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1. Which product that was developed by Microsoft is attributable to the technolo

ID: 372559 • Letter: 1

Question

1. Which product that was developed by Microsoft is attributable to the technology stage of the innovation lifecycle.

2. Describe what changes Microsoft made to their Windows product during the performance stage in order to improve the product.

3. As it relates to the efficiency stage, describe incremental innovations developed by Microsoft in order to create more value.

4. What partnerships has Microsoft created to create a value proposition for customers (as it relates to the commentaries stage)

Explanation / Answer

1. Technology stage is the early stage of the innovation Lifecycle. The products in this stage are new to the market and their final configuration and attributes have not undergone major upgrades after introducing them in the market. For Microsoft, the smartglasses product under the brand HoloLens can be attributed to the technology stage.the product was released in 2016-17. The product is a wearable computer device that is a mix of virtual reality and augmented reality. It can be used for video games, 3D design, simulation based learning, military usesamong many other applications.

2. The performance stage of the innovation lifecycle is the stage when the market feedback is taken as an input for further development and improvement of the product. Microsoft introduced its Windows 95 product in the year 1995, which was a significant change from the previous operating system of Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS. The major change was the introduction of graphic user interface (GUI) and it’s simplified plug-and-play features. The move from 16-bit architecture to 32–bit architecture was suitable for multitasking features. Other features introduced in the performance stage of the Windows product was support to longer file names and the iconic ‘Start’ button.

3. Efficiency stage of innovation lifecycle is when the products are mature and have a high usage in the market. In this stage small incremental improvements are made to the product to meet the needs of the market. The Windows operating system has been incrementally improved over the years. The initial versions upto Windows 3.1 were based on the MS-DOS, icons were introduced to give a desktop feel to the users. Windows 95 introduced graphic user interface and navigation was increasingly used with the mouse input device. Windows 98 introduced features like the disk cleanup and wizards to automate some of the system functions.Windows 2000 had improvements in client-side DNS caching, a management console to monitor disk fragmentation and a multilingual user interface. Windows XP has newer icons and supported USB 2.0 external storage. Windows 7 introduced touchscreen features, while Windows 8 and the latest Windows 10have bundled Apps and start screen that resemble mobile smartphones.

4. Commentaries stage of innovation lifecycle is when the product is in a late maturity stage. With growing smart phone and tablet market, the traditional PC (desktops and laptops) have reached a saturation point. Microsoft ha# partnered with PC makers like Dell, HP and other OEMs to bundle and market the Windows and Office products. A long partnership with Intel as the most compatible chip processor for the Windows OS has ensured that the product lifecycle can be extended with each enhancement of the processor performance. Through mergers and acquisition of device makers like Nokia and social communication brands like Skype and LinkedIn , Microsoft has maintained its lead in the computer technology industry.