Microsoft Surface

Microsoft recently unveiled a new product, Surface. It is a tablet that directly competes with Apple’s Ipad. The reviews so far have been saying nice things about the Surface and some of them actually dare to say that it is better than Ipad. These are professional reviews, not consumer reviews. In one of those reviews, the blog writer mentioned that it would be worth noting how Microsoft places this product in the market; whether it will be targeting business or household customers. In project management, I think it is crucial to follow up with a great project that yields a top class product.

Microsoft probably does not have the marketing skills that Apple possess. It was evident with their Zune product. Did Microsoft think about how are they going to market the Surface during the project management? Did they consider the features they want for their customers they had in mind? If yes, then marketing should just be a follow up.

I think project management does not end with a great product or service. But it is a never ending process, as Apple has proved it to the business world. One after another, it follows up with the previous projects in a timely fashion. This is because Apple in the early days faced a near bankruptcy situation due to poor project management skills.  Let us take the example of Sony. It is facing a a financial crunch, probably it couldn’t follow up with a new project in time to keep the pace with competition. In today’s business world, my view is that project management is a never ending process. A corporation has to follow up one after another project to keep itself above waters.

I propose a question to the post readers, when would you consider project management 100% complete for a particular product/service? Is it a never ending process?

3 thoughts on “Microsoft Surface

  1. I think you are comparing management of a company with Project Management.

    A project is defined as a temporary activity with a defined beginning and end with certain constraints such as time, cost and scope. Projects are undertaken to meet specific business goals and objectives such as develop a product, service or install a new business process.

    Projects are temporary in nature and thus require a different set of skills while managing a business, as a going concern, is permanent or repetitive process to produce a product or deliver a service. Managing businesses requires distinct and separate skills which are unique to management. I think managers do benefit from Project Management skills but they have to apply it to an entirely different problem set.

  2. I agree with Asif in that I feel your clouding Project Management with Product Management. Projects exist inside goals and targets that give them scope. It is likely that there were several sets of projects that lead up to the release of the Surface like distribution, design, manufacturing, and likely other steps were each individual projects related to the single product. Where Apple has excelled and Microsoft has lagged behind is in Product Life cycle Management. Apple has excelled at remaining seen as “hip” and appealing to early adopters while Microsoft has not. In direct answer to your question though, I think the the answer is you’re 100% complete with a project when you’ve met the objectives. If your project is limited to design of a new piece of software and you complete it, the software’s implementation and sales don’t affect your projects completion.

  3. I agree with Asif in that I feel you’re clouding Project Management with Product Management. Projects exist inside goals and targets that give them scope. It is likely that there were several sets of projects that lead up to the release of the Surface like distribution, design, manufacturing, and likely other steps were each individual projects related to the single product. Where Apple has excelled and Microsoft has lagged behind is in Product Life cycle Management. Apple has excelled at remaining seen as “hip” and appealing to early adopters while Microsoft has not. In direct answer to your question though, I think the the answer is you’re 100% complete with a project when you’ve met the objectives. If your project is limited to design of a new piece of software and you complete it, the software’s implementation and sales don’t affect your projects completion.

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