The New Efficiency
From: Steve Ballmer [mailto:sballmer@microsoft.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 19:05
To: Felix Wang (EVANGELIST)
Subject: The New Efficiency
In all the talk about the economy, one term that comes up more and more frequently is something called "the new normal." I like this phrase because it speaks to the fact that economic reality has undergone a fundamental shift over the course of the past 12 months.
So what is the nature of this shift? After years of economic expansion fueled by unrealistic rates of consumption and unsustainable levels of private debt, the global economy has reset at a lower baseline level of activity. Today, people borrow less, save more, and spend with much greater caution.
This is the new normal and it will be with us for some time to come. The issue now is how to respond.
I believe the new normal requires a new kind of efficiency built on technology innovations that enable businesses and organizations to simultaneously drive cost savings, improve productivity, and speed innovation.
Because you are a subscriber to Executive Emails from Microsoft, I want to share my thoughts with you about how information technology can enable organizations to operate more efficiently, more effectively, and more strategically as they respond to the new normal by moving toward the new efficiency.
The New Efficiency: With Less, Do More
In the new normal, one thing is clear: cutting costs is extremely important. But cost cutting by itself is not a long-term winning strategy. To build a sustainable competitive advantage, companies must ultimately do two things- increase productivity and find ways to deliver new value to customers.
The issue, then, is how can organizations take costs out of their operations, increase productivity, and expand their capacity for innovation all at the same time?
For years, we've talked about how information technology enables companies to do more with less. But during this economic reset, IT provides business leaders with the answer to a slightly different question: Can my company with less, do more?
Other trends give this question even greater urgency. Workforces are more distributed and employees are more mobile. Government regulations are increasing and compliance requirements are mounting. Data security is more important to preserve and more difficult to maintain.
At the same time, companies struggle with legacy technology systems built on incompatible and disconnected applications that limit access to information and impede collaboration. The complexity of these systems forces IT departments to focus too much of their time and too many of their resources on providing basic services and protecting security.
Today, a new generation of business solutions is transforming IT into a strategic asset that makes it possible to cut costs without crippling customer service or constraining workforce creativity and effectiveness. A new generation of business solutions is eliminating the barriers between systems and applications, and automating routines tasks so IT professionals can focus on high-value work that is aligned to strategic priorities. These technologies can help organizations reduce risk, improve security, and drive down support costs.
This is IT how achieves the new efficiency with less.
At the same time, these technologies streamline access to information no matter where it is stored and enable people to work together securely no matter where they are located. This new generation of business solutions also provides improved mobile computing capabilities so people who work in a branch office, at home, or on the road can be as productive as employees who work at corporate headquarters.
Most important, a new wave of IT technologies offers advanced tools that enable employees to transform insights into innovations that address unmet market opportunities and meet unfulfilled customer needs.
This powerful combination of greater productivity and improved capacity for innovation is how IT enables businesses to do more.
Software Solutions for the New Efficiency
This year, Microsoft is introducing a wave of new software created specifically to enable businesses to tackle their most pressing challenges and strengthen their ability to deliver innovation to the marketplace.
It starts with Windows 7, the newest version of our flagship PC operating system. Windows 7 simplifies tasks and lets people get more done in less time with fewer clicks. Ready to deploy now, it enhances corporate data protection and security, and increases control to improve compliance and reduce risk. Part of our Windows Optimized Desktop solution that includes Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, Windows 7 streamlines management of PC environments, making it easier to reduce costs, improve performance, and enable end users to work anywhere.
These and other enhancements are the result of close collaboration with millions of customers and thousands of IT professionals who participated in testing programs and provided suggestions about the capabilities and improvements they wanted to see. Thanks in large part to their help, Windows 7 is the best PC operating system we have ever built.
We've also just released a new version of our server operating system. Windows Server 2008 R2 is designed to increase the reliability and flexibility of server infrastructures. It provides a productive server platform that offers cost-effective virtualization and business continuity, great power saving capabilities, and a superior experience for end users.
Later this year, we will also launch Exchange Server 2010. The cornerstone of Microsoft's unified communications technologies, Exchange Server 2010 provides a great email and inbox experience that extends from the PC to the phone to the browser and it helps companies archive and protect information efficiently. It also enables companies to reduce costs by delivering a built- in voice mail solution and providing low-cost storage options.
Achieving the Benefits of the New Efficiency Today
Organizations around the globe are already deploying these solutions and reaping the benefits.
