@Multizone

“strategy and innovation without execution is hallucination” said Kevin Turner in a very memorable soundbite.

Turner is the COO of Microsoft. His presentation at Microsoft Partner conference is important because he is detailed about numbers and in the inner circle of unassailable leaders of the company.

Microsoft's new slogan regarding cloud computing is 'We're all in'. That may be, but Multizone believe this will be a year of evolution and internal introspection as the company re-tools and refocuses on what exactly this means they have to do. 'We're all in' is, Multizone believes, as big a call to action for Microsoft as Bill Gates 'Internet Tidal Wave' memo in the 90's. But what is not clear is how this will affect partners ability to make money while Microsoft shifts focus.

A briefing for customers and Microsoft employees alike

Turner came on stage talking about how he was going to use ‘Action oriented terms’ and then said his words were both for Microsoft employees and for Partners as he felt it was an inflection point for both. Multizone believe that this means that the information being presented was directly imparting Microsoft strategic intent to employees and partners at the same time and warning both that actions in support were expected. It was new, current and freshly created an indicator as to how reactive the Microsoft senior management are - and just how ‘top down’ the company is being run by the inner circle.

Read on for more detailed observations.

@risepartners, @wpc10us, @simchabe, @erigligman and me @nuxnix

I was at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference this week in Washington DC.

Social media was a big part of the conference for me. and I was delighted top the list of #wpc10 tweeters and participate in a Live Meeting based #tweetup. You can watch the webcast recording (in Microsoft Live meeting format of course): http://bit.ly/wpc10social

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, took the stage to acknowledge the path Microsoft has chosen to embrace with partners. Ballmer discussed the key dimensions of the Cloud and finished by challenging partners to reinvent their business model.

Steve Ballmer’s presentation at Microsoft’s worldwide partner conference is always worth listening to intently. Nothing that is said or unsaid is by accident. He and his script writing team are accomplished at the creation of densely packed carefully selected information especially in this context, where the script is directed specifically to the 9500 partners and 3500 Microsoft employees all in the same room - not to mention the estimated 100,000 digital attendees online at www.digitalwpc.com.

WPC is where we - the partner community - expect to hear all about the product Innovation ready for taking to market in the coming year. Windows 7 sp1, Office 2010, Windows Server 2008 r2 - all have major releases or service pack to comprehend.

But this year finally Microsoft appear to be in some disarray. On the one hand they seem ready to push everything into the cloud. They have new platforms, products and programs which, they say, are based on partner feedback. They have massively re-organised themselves (according to The Register today) too in order to support this. Notable casualties appear to have left Microsoft from the heart of some teams judging by tweets of attendance at WPC as newpartners. Microsoft would have partners believe that it is the evolution of a strategy that they have been preparing carefully and are gradually unwrapping but It seems to Multizone that a battle for hearts and minds has been fought in Redmond and what we are seeing today presented is the first aftermath of that.

There was the usual unsubtle warning too - “be in the cloud with Microsoft or you’re not our kind of folk” said Ballmer. Remember that.

Public Accountabitlity is becoming an ever growing issue in political and public services as the developments in social media impact upon public interest in public events, as they are being covered on a 24/7 basis. When the public become informed of decisions or events the instinctive reaction is to want to know who is responsible. They want to know whether Authority is commensurate with the responsibility, or vice versa.

In Principle this is nothing new; there is, and has been, an accepted relationship between Authority and Responsibility, in general terms. However current social changes are raising new issues, for example the demand for more local influence at a time when there has been a constant trend towards centralisation and globalisation are raising new causes of tension which need to be managed. It is being recognised increasingly that it is desirable to increase delegation to 'sharp end' providers of goods and services without weakening lines of authority and therefore assigned responsibility. A good illustration of many of these tensions may be seen in the emergency services in general, and in Policing in particular. How can one find the right balance between giving more discretion down through the levels in the police force, right down to the neighbourhood policing teams (NPT's) whilst enabling the Chief Constable to maintain an effective chain of command to meet their responsibilities, both real and perceived by the public.

There are two differing categories of issue to be considered in this context

A) Routine activities - for which protocols, training and guidance can be given in a structured way to deal with most day-to-day activities.

These can be more easily managed within a defined scheduled range of activities - with the use of data/info capture and harvesting techniques using 'smart' phones, internet, and electronic diaries. However most of the existing use of social media by police forces to date, are unidirectional and primarily for PR purposes.

B) Emergencies/Incidents

These happen on a random or unforeseeable basis e.g. flooding or recent shootings, and existing arrangements are not fully adequate.

Key questions now relate to the 'ability' of police forces to use existing capabilities of social media management and interaction mainly in use by organisations in the private sector, to deal with emergency or unpredictable events within their jurisdiction in conjunction with those of their parters which of course includes the public.

The 'ability' of a force (individually or collectively) to use social media in emergency situations will increasingly be seen in terms of the degree to which police forces, at all levels are perceived to meet their responsibilities.