A few years ago, I wrote about Ray Ozzie’s memo titled “The Internet Services Disruption“. Turns out he did another one as he left Microsoft in 2010 exactly five years after.

The departing memo is titled “Dawn of a new Day“. I find these self-reflection memos fascinating especially since when our tech industry can shift dramatically in a few years yet some of that is completely missed by a large part of the normal population.

Having been in the thick of the opportunities that have come my way and our business having a direct impact as a result of these innovations in collaboration platform capabilities of SharePoint I must admit I’ve been very impressed how Ray changed the landscape at Microsoft.

The key takeaways of his departing memo: (my version)

Transformation to Services: Ozzie highlights the significant shift Microsoft underwent towards service-centric models, discussing the integration of Windows Live, Office 365, and Xbox Live into seamless, service-enhanced experiences. (We love Office365)

Cloud and Connectivity: The memo underscores the importance of cloud based continuous services (See my thoughts) and connected devices, predicting a future where these elements are central to computing and communication.

Complexity and Innovation: He discusses the challenges of complexity in PC centric models and the need for innovation to simplify and enhance user experiences. He stresses that complexity can hinder agility and innovation. In his own words:
“Complexity kills. Complexity sucks the life out of users, developers and IT. Complexity makes products difficult to plan, build, test and use. Complexity introduces security challenges. Complexity causes administrator frustration.”

Post-PC Vision: He envisions a “Post PC” world where computing is not tied to traditional PC artifacts but is instead driven by cloud services and a variety of connected devices. (Perhaps a cloud-based PC that adapts to what you do and used on demand?)

As in my previous post I took the liberty to create a PDF of this memo. You can read it or download it here. Dawn of a new Day – Ray Ozzie.