At Intel, for example, Windows 7 is providing improved performance, greater application responsiveness, and a better platform for mobile workers. Ford is taking advantage of Exchange 2010 and Windows 7 to streamline communications, improve decision making, and boost productivity. Continental Airlines expects to save more than $1.5 million annually in hardware, software, and operational costs through the server virtualization capabilities of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V technology.
At Convergent Computing, an information technology consulting firm based in California, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 will eliminate the $40,000 in annual spending that was needed to maintain a virtual private network for the company's 55 employees. In addition, employees can now access the company's corporate network instantly and download files 30 to 40 percent faster than before.
Another example is Baker Tilly, a London financial services firm with more than 2,000 employees and a network of partners in 110 countries. One of the first businesses to deploy Windows 7 on a company-wide basis, Baker Tilly expects to save about $160 per PC by reducing deployment, management, and energy costs. And because Windows 7 improves productivity, it offers the potential to increase billable time for mobile workers at a rate of nearly $600 per PC. This could return the equivalent of one-half of one percent of the company's current gross annual revenue to the bottom line.
Businesses aren't alone in their struggle to respond to the new normal. Governments must figure out how to deliver more services on budgets that are sharply constrained by falling revenue. As part of its response, the city of Miami deployed Windows 7 and expects that it will save nearly $400,000 a year in reduced security, management, and energy costs.
Ideal Conditions for an Era of Innovation and Growth
Despite the challenges posed by the global economic reset, I'm optimistic about the long-term opportunities that lie ahead.
I'm optimistic because there are encouraging signs that growth may resume in many parts of the world during the course of the next year.
More than that, I'm optimistic because I believe we are entering a period of technology-driven transformation that will see a surge in productivity and a flowering of innovation.
The new efficiency will not only help companies respond to today's economic reality, it will lay the foundation for systems and solutions that connect people to information, applications, and to other people in new ways. The result will be a wave of innovative products and services that will jumpstart economic growth as companies deliver breakthroughs that solve old problems and serve as the catalyst for new businesses and even new industries.
