微软通信产品新主管眼里的未来

    首席执行官萨蒂亚•纳德拉并不是唯一一个出任新职位的微软公司（Microsoft）高管。最近，同样是微软资深员工的葛迪普•辛格•帕尔被任命为Skype和Lync这两大通信产品的主管。本周末，他将在拉斯维加斯的Lync大会上首次公开亮相。

    这将是一次回家探亲式的聚会。早在2010年，帕尔就曾经受命领导Lync的工程团队，还推出了Windows Messenger的升级版。接下来那年，他主要负责Skype的收购及初步整合工作。最近，帕尔在微软又出任了一个全新的职位——信息平台和体验公司副总裁，任务是打造一个人工智能平台。

    现在他又重新执掌微软公司的通信业务了。主要面向消费者的Skype拥有约3亿用户，但它的竞争对手也层出不穷【就在本周，跟它竞争的通信应用Viber被日本电商企业乐天公司（Rakuten）以9亿美元的价格收购】。据弗雷斯特研究公司（Forrester Research）分析师阿特•舍勒称，主打企业市场的Lync在统一通信市场保持了领头羊的地位，但在市场份额上落后于思科公司（Cisco）。

    显然，还有大量工作在等着他，尤其是如何整合这两个平台。为了进一步了解他对这两个产品的愿景，以及对竞争形势（包括微软新任首席执行官）的看法，我们抢在帕尔在即将举行的Lync大会上发表主旨演讲前采访了他。

    《财富》杂志：看来您要去伦敦工作了！

    帕尔：是的，我正在准备前往伦敦。现在我每隔一周就会去那儿，几个月后就会完全搬过去。我和雷德蒙德（微软总部所在地）及那里的所有团队都保持着密切联系。不过就Skype来说，它的开发团队还是主要在伦敦办公。

    您对Skype和Lync的愿景是什么？

    看看Skype，它在全球有超过3亿的用户，现在已成了一个家喻户晓的名字，我们希望进一步扩大它的知名度。一般来说，人们在家里用的沟通工具希望在工作场合也能用得上。人们对那些看起来怪里怪气的新玩意没什么耐心。用户可不想花半小时装个什么东西。云平台使各种机器学习预测能力成为可能。比如，当我在开电话会议时，我的手机应该自动静音（当其他电话打来时也不会响铃）。

    您进入统一通信领域以来，市场的竞争格局发生了怎样的变化？

    十年前我们谈起统一通信时，会看到很多传统厂商。这些厂商现在还在，但他们的处境已经很艰难，因为老一套模式已经不管用了。现在更多的话题都涉及云技术以及工作场合和休闲生活之间的转换。而我们在这个行业拥有独特的定位。

    您怎样看待谷歌公司近期在这个领域的努力？

    谷歌所采取的创新方式十分有效，他们会测试上百种方案，看哪个可行。但我们不认为这是很可靠的方法。我们不认为哪家企业会愿意采用那些经不起考验的方案。

    您对贵公司的新任首席执行官萨蒂亚•纳德拉怎么看？

    萨蒂亚是一位精通技术，动力十足，又非常专注的领导者。我跟他认识快22年了。对他上任我倍感鼓舞，他有能力带领公司开拓创新。这个行业对传统不感兴趣，它在乎的是创新。我不会回到这个（Lync和Skype）团队中说什么：“我们放松一点，沉浸在我们过去在通信领域的成功就行了。”我们关注的是下一步该做什么，这也是萨蒂亚定下的基调。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    Chief executive officer Satya Nadella isn't the only Microsoft (MSFT) exec with a new role. Gurdeep Singh Pall, also a longtime company insider, was recently named head of the Skype and Lync communications products. He makes his public debut later this week at the Lync Conference in Las Vegas.

    It's a homecoming of sorts. Pall was tasked with leading the Lync engineering team and launching the Windows Messenger replacement back in 2010. The following year, he worked on the Skype acquisition and its early integration efforts. Most recently, Pall took on a new role at Microsoft -- corporate VP of information platform and experience -- where he worked on building out an artificial intelligence platform.

    Now he's back to run the company's communications business. Consumer-focused Skype has about 300 million users, but it has a growing pool of rivals. (Just this week, the competing messaging app Viber was acquired by Rakuten, a Japanese online retailer, for $900 million.) And enterprise-focused Lync remains a top player in the unified communications space, but it trails Cisco (CSCO) in market share, according to Forrester Research analyst Art Schoeller.

    Clearly, there is plenty of work to be done, foremost in integrating the two platforms. To find out more about his vision for both products and his thoughts on the competition (and Microsoft's new CEO), we caught up with Pall ahead of his keynote speech at the upcoming Lync Conference.

    Fortune: So, you're moving to London!

    Pall: Yes, I'm in the process of moving to London. I spend every other week there now, and will move there in a few months. I feel very connected to Redmond and all the teams here. If you look at Skype, though, the development team in particular is in London.

    What's your vision for Skype and Lync?

    When I look at Skype, it's used by over 300 million users around the world. It's a word people know. We want to build on that familiarity. The same tools you use at home, you want to use at work. People have no patience for things that look odd. Users don't want to configure something for half an hour. And the fact that it's in the cloud opens up all sorts of machine learning predictive capabilities. For example, when I'm on a conference call my phone should automatically go silent [and not ring when other calls come through].

    How has the competition changed since you got started in unified communications?

    Ten years ago, when we talked about unified communications, you found a lot of old-school players. They're still around, but they are starting to struggle. The old model doesn't work anymore. It's more about the cloud, and moving between work and life. We have a unique position in this industry.

    What about some of the recent efforts Google (GOOG) has made in this space?

    Google has found a very effective way of innovating where they take a hundred things and throw them on the wall and see what sticks. We don't think that's really a credible approach. We don't think any enterprise will want to adopt something that can slide off the wall.

    What are your thoughts on your new chief executive, Satya Nadella?

    Satya is highly technical, and a very driven, very focused leader. I've known him for almost 22 years. I couldn't be more excited. He's leading on innovation. This industry doesn't favor tradition. It favors innovation. I didn't come back to this [Lync and Skype] team and say, "Let me just sit back and soak in how well we've done on communication." It's about what is the next thing we have to do. That's the kind of tone that Satya is setting.