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 In a world of increasing technological complexity, one of our primary goals must be to make our products easier and more effective for customers to use. In part, this entails developing simpler interfaces, natural-language processing, and voice control to help hide the underlying complexity from users. We’re working hard to achieve those breakthroughs. But it also means getting closer to our customers and working harder to understand their needs. We must help customers integrate technology by learning about how they work, how information flows through their organization, what they’ll need in the future — and about where we’re succeeding or failing. Customer-centric thinking must permeate everything we do.
Our growth is always forcing us to look at the best way to stay close to our customers and respond to their needs. This year we organized the company so that its structure is
customer-based rather than product-based. The leaders of each of Microsoft’s newly defined divisions now have end-to-end management accountability in their respective customer segments. Guided by the company’s overall vision, they have total responsibility for setting a clear mission and priorities for their division, including all product planning and marketing strategies. The divisional leaders also have freedom to form business relationships both inside and outside Microsoft – freedom to work with the parties they need to do the best job for their customers.
Microsoft’s mission has always been to connect customers with the information they
need. But today there is more information to connect with than ever before, stored in more places than ever before, and accessible in more ways than ever before. By refocusing
totally on offering customers what they want rather than what technology can provide, we will help them succeed in the PC-Plus world. We will also build a solid foundation for
Microsoft well into the 21st century.
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