Microsoft 'has to support use of iOS, Android' admits Microsoft Business Solutions chief Kirill Tatarinov
Software giant realises that 'the world is not all blue' - IDC analyst
Microsoft has to support operating systems from rival companies such as Apple and Google as the enterprise has developed into a "heterogeneous" environment, according to executive vice president of Microsoft's Business Solutions group, Kirill Tatarinov.
Tatarinov was speaking to journalists today at the Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2014 conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
He explained that Microsoft realises that enterprises today are "highly heterogeneous" in their approach to devices.
"For us to support that enterprise, and give them technology to run their business, we need to support the heterogeneous," he said.
"That's the approach we took with Microsoft Dynamics, as we have the technology and architectural path to be able to do that. HTML5 is serving us very well and we essentially are committed to serving the enterprise with the technology of their choice, and that applies to the front office with Dynamics CRM, and to the back office," he added.
Christine Dover, research director at analyst firm IDC, told Computing that Microsoft has become more open in response to changes in the market.
"They're understanding and appreciating that the world is not all blue, and they are being more open. If they didn't open themselves up to other operating systems like Android and iOS, they would have closed out people who are on those devices," she said.
"So they're saying they'd rather have a little bit of [other operating systems'] business than none of it, because once people move to other devices they're not likely to come back," she added.
Essentially, Microsoft will reap the rewards of end users who use Dynamics on Android or iOS, as it doesn't care what device the employee is using.
"Microsoft will make its money on [users] accessing Dynamics. The device doesn't really matter in terms of their monetisation, so for them they are going to make their apps more available to users," she said.
Tatarinov was keen to emphasise that Microsoft's own solutions "would work best on Windows devices".
But despite this approach, IDC's Dover believes it is still a positive and significant change in Microsoft's strategy.
"I wouldn't say [they shouldn't suggest] that their solutions work better on Windows Phones than others, because the key thing is that they are not saying ‘you can't touch Dynamics if you're not on Windows' - and they used to do that, so I think that's a big change, an important one," she said.
This is only one aspect of a new Microsoft, added Dover.
"I think they're learning to talk across their own siloes and that's an important step for them as I haven't seen them do it before," she explained.