Since early October, however, Microsoft has opened up about its plans a
bit more. One of the big changes coming in Windows 10 is that the firm will
allow businesses to customize Windows Store and manage the delivery of apps to
their users.
This is a big deal for the company. When you consider how
consumer-focused the Store was in the initial Windows 8 release two years ago,
it becomes obvious that this change is in many ways an even bigger deal.
That is, in Windows 8 Microsoft introduced a safe, reliable and
consistent apps platform. But it limited the reach of that platform by forcing
those apps to only run in full-screen, by limiting the interaction these apps
could have with desktop apps, and by pushing a touch-first user experience that
isolated over a billion users on traditional PCs.
Microsoft started to break down the wall between these new apps, and the
desktop. In Windows 8.1, it added a title bar with standard controls to these
apps, making them easier to use with a mouse or other traditional pointing
device. And in the initial Windows 10 pre-release builds, we've seen the next
step, where these apps can run in windows on top of the desktop and alongside
your other apps.
But the back-end changes are even more important. In Windows 8.1, for
example, users can browse through the Windows Store and find a fairly middling
collection of mostly consumer-oriented apps, and while Microsoft does let some
desktop applications be advertised in the store, you have to download them and
install them from the web, and those apps do not come with the liberal
licensing found in Windows Store. Furthermore, you need to use a Microsoft
account to even download an app from Windows Store.
Here's what's changing in Windows 10.
First, Microsoft is allowing business customers to use their domain
accounts as connected accounts that work just like Microsoft accounts from the
perspective of app acquisition and licensing. This means that highly managed
businesses that wish to retain control over which apps their users install on
work PCs and devices can now do so, and they no longer need to worry about
users with their own Microsoft accounts on those machines.
Second, Microsoft is letting businesses modify Windows Store on their users'
PCs so that they see a custom version of the store than highlights work apps
and, if desired, those publicly-available apps that the business approves of.
There will be a web-based portal for IT administrators that let them assign
apps to users and user groups in Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Microsoft
says.
Third, Microsoft is adding Windows Store management capabilities to
System Center and in tune, and opening up these capabilities to third-party
Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions. This will allow businesses to manage
the installing and uninstalling of apps, app updates, app licensing, the
addition of apps to Windows install images, the deploying of provisioning
packages, and the ability to automatically install apps from an on-premises-based
server.
This article links Strategy
of the CUEGIS, since this is a marketing strategy of Microsoft to aim the new
update of Windows directly to Businesses. The company tries to find a new
market for its product by advertising their product directly to this market. In
this case it also links to Market Development of the Ansoff’s Matrix, since the
company is introducing an existing product into a new market. However since it
is an update of the existing product with new features directly addressed to
the new market, it is more Diversification of the Ansoff’s Matrix, since it is
a new product in a new market. Therefore it is also very risky for Microsoft to
do this step, since they are the market leader for computer softwares, but not
for their App Store. Furthermore it also links to Change and Innovation of the
CUEGIS. Since Microsoft has never advertised their software directly to
businesses it is a change for the company. Adding to that, it links to
innovation since there is not really a product (software) which is directly customized
for a business use. Most softwares like (Microsoft), iOS or linux are customized
for an average person, in order to attract a large customer base. Since
Microsoft is the market leader in their market, they will have the possibility to
attract a large customer base. They are also benefitting from their brand image
and brand loyalty of their customers.
