Proprietary Technology Abandonment Can Disrupt Customers

• Microsoft has abandoned certain proprietary technologies and embraced more popular open source offerings in recent years.
• Discontinuations and reduced investments because of such strategic redirections can cost customers time and resources to redesign or adapt their solutions.
• A review of historical abandonments and at-risk and likely safe offerings can provide insights into the company’s strategies and the potential impact on customers.

There are several examples of proprietary Microsoft technologies being abandoned as the company embraces open source software, so customers should use caution when adopting existing and future proprietary Microsoft offerings that compete with popular or growing open source alternatives.

Azure Enables Embrace of Open Source

Microsoft often builds proprietary technologies to compete with solutions that are available as open source software. The approach allows the company to have full control over technology designs, long-term direction, and integration with its other offerings, while retaining intellectual property rights that boost licensing profits. This strategy was employed almost exclusively until recent years, in particular until Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as the company’s CEO.