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In late 2002, a small group of Gartner analysts discussed the growing discontent that some end users and vendors were experiencing with Microsoft, especially in the Asia/Pacific region. As this discussion broadened within Gartner worldwide, we became aware of significant anti-Microsoft sentiment elsewhere as well. Attitudes toward Microsoft seem to vary widely based on geographic location. Governments in Asia/Pacific (including China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia) and several in Europe and South America are encouraging government departments and enterprises to consider alternatives to Microsoft and to other foreign vendors. By supporting a combination of Linux, open source and local vendors, these countries believe they can spark their local IT industries and avoid exporting increasing amounts of their gross domestic product to U.S.-based companies, and there is no U.S.-based software company more profitable than the Redmond, Washington, U.S.-based Microsoft. Recent global events are not likely to reduce this trend. In North America, there seems to be less concern about Microsoft's dominance, particularly among private enterprises where Microsoft software has become the standard. Even in this region, however, Microsoft and its success have met with backlash, as Microsoft's U.S.-based rivals and partners continue to struggle in their efforts to thrive in the ecosystem dominated by the software giant. Hardware vendors have to pay operating system license fees to Microsoft for every unit they ship and are looking for ways to reduce their bills of materials. Eliminating such fees from their cost of manufacturing would enable them to build products less expensively and maximize profits, but at the risk of possible increases in overall costs that enterprises must incur for integration and total cost of ownership. Read more |
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