Ballmer lobbies for Microsoft's R&D spending plan

May 31, 2006, 03:09 PM —  IDG News Service — 

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer Wednesday defended Microsoft's plan to boost its R&D (research and development budget) for next year to Wall Street analysts who worry the increased investment will lower earnings potential and mean less return to shareholders.

Microsoft right now is preparing for two major product launches -- Windows Vista and Office 2007 -- while trying to gain footholds in nontraditional markets for the company such as Web-based services, security, storage and business intelligence, Ballmer said in a speech to analysts at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. It is crucial Microsoft to continue to invest in all of these areas because as it has proven in the past, the investment will pay off in the long term, he said.

"If you believe in the opportunity we believe in you have to invest behind it," Ballmer said. "You have to be optimistic about your opportunity to change the world. ...This takes a long-term view. Everything about Microsoft takes a long-term view, I

IDG News Service

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Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
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