I grew up using PC's and the beginning of my professional career was on a Windows XP machine. To say that I'm familiar using Microsoft products would be an understatement. However, at a certain point I switched over to using a Mac. Although I love using my MacBook for it's strengths even after 3 years I am still more familiar with how Microsoft Apps function on a Windows OS. As Google, SalesForce, Intuit, and Microsoft battle over the Cloud I think it's safe to say that Microsoft has an early leg up. I have remained unconvinced of Microsoft's competitive advantage in the Cloud simply because of my transition to Google Docs and other non-Microsoft Cloud apps. However, I missed the obvious conclusion; I am not a "normal" enterprise user.
I read a great assessment of the "normal" user and Microsoft's advantage in Forbes yesterday. Microsoft can indeed win the Cloud war if they follow their strengths. As always, an extremely high percentage of businesses use Windows and Microsoft products. For example in the word processing world there is a hesitance to use alternatives such as Open Office, Apple 'siWork, and Google Docs. If Microsoft plays it's hand correctly it can leverage this advantage in the enterprise world as well. With Microsoft's commercial cloud blitz already on the full offensive I'm curious what the response has been. Everyone knows it's easier to convince a current customer than to gain a new one. Considering Microsoft's current customer base if they move fast they'll have the advantage. Competition in the Cloud Wars, however, is fast and fierce. What do you think? Does Microsoft have an advantage over other Cloud solution providers?