If we look at Microsoft’s business lines, we can see 7-8 significant businesses. It’s a big company. But I think it’s mostly about 4 particularly dominant businesses. They are: Azure, which is part of a global cloud oligopoly (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud). Windows, which has long been a global operating system monopoly. Office, which is […]
I’ve been looking a lot at Microsoft. It’s a really compelling digital business model. Like stunningly powerful. But it’s pretty confusing. Microsoft has an endless list of products and services. And so many user groups (consumers, enterprises, SMEs, developers, etc.). And, of course, so many types of revenue. For example, here are Microsoft’s major revenue […]
This week’s podcast is about cloud business models. It’s a complicated and evolving subject. But I am trying to identify good cloud business models that aren’t obvious (like AWS, Azure and Google Cloud). Alibaba Cloud and Snowflake are examples. You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available […]
I wrote about Alibaba’s 5 growth strategies under “Domestic Consumption”. But CEO Daniel Zhang has also outlined 5 growth strategies for Alibaba Cloud. And their cloud business is what everyone has been speculating about. It’s the most exciting growth opportunity but it also has the greatest uncertainty. I’ve argued Alibaba is 100% in the platform […]
This week’s podcast is more about Snowflake, the “data ecosystem” company. And how multiple companies are competing to create the standards and architecture for cloud services. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes and Google Podcasts. Here is my new book (released December 1): Moats and Marathons (Part 1): How to Build and Measure Competitive […]
This week’s podcast is about Snowflake, the “data ecosystem” company. It is one of the most compelling digital business models out there. It is one of the few companies that could become the next Google or Microsoft. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes and Google Podcasts. Here is my new book (released December 1): […]
In Part 1 and Part 2, I laid out a framework for Snowflake’s “data ecosystem” business model. I described it as +3 complementary platform business models with +4 network effects. And I think that explains most of what the company is doing right now. However, I also recently listened to an interview with CEO Frank […]
In Part 1, I laid out the basics for Snowflake, a “data ecosystem” or “data warehouse as a service” company. The company appears to have a complicated business model. But it’s actually not if you look at it the right way. Which is the point of this article. I have 7 initial conclusions about the […]
In late 2020, it was revealed that Berkshire Hathaway had an investment in newly public Snowflake, the “data warehouse as a service” company. That was unusual for a couple of reasons. First, Buffett has always avoided new issues. Like in 50 years, he hasn’t bought a new stock issue. Second, Snowflake is a tech company […]
I’ve been trying to get a handle on the growth and development of cloud in China. But the four companies that account for about 80% of infrastructure spending (Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Huawei) don’t really publish many cloud details in their financials and filings. Fortunately, Kingsoft Cloud has gone public as a stand-alone China cloud […]