This blog entry is a prototype that demonstrates how material can be incrementally revealed on the site as it progresses through multiple stages. The material below consists of the evolving content for this node. Ultimately, this node can be incorporated into other material as appropriate via the 'book' capability which allows pages to be added to a book hierarchy, while being developed independently by other members of a content development team.Discussion exploring alternative delivery (and profit) models for platforms & servicesMicrosoft model - they build products, you configureMicrosoft's game is to continue to deliver higher and higher feature content in tools & platforms

• Cost per seat' is high - especially when entire application stack (Server, Client, DB, communications, Integration agents, Applications) is included: easily $200/month/user in many environments
• Emphasis is on producing highest-quality output and highest-productivity solutions, to justify investment
• Their approach tends to work well in very large enterprises where scalability is critically important
• Their approach does not necessarily work as well for customized solutions for smaller teams - requests will tend to get lost in Microsoft product teams, who are always going to look for pushing technology out, rather than pulling more customers in. Simply put, their mandate is to pull in more users, which tends to require more functionality.

Problem is the more features, the less likely you are to know how to use them, and often, the less relevant (or at least understandable) they are to the users you already have.Problem is also the more you pay for the software, the less money you have left over to learn to use it effectively, or to tailor it to be focused on your needsOver time, users become frustrated at complexity of tool, where that complexity is driven by stuff they really may not useThis trend is very evident already in industry; even at Microsoft, use of many of their own internal tools - MSProject, Sharepoint, etc - quite limited.Points to a similar trend in enterprises - no one wants to convert to new tool, because they are on old tool, and they don't have the knowledge or resources to migrateAlternative model - services delivered by efficient channels that rapidly tailor to accomplish specific purpose and get you set up for your use

• build on no-cost software and low-cost delivery platforms, easily configured, drawing from open-source movement
• GPL open-source license permits offering services based upon their products
• build team that can rapidly evolve that capability - putting some IP back into the community, but not all to protect core competencies

leverages expertise to migrate people off of legacy onto new - part of service provided (rather than software provided)Teams should enable and leverage individual innovation, something big companies struggle with - Adsense, at Google, started as one person's idea they did on their own, and has become the largest marketing 'ad-serving' capability on the Internet. Don't care about impressions, care about click-throughs, which is where real value is - voluntary click-throughs coming from related areas, rather than pop-up stuffIdea is to take notion of 'platform' and elevate it up value chain; instead of providing file services, you provide information services; instead of email communications, you provide team collaboration and facilitationPower is in being able to focus on specialized types of needs and set up low-cost channels for doing last-stage customization to meet those needs, while still pulling in charges per user for access. Current approach Microsoft offers is to offer untailored software which you install and need IT department to run. Alternative is for selected services that you take what you would normally pay as cost per user for buying software, and instead roll that into producing a tailored version for your needs.Selling point is also to build everything on open platform, arguing that people are free to leave whenever they want. This isn't case today, as everyone ends up 'stuck' on Microsoft platform. Bottom line: value is in use of software, not in having it installed. If you're not able to take advantage of a feature, it's value is zero, even though you're paying for it.