This too will be the new normal-economic growth driven not by debt and consumption, but by rising productivity and new ideas that provide real value to people throughout their lives. Information technology will play an important role. I look forward to seeing the progress that results.
Steve
中译 [via]
电子邮件主题：新效率
在所有关于经济的讨论中，一个越来越经常被提及的词汇就是“新标准”。我喜欢这个词，因为这涉及了过去12个月中美国经济现实所经历的基本面转变。
那么，这一转变的本质是什么？此前全球经济在不合理的消费和不可持续的私人负债推动下实现了数年的经济扩张，如今震荡过后，我们的消费者减少了借款，增加了储蓄，更加谨慎地进行消费。这就是新标准，未来一段时间我们都将面对这一挑战。如今的问题就是如何应对这一挑战。
我认为这一新标准需要我们从技术创新下手，实现一种新的效率。我们需要通过技术创新，确保企业和组织能够同时节约成本，提高生产力，并加速创新。
因为你们是微软高管邮件的订户，我想让你们了解我的想法，了解信息技术如何能够确保组织的运转更为高效、更为经济、更具战略性，组织必须通过新效率来应对新标准。
新效率：节省成本，提高成效
面对新标准，我们必须明确一点：节约成本极其重要。但节约成本本身并不是一个长期获胜战略。为了获得一个可持续的竞争优势，各家公司必须最终提高生产率，想办法为消费者提供新价值。接下来，企业的问题就是如何从业务中节省成本，提高生产率，同时提高他们的创新能力。
多年以来，我们一直在讨论信息技术如何保障各家公司能够节省成本并提高成效。信息技术向企业领导人提供了这个问题的答案。
其他现实趋势使得这个问题变得更具紧迫性。目前劳动力更为分散，企业员工更具流动性。政府监管日益严格，要求不断增加。数据安全比保存数据更为重要。
与此同时，各家公司正艰难应对此前基于各种不兼容和不连贯应用组建的技术系统，这限制了企业获得信息，阻碍了企业协作。这些系统的复杂性迫使企业IT部门将更多的精力和资源用于提供基本服务和保护安全。
目前，新一代的企业解决方案正将信息技术变成一项战略资产，使得企业即可以削减成本，又不会影响用户服务或是限制公司员工的创造性和效率。新一代的企业解决方案正在降低系统和应用之间的壁垒，对常规任务进行自动化，以便IT人员能关注于具有战略优先意义的高价值工作。这些技术能够帮助组织降低风险，提高安全性，减少支持成本。这就是信息技术实现节省成本和提高成效的过程。
与此同时，这些技术使得信息接入变得更加便捷，保障了人们可以更为保密地进行协作，无论数据存储在何处，无论人们身处何处。这新一代的企业解决方案还提高了移动运算能力，使得人们可以在不同的工作地点工作，而不会影响他们的工作效率，无论他们是在分公司、在家或是在路途中。
更为重要的是，新涌现的信息技术带来了更为先进的工具，使得企业员工能够将创意转变为实际创新，把握市场机遇，满足消费者需求。更为强大的信息技术提高了生产效率，增强了创新能力，从而帮助企业实现高效运转。
用于新效率的软件解决方案
微软今年推出了诸多新软件产品，这些产品专门帮助企业应对他们最为迫切的挑战，增强他们向市场推出创新的能力。
首先，微软推出最新版PC操作系统Windows 7。Windows 7简化了任务，使得消费者可以减少操作，节约时间，实现更高效率。目前来看，Windows 7增强了企业的数据保护和安全性，增强了企业控制风险的能力。我们在Windows优化桌面解决方案中包括了微软企业桌面优化套件、Windows 7的PC环境顺畅管理，这使得企业能够更为便捷地降低成本、提高性能，确保终端用户能在任何地方进行工作。
这些和其他改进是我们数百万用户和数千名IT专业人员密切协作的成果，他们参加了测试项目，提供了关于他们所希望看到的功能和改进的建议。Windows 7是我们所研发的最出色的PC操作系统，这在很大程度上要感谢他们的帮助。
我们还刚刚发布了新版服务器操作系统Windows Server 2008 R2，这是为增强我们服务器基础架构的可靠性和灵活性而设计的。这款产品带来了一个高效的服务器平台，提供了具备成本节约的虚拟化和业务连贯性，提高了能效，为终端用户带来了出色体验。
今年晚些时候，我们还将发布微软一体化通信技术的基石Exchange Server 2010。这款产品提供了出色的电子邮件和收件箱体验，从PC向手机和浏览器扩展，能够帮助企业更为高效地保护信息。Exchange Server 2010还将向企业提供内置语音邮件解决方案，提供低成本存储选择方案，帮助企业节约成本。
实现新效率带来的效益
全世界的组织现已开始应用这些解决方法，并已开始收获成效。
以英特尔为例，Windows 7提升了员工的业务表现，更好的响应了英特尔的实际业务需要，并为员工提供了更好的移动工作平台。福特汽车目前正在运用Exchange 2010和Windows 7来优化公司内部的信息交流，改善决策机制并提升劳动生产率。通过运用Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V技术带来的服务器虚拟化能力，大陆航空公司预计每年将在硬件、软件以及运营成本方面节省150万美元。
Convergent Computing是美国加州一家信息技术咨询公司。通过运用Windows Server 2008 R2和Windows 7，该公司每年可以节省维护55名员工虚拟私人网络方面的开支总计4万美元。
另一个例子是伦敦金融服务公司Baker Tilly，该公司雇员人数超过2000人，合作伙伴网络遍布全球110个国家。通过在全公司范围内安装Windows 7，Baker Tilly每台个人电脑的相关平均成本或将下降160美元，主要是电脑数量、管理费用和能源费用均有所下降。
并不是只有商业机构才在努力适应当今世界的新秩序。政府部门也必须考虑如何在收入下降导致预算规模显著受限的情况下提供尽可能多的服务。迈阿密市采用了Windows 7作为其应对方案的一部分，预计Windows 7将通过降低保安、管理以及能源费用为该市每年节省约40万美元。
创新与增长新时期的理想条件
虽然全球经济调整带来了变化，但我对未来的长期机遇持乐观态度。我感到乐观的原因是，有令人振奋的迹象表明，全球多个地区的经济将于明年重新开始增长。
除此之外，我感到乐观的原因还在于，我认为世界正在进入一个技术推动的转型期，在这段时期里生产率将得到明显提升，发明创新将大量涌现。
效率提高不但将有助于公司应对目前的经济现实，还将通过新方式将个人与信息、应用端、以及其他个人联结起来，为这样的系统和解决方案奠定基础。
由此带来的经济增长将是新标准经济增长，其推动力量不是债务和消费，而是生产率的提高以及能够为个体带来伴其一生的新创意。信息技术在该过程中将扮演重要角色。我热切盼望看到信息技术的进步能够带来具体成效。