Microsoft Is Patent Troll, Says Salesforce.com CEO Benioff

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff, never a particular fan of Microsoft's products, technology, vision, or prospects, can now add its legal strategy to his list of things he can't stand about Microsoft. Commenting on the patent-infringement suit filed against Salesforce.com by Microsoft, Benioff called the Redmond company a "patent troll."From a news article in the Wall Street Journal:

The merits and details of that lawsuit aside, the "patent troll" comment is consistent with Benioff's outspoken criticism of Microsoft as a company that is out of touch with today's online-driven world and out of its element in trying to compete in the cloud. In a conversation with Benioff in his San Francisco office a few months ago, here's how the feisty CEO characterized Microsoft's prospects:

"Microsoft is a great company in the perspective of operating systems for PCs, and for servers, and for Office, and for Back Office-that's what it used to be called; I don't know what it's called now," Benioff said. "And Microsoft succeeded greatly because they offered a lower-cost alternative to Data General or Digital Equipment-but those companies aren't around any more. That model is finished-they're gone. "Today customers don't need to deal with all that stuff-they can just move to the Internet, and that's where the world is headed. Microsoft's mistake has been holding on too long to an old paradigm and as it keeps trying to control things and offer a new upgrade like Windows 7 that has no enhancements. And that's not innovation and it's not good for customers. "On the other hand, you've got Apple and Google and RIM: those companies are what the Internet is all about, and they show the promise for how going live on the Internet can help our customers change their businesses. If you're a software company and you're not looking very, very closely at that simple truth, then you're not going to make it." (You can see the full article in the "Recommended Reading" list below.)

The Journal article about the lawsuit said Benioff brushed it off as "not significant" and "not material to . . . day-to-day business." But what is significant to Salesforce.com is Microsoft's recent commitment, led by CEO Steve Ballmer, to go "all in" for cloud computing.

So we'll be watching to see if the so-called patent troll can make a material or significant impact on Salesforce.com not in a court of law but in the marketplace of CIO decisions.

RECOMMENDED READING: Global CIO: Salesforce.com Benioff On Beating Microsoft & SAP In The Cloud Global CIO: Ballmer's Cloud Commitment Makes Microsoft Relevant Again Global CIO: Salesforce.com CEO Benioff On IT Scams And Cloud Power