link }

    If MS are higlighting that Ray's Notes background is a good thing, then surely they're conceeding that it's a good product that they need some help competing with.

  1. 2  Henning Heinz  | 3/11/2005 8:21:17 AM

    I am not sure if there is much reason for Microsoft blogs to write about the Groove deal. Besides that Ray is now another CTO at Microsoft there just remains the fact that Groove did not seem to work. From my opinion it was just an eat or die decision and with the CTO announcement they succeded to sell a loser story as a winner. Even Ray Ozzie has failed to take Groove at the next level of collaboration tools. I always thought that the knowledge of the Notes inventor combined with the "We know how to make it look nice" of Microsoft is going to be a powerful competitor to Notes. I have to admit I was wrong (but I am not so sad about that).

  1. 3  Brian Sniegocki  | 3/11/2005 8:24:45 AM

    Being from an area where Microsoft has acquired two companies, Fox and Great Plains Software I wonder what the future holds for Groove. The comment from the press release

    “Privately held Groove Networks, with about 200 employees, would continue to operate from its Beverly, Mass., home as a unit of the Microsoft's Information Worker division, which includes Office and related programs.” reminds me of what was said during the aforementioned acquisitions. If true the offices will be moved from Beverly to Redmond within two years, which could be a blow to development if key staffers choose not to move. I really like the Groove product; I just hope Ray does not leave after his contract expires due to fundamental differences in the direction of this technology between himself and Bill Gates.

  1. 4  Rob Novak http://www.lotusdigerati.com | 3/11/2005 10:52:12 AM

    "Of all the places that could be linked on ibm.com, it's an incredibly strange choice. "

    Man, that's what URL redirection documents are for!

  1. 5  Barry Briggs http://www.edithere.com | 3/11/2005 11:50:42 AM

    Gee whiz, *I* blogged about it here:

    { Link }

    This story made headlines here in Seattle; I was very surprised (I looked) that it didn't show up on the online Boston Globe site all day yesterday and still isn't there apparently today. Nobody in Boston cares?

  1. 6  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/11/2005 11:58:37 AM

    OK, so there we are. Barry,you aren't in my RSS feeds at the moment -- something weird happened there, I'll try again.

  1. 7  Tony C http://www.tonycocks.com | 3/12/2005 4:46:53 AM

    I mentioned it too. MS is beginning to look more like Lotus as I remember it everyday!

  1. 8  Ian White www.ianwhite.ent | 3/12/2005 1:53:40 PM

    Well even the BBC took note - { Link } - seems the time perspective gets hellishly shortened - "Mr Ozzie, 49, created Lotus Notes for IBM in the 1980s, the first messaging application to achieve widespread sales", mmm I remeber being told by Lotus that Notes was for collaboration and cc:Mail was for messaging - to the victors comes the history!

  1. 9  Rob Hyndman www.robhyndman.com | 3/13/2005 6:39:26 AM

    Still don't get the not for quote by press thing. What you're essentially saying, of course, is "for quote by everyone but press". And whether or not the comment was your final thought (what thought is **ever** final) doesn't really seem to be the point - indeed, your first thought about it might well be the point ....

  1. 10  Lawrence Liu http://blogs.msdn.com/lliu | 3/15/2005 8:29:41 PM

    Ed, many Microsoft employees blogged about the MS/Groove acquisition announcement. Just do a search on { Link } which aggregates the blogs of nearly 1,000 bloggers. Perhaps it's time to expand your echo chamber a bit. :-)

    I am very exciting about this deal and having Ray onboard at Microsoft. I don't see this as a "desperation move" at all; rather, Microsoft is just significantly increasing its initial investment (from several years ago) in Groove's technology and people because their products and solutions map well to our overall collaboration strategy. That's why my customers are equally excited, if not more so.

  1. 11  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/15/2005 11:04:48 PM

    I was using services like blogdigger and technorati to try to find Microsoft bloggers on Groove, so I'm sorry if it didn't catch all of them. Honestly, I didn't mean blogs that merely mentioned the acquisition or linked to PressPass, I meant actual meaningful analysis.

  1. 12  Lawrence Liu http://blogs.msdn.com/lliu | 3/15/2005 11:18:25 PM

    I understand. Sorry, I didn't mean to be so hard on you. :-) Now, was my analysis ({ Link } meaningful enough for you?

  1. 13  Lawrence Liu http://blogs.msdn.com/lliu | 3/15/2005 11:22:12 PM

    Oh, as for searching the blogosphere, give Feedster ({ Link } Technorati ({ Link } and/or PubSub ({ Link } a try.

  1. 14  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/16/2005 12:13:18 PM

    Thanks for pointing specifically to your entry. Ray has asked me more than once how it is that I have time to blog -- my suspicion is that he'll find he has less time now, not more, unfortunately.

    Even with the server pieces of Groove in place, they seemed to not be able to address the concerns of the majority of corporate IT departments. They had little or no mindshare outside the US, Germany, and a couple of other markets. Time will tell how Groove plays in the MS portfolio, and whether it's current technology and models will carry forward.