Microsoft and the Mobile Future: Does Dynamics vision reflect larger struggle for success?

At the beginning of September, Microsoft paid just over $7 billion for most of Nokia's mobile phone business, along with its patent portfolio. The Finnish phone maker has been on the chopping block for some time, having long since downsized from its pre-smartphone glory days. Microsoft's interest in the company should come as no surprise to savvy observers, who know that the Redmond giant needs a strong mobile base if they want to compete with dominant industry players, better known as Google and Apple. Although Microsoft has seen most of its success as a software producer and license seller, they can no longer afford to eschew the manufacturing industry; the company needs affordable smartphones running Windows 8-and the next Windows iterations-along with a host of native, powerful apps.

Appy Hour

Mobile software development companies have to step lightly around Microsoft. If functionality isn't built into Microsoft's own mobile software, the company isn't crazy about third parties tacking on their own code. A large part of this comes from licensing; especially in a cloud-based world, companies need to be picky about what kind of license they sell, how long it's good for, and exactly what it covers. Microsoft's bottom line doesn't go anywhere but down if they stray too far from essential features. If third parties give apps away for free, that's money no one sees, and if they sell commercial apps, Microsoft may be concerned about losing money in the deal. It's no wonder, then, that apps development and third party development investments are still tightly controlled by Microsoft mobile execs.

A Dynamic mobile situation

Though Microsoft continues to push forward its plans to offer mobile solutions for its Dynamics products, the challenges ...