Questions Persist about Microsoft's .NET Architecture, Business Model
Yesterday, News.com published an article providing an overview of Microsoft's progress toward deploying .NET My Services. According to the article, these services are "for hosting and delivering personal information while providing an array of services ranging from commerce to communication in partnership with Web retailers such as eBay."
The problem, as the article points out, is that Microsoft has invested more time and effort in the underlying technology than it has in developing a viable business model that is saleable to companies with which it can partner. The article says, "The almost universal response from potential partners was: 'We don't understand the business model; we don't know how we or Microsoft will make money on the plan; and we don't necessarily trust Microsoft to be the single repository or host for this model....'"
Now, Microsoft is considering integrating the Kerberos distributed security system into .NET. This would allow companies to maintain greater control over their customer information than they would have if Microsoft had been the sole provider of authentication-related services. Will this make companies more likely to partner with Microsoft?