Velocity Matters: Google, Microsoft, and Hyper-Agility, Part 1

by Ken Orr

A recent New York Times article "Google Gets Ready to Rumble With Microsoft" (16 December 2007) talks about the growing perception that Google is set on attacking Microsoft's base with a whole set of Web- and mobile-based software applications. While the article touches on the historical battles between the chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, and Microsoft leaders Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer (when Schmidt was with Sun Microsystems and Novell), it is mostly about the contrast between how Google and Microsoft develop software.