Several years ago, Microsoft tried to introduce what was called “Microsoft Services” to the general public. Well, the developers of the general public at least. How do you think that went?
What they had in mind was this: Have scripts or programs sitting on a server, and allow people access to that server. Basically, it was supposed to be a nice efficient way of allowing a whole lot of people access to everyday applications. Kind of like corporate or private server setups…
Well, people failed to see the value in that. They continued to standardize on all sorts of other platforms, but didn’t touch Microsoft’s setup.
Why you ask?
Trust.
Why Microsoft Services didn’t work
There were basically six elements that prevented the legitimate use of Microsoft Services:
- Server and access availability
- Billing
- Discontinuation of service
- Quality and crashes
- Developers were shifting away to open source
- Changing code libraries
People hadn’t began to transfer over to high speed internet like they are now. At the time 20-30% or the internet may have been high-speed, so a constant data connection could not be made. On top of that, with the use of billing and subscriptions, if you didn’t pay your bill - there went your entire system!
Also, if you were to standardize on Microsoft, there was always the threat of discontinuation of the service package. They could pull the plug because they weren’t making enough money or whatever. And we all know of the quality and frequent crashes Microsoft is known for.
Finally, developers had found other tools that work just as well (or better) than the Microsoft platform. Tools such as PHP and Apache. Neither change their code libraries and both are open source!
Build your business using trust
Business building is about trust. Websites and blogging are both about trust. Life in many cases is about trust. Without trust in something, or being trustworthy yourself, there is not a chance in the world you will be successful.
When people start talking about application service providers or SAAS (Software as a Service) companies like Salesforce.com, that is always one of the first things I think of. Do you trust them? Are you sure that your data is safe up there on their server? What if they go bankrupt after a year? Where will your data be?
It really is an interesting question, the thought of trust intertwined in a system.
But the thought of using trust to build a business… Now that’s powerful.
