Microsoft to Acquire Groove Networks: And it’s making Ray Ozzie, Groove’s founder, chief technical officer. [Link via Dave Winer.] This strikes me as a pretty big deal — here’s why.
Ozzie, the creator of Lotus Notes, started Groove as an effort, once and for all, to solve the still incredibly thorny set of problems surrounding collaborative software. This is an area that’s been legendarily difficult for technology companies to crack (Netscape, for example, foundered after it took a turn in this direction by acquiring a company called Collabra). Ozzie and Groove haven’t figured everything out, but they’ve come a lot closer than many of their predecessors. Most recently, Groove has found a big client in the U.S. government, which has adopted its technology for extensive military use (causing a certain amount of controversy).
By scooping up Ozzie and Groove, Microsoft is doing what it has always done: extending its reach by embracing (or consuming) smaller companies that have made technical breakthroughs Microsoft’s big research labs and development teams haven’t been able to match. It’s a smart move for Bill Gates and company — an indication that they remain absolutely determined not to fall behind the competition, and a sign that Microsoft intends to push the boundaries of collaborative software’s capabilities. It will be interesting to see where they take Groove: Let’s face it, Windows and Office are both pretty creaky for users who want to share and coordinate work nimbly and quickly. Gee, maybe information technology does still matter, sometimes.
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