Bill Gates Says 1 Billion Users Is Not Enough!
In this months newsletter I’m going to take a look at the goals that Bill Gates has set for Microsoft over the next 5 years. If you are a business owner or manager like me I think you’ll find his goals interesting for a number of different reasons:
- Microsoft represents such an important part of the infrastructure of all of our businesses that we just can’t ignore it.
- The effective use of technology allows us small and medium sized businesses to punch well above our weight and compete with the big boys at a fraction of the cost.
- Bill Gates has provided us all with a Master Class on setting clear, easily communicated goals for our businesses.
When Bill Gates delivered his keynote address at the Microsoft Strategic Summit on May 8th 2007 he was loyal to the original goals set when founded Microsoft. He said:
"We've got about a billion PCs in the install base, and so a lot of the discussion around Microsoft in terms of simplicity and bringing cost down is how do we get the next several billion out there. After all, our founding principle was the computer on every desk and in every home, and that gets you up to the entire population, 6 billion people, that you would like to be available to. That won't happen overnight, but we have set a goal for ourselves of getting out at least to the next billion over a five-year period, and we think that's very achievable. In fact, some of the numbers we're looking at suggest we can go even beyond that."
I admire his ambition – 1 billion users are not enough! It also reinforces Microsoft’s faith in the desktop. In the recent past Microsoft has often talked about the desktop and the internet both being essential and needing to work together. I believe they are right. Much as I believe in the growth of the internet it needs your desktop, network and server, even if you didn’t run the latter yourself.
I think “a computer on every desk” is a great goal. It’s clear, motivating, easy to understand and communicate and it’s stood the test of time – it’s still Microsoft’s Goal today.
Personally I think that goals like this are a vital part of great companies – despite what everybody thinks of his nerdyness, Bill Gates is a great businessman and a good role model for all of us.
Okay, I’m off to rewrite the Ziptech company goals now…
Best regards.
Jim Simpson
Managing Director
Ziptech Services
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