Since 2018, the "Microsoft Development Experience and Platform Cooperation Division (DX)" under Microsoft Greater China has quietly undergone a change. The name of the division has been changed from the previous title to "Microsoft Greater China Innovation Technology Cooperation Division (CSE). )”.
The seemingly small change actually reflects the changes in the corresponding organizational structure, production relationship and even thinking mode of Microsoft after the cloud transformation.
From evangelist to enabler
It has only been three years since Ding Yuheng stepped out of the campus and joined Microsoft, but he has experienced a double transition from departmental functions to roles. For him, the previous departments had the most contact with Windows, Office, Cortana, EDGE browsers, etc., and the audience was mainly 2C. The current department is more exposed to natural language interaction technology, AI and Azure-based cloud services, and the audience is mostly 2B.
More importantly, unlike the role of "evangelist" played by the original DX, in the new CSE department, he plays more of the role of "enabler".
Ding Yuheng, Technical Consultant of Microsoft Greater China Innovation Technology Cooperation Division
"In the past, it was more inclined to some large-scale activities, such as various Internet conferences, in which I would be a lecturer to talk about some of the latest technologies of Microsoft. Now I am more inclined to some landing work, which is required and developed most of the time. People sit together, and then realize an idea." Ding Yuheng said.
He said that, in fact, the biggest difference is that the working mode has changed. Compared with the previous introduction, there are more opportunities. After talking about the technology, I can't see the real thing, and I can't hear the demands of the industry. I feel it is not so real. The partners or customers that are facing now have very clear and specific needs, and they need to really bring the technology to them in depth and generate practical value.
Although this kind of real feeling is very good, it requires a very high technical ability of the individual, and in fact, it also brings certain challenges at first.
"As for the application of technology in the industry, you will obviously feel that your partners or customers know more than you. In many cases, after introducing Microsoft's technology to customers, you need to listen carefully to the needs of customers and learn from customers. The experience of the industry can truly Understand the pain points of customers," said Ding Yuheng. In addition, due to the need to connect Microsoft, such as AI capabilities, with the systems of partners or customers, there are no ready-made tools in many cases, so it is inevitable to write some code yourself.
In his view: "From DX to CSE, this transition process requires more expertise in technology. There are many kinds of programming languages, but Microsoft technology faces all customers (or partners), so it needs to learn and master a variety of programming language ability, and can really help customers to learn Microsoft's new technologies in depth; at the same time, it is also necessary for individuals to really dive into the customer's R&D and development sites, and spend a few days with them to carry out Development. These seem to be a transformation for the individual as well.”
Leading the new model of technology landing
Regarding the functional positioning of the CSE department, Yan Fei, general manager of Microsoft's Greater China Innovation and Technology Cooperation Division, said that the mission of CSE is to help the most influential customers and partners use Microsoft technologies in a good way. Microsoft technology and use Microsoft cloud computing technology and Azure technology to help customers and partners complete digital transformation.
Yan Fei, General Manager of Microsoft Greater China Innovation Technology Cooperation Division
It can be seen that the main function of CSE is technology empowerment. In fact, although the related transformation and preparation work started as early as 2 years ago, the official name of Microsoft's DX department was changed to CSE this year. So, what is the significance of the transformation of this sector? Why did Microsoft DX make such a change?
Obviously, the experience of Ding Yuheng, an employee of the department, reflects to a large extent the great changes in the business of Microsoft in the transition period.
In this regard, Yan Fei said that the CSE team itself has its own growth process. Behind this change is Microsoft's transformation from the previous era of Windows and Office as its main products to an era of Azure cloud services as its main products. .
"As the technology we promote changes from front-end technology to back-end cloud computing technology, the adoption of technology itself is a bigger decision for customers, and the investment cost is also higher, so the way we accompany services will also change accordingly. ."He said.
Yan Fei further stated that in addition to continuing to do technical presentations, writing blogs, publishing books, and meeting face-to-face with customers, a more important way of working this year is to write code together with customers. Since customers will encounter different challenges in the transformation process, the cost of technology adoption will be higher, so we hope to help them solve practical technical problems in the process of co-coding with customers to ultimately help them achieve a better transformation. "
In addition, Yan Fei emphasized that most of the customers currently facing CSE are industry customers in vertical fields, which is very different from the target customers developed by 2C consumer applications when the DX department was in the front-end ecosystem. In fact, this process is also a process of continuously accumulating various cases and industry experience, and in this process, Microsoft will continue to try, starting from connecting points and lines, so as to achieve points, lines, The gradual enrichment of the situation and the improvement of the ecology.
"The role of the CSE department in Microsoft's layout can be seen as a bridge between the marketing department and the product department." Yan Fei said: "Because our team consists of software development engineers and software project managers, the team Compared with the marketing and sales team, we have the characteristics of the engineering team. With the unique technical and engineering capabilities of the engineering team, we can help the marketing and sales team to solve the outstanding problems of customers in the process of technical impact. Compared with the R&D and product teams, we are more Knowing the problems of front-line customers and better understanding of the voices and needs of front-line customers can help them put forward some problems and potential improvement opportunities in the application process of new products.”
Organizational innovation reshapes the new Microsoft
As we all know, when you mentioned Microsoft a few years ago, you might think of the Windows operating system and Office office software; today, when you mention Microsoft, in addition to the operating system and office software, people think more of the cloud, AI, and cloud-based services, etc. .
Clearly, Microsoft's cloud transformation is a success. However, with the switch of its core products and business lines, the production relationship that matched it has changed accordingly, so as to adapt to the new era of products, business lines, new business models and supply and demand.
For the transition from Microsoft's DX department to CSE department, we might as well observe it from three dimensions: Microsoft itself, customer empowerment, and the industry level.
First of all, for Microsoft, the birth of the CSE department is not only the result of product and business development and evolution, but also a necessity for organizational innovation. Today, innovation has become a DNA of Microsoft. Because there is no innovation, it is impossible to have the success of today's cloud transformation; without the cloud, the innovation of Office 365 will be impossible; the innovation of AI will also be greatly limited. It can be said that innovation has been integrated into Microsoft's technology genes and organizational genes.
Secondly, Microsoft's customer composition has undergone tremendous changes today, from 2C mainly to 2B in the past, focusing on vertical industries. For customers or partners, the emergence of the CSE department not only caters to this change in a timely manner, but also fits well with the new supply and demand relationship, and bridges the gap between the technical department and the sales department. The change of "program" can really promote the rapid implementation of Microsoft's technical products and services.
Finally, for the industry, the evolution and transition of the CSE sector is also very enlightening. People have to think about whether it is necessary to change the organizational relationship structure at a time when technology has become an "important commodity" and the adoption cost of customers and partners is high, so as to reduce the burden of technology introduction for customers or partners to the greatest extent, so as to prevent Its own technical advantages were lost on the "last mile" issue.
In general, Microsoft's success is due to innovation, which includes not only technical aspects, but also organizational structures, business models, and production relations. Microsoft's success today is due to innovation and continuous change, and it is precisely because of innovation and continuous change that it has managed to firmly control its future destiny and lead the development of the industry.
Shen Yao's Science and Technology Observation was founded by Shen Yao (WeChat: shenyao) , a cross-border technology media person . He has 15 years of media work experience and has experience in self-driving on 100,000 kilometers of highways in China and the United States. Column, dedicated to the observation and thinking of the technology industry, here to understand the technology industry, know the trend, and win the future!