微软增长的关键：不是新Windows 10，而是云业务

    美国时间9月30日上午，微软（Microsoft）发布了其最新旗舰操作系统Windows10技术预览版，并重新引入久违的开始菜单，关于此消息已有诸多报道。新的操作系统可能在Windows 8基础上提供人们期待的改进，但不太可能使微软重振往日作为计算设备首选操作系统的辉煌，尤其是在当今这个平板电脑和智能手机很大程度上取代了PC机的时代，这肯定是不可能的。

    而微软有望实现较大增长的领域其实是云业务，如Azure（管理业务应用程序的平台）和Office365（标志性云端企业生产力软件套装）。公司最新财报显示，商业云服务的营收增长了147％，年化运营收入逾44亿美元。

    7月份，新任首席执行官纳德拉在与投资者的电话会议中表示：“我们的云操作系统是微软最佳的增长机遇”。纳德拉曾担任微软云和企业业务执行副总裁，难怪他看好该业务。自今年初接任首席执行官以来，纳德拉对公司进行了重组，并将出售微软的云基础架构和应用程序作为头等要务。

    纳德拉还发掘出在微软担任高管多年的斯科特•格思里接任自己原来的职位。《财富》杂志近日采访了格思里，问及纳德拉掌舵期间微软发生的一些变化、与亚马逊的竞争以及微软云产品与众不同的地方。

    财富：您的职责发生了什么变化？

    格思里：我在2月份接任微软云和企业业务执行副总裁一职，与萨蒂亚上任首席执行官是同一天。萨蒂亚谈论的一个主题是，我们如何在一个以移动为本、以云为本的世界生活。我认为，微软云和企业集团最近两三年一直非常注重这一使命。我们不断转变业务，旨在真正实现这一愿景。我主要关注的问题是，如何进一步加速该进程？我们如何在这条道路上继续走下去？我们如何从顾客出发，并为顾客创造一套他们在这个以移动为本、以云为本的世界真正想要的产品？如何提供独特的差异化产品？

    Much has already been written about Microsoft’s new Windows 10 and the reintroduction of its long-lost Start button after the company unveiled its updated flagship operating system on Tuesday morning. The new OS may provide a much-needed advance over its predecessor, Windows 8, but it is unlikely to restore Microsoft MSFT -1.22% to its former glory as the operating system of choice for computing devices—certainly not in an era where tablets and smartphones have largely supplanted the PC in terms of attention.

    Where Microsoft is seeing a lot of growth, though, is in its cloud-based businesses like Azure (a platform for managing business applications) and Office 365 (the cloud-based version of its signature productivity software suite). In the company’s most recent earnings report, revenue from commercial cloud services grew 147%, representing an annualized run rate of over $4.4 billion.

    “Our Cloud OS represents the fastest growing opportunity for Microsoft,” newish CEO Satya Nadella said during a call with investors in July. It’s no wonder Nadella, the former executive vice president of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise group, is bullish on the business. Since taking over the top job earlier this year, he has reorganized the company and made selling Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and applications a priority.

    Nadella also tapped Scott Guthrie, a longtime Microsoft exec, for his old role. Fortune recently caught up with Guthrie to ask about some of the changes under Nadella, the competition with Amazon, and what differentiates Microsoft’s cloud products.

    Fortune: How has your role changed?

    Guthrie: I took over in February, I think the same day Satya became CEO. One of the things that Satya talks about is how we’re living in a mobile-first, cloud-first world. I think the cloud and enterprise group in Microsoft has been very focused for the last two or three years on that mission. We’ve been in the process of transforming our business to really embrace that. I’d say a lot of my focus has been around, how we accelerate that even further? How do we move down that path? And then, how do we embrace customers and build the set of products that they really want in this mobile-first, cloud-first world, and provide a uniquely differentiated offering that we think only we can provide?