Can Microsoft Turn It Around?Can Microsoft Turn It Around?

The past few months haven't seen much good news for Microsoft. Between the death of Kin phones, layoffs, and the European plans that could hurt their overseas sales, it can't be a happy time in Redmond. How long can this go on?I'd say it can go on a very long time, because this is basically how a company like Microsoft tries to grow. With the huge amount of money generated by Windows and Office, Microsoft has the cash to try (and fail at) many different things. This is both a blessing and a curse because with so much money to spend, Microsoft isn't obligated to focus its attention. The company is used to being at the center of the technology universe, for both consumers and businesses. When a new technology trend emerges, Microsoft feels it has to jump on board whether it has competence there or not.

Yet there are some areas where Microsoft does have a strong, and even growing, presence. Businesses still depend on Microsoft products and services. The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro wonders whether Microsoft should be pushing into the cloud services arena. I can only wonder what would happen if they didn't provide businesses with a path to cloud services.

What is Microsoft's problem, specifically? The company has definitely experienced some high-profile failures, but any failure at a high-profile company is by definition a high-profile failure. Apple has shown that it doesn't always get either engineering or PR right with its handling of the iPhone 4 "Antennagate" problem. Layoffs aren't a particular red flag, either; it's easy to forget that Google had its own layoffs as well. Disgruntled employees? Surveys at GlassDoor.com show that the employees at Microsoft are less satisfied than Google or Apple employees, but more satisfied than those at Oracle or IBM.

Microsoft's biggest problem at this point is a mid-life corporate crisis, aggravated by an ineffectual CEO. The GlassDoor.com ratings show that Steve Ballmer has an approval rating that is only half that of Google CEO Eric Schmidt or Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Getting Microsoft back on track may be as simple as replacing Ballmer with a CEO who isn't afraid to get the company focused on what it does best, rather than trying to do many things poorly.