PowerPoint This Microsoft!
When I think “PowerPoint,” I automatically think of college. As an English major, I only ever had to make two Power Point presentations during “the best years of my life.”
(One was for my Spanish class and the other one for Biology. Unfortunately, that latter one still stands out in my mind. In consideration for your stomach, I won’t go into any detail as to why.)
That was the limit of my experience with the program, and I’ll admit that I overall liked playing with the backgrounds and word fonts and copying and pasting pictures. It was child’s play for me.
But that’s not how thousands of other people view the Microsoft Office program. Many businessmen and women have much more history with the slideshow presentations to work off of. And it’s no wonder, since so many types of businesses rely on it as a boardroom staple.
Work in a biotech company? - You’re almost guaranteed to see a PowerPoint slide a time or two during your career, showing the toll various diseases have taken on the population.
Maybe a non-profit organization? - Just think about all of the poignant pictures you can flip through for your audience to view!
And we’re not even going to mention Wall Street, since they live off of charts that can very easily be displayed on none other than PowerPoint.
So yeah, most people in the business world have some familiarity with PowerPoint, whether they’re on the creating or receiving end.
(And let’s face it: making them is almost always so much more fun than sitting in your seat forced to view one. Should I make the background white or black? Does the font look better in a large, Arial, blue font or more of an ominous, scarlet Times New Roman? Oh the choices!)
But when companies such as Azure Capital think Power Point, they see a target and a goal… to eliminate it.
The Next Big Thing?
You see, Azure Capital is joining the ranks of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and so many less well-known tech companies, to take a piece of the pie Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) has so carefully baked.
While Apple and Google’s aspirations towards global domination are well known, Azure is only looking to edge out PowerPoint. For now at least.
Announcing a partnership with Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, the up-and-coming competitor is putting in its share of $5 million to fund just the early testing stages of SlideRocket, an online tool that has the potential to one-up PowerPoint.
Among the features SlideRocket should feature, are:
- Securely shared content
- Interactive features between viewer and presenter
- Tracking of how viewers are interacting with the presentation
Impressive stats, especially when webinars and conference calls are becoming more and more popular, partially due to rapidly developing technology but also thanks to the recession.
Now we just have to wait and see if they can live up to their promises. If they can - and I’m leaning strongly towards yes - SlideRocket CEO Chuck Dietrich makes a good point even while he gives a nod to the competition.
“Microsoft is really… the gorilla in the room, and we feel fortunate in the sense that they are really beholden to making that upfront long-term sale of Powerpoint. It’s always been difficult for a company that sells an upfront, one-time fee service to try to switch to a subscription based model.”
But with that path paved for them, they’ll likely find it a lot easier to become at least the next hip thing if not a competitor to be reckoned with.
Thursday, July 30, 2009 - by