Earlier today I got a question that I feared answering for a long time. I have to be completely honest and admit that I didn’t think it would take this long for someone to ask it, especially considering that most of my blog posts are about the future of IT solution providers. The question is very similar to the scene where the Bob’s ask Tom to describe his job: “What would you say… you do here?”

The question posed to me was:

“With all the stuff that you guys are doing with Shockey Monkey, are you guys giving up on being a security company and moving towards becoming a CRM player?”

No, we are not.

Now, the longer part of that answer is a little more complex. You see, for the better part of the past 20+ years, Microsoft has controlled the world of small business applications. With few small distractions by IBM, Novell, Intuit and even Linux, the world of business computing has been all Microsoft and nothing but Microsoft.

Microsoft was able to extend it’s relevance by abusing it’s monopoly to blackball computer manufacturers, crushing Netscape by giving IE for free, etc. But they were not prepared for the Internet. They were not prepared for mobility.

This has opened the marketplace to the level that Microsoft is no longer a dominant platform – and very soon not even a dominant business software solution. Today Intel bought McAfee. In cash. They could have gotten them for far less in the past. Yet, they decided to go for it now. Why?

Why? Because Microsoft is no longer the defacto platform of the Internet, mobility, search and application. Which means dealing with security outbreaks will become a bigger and bigger business.

Everyone that has been reading my blog has seen what Own Web Now has been up to.

I want us to extend our footprint in security — but I now also have the opportunity to extend our applications.

So the answer to the question of if we’re changing our focus is yes. The “platform” game is pretty much set. I don’t see many people buying servers. Ever again. Yes, I’ve heard about Aurora and I’ve heard about EBS and I’ve heard about WHS. Very impressive. Except it doesn’t sell – because people buy solutions, they don’t buy hardware.

Follow what sells. Everything else is a distraction.

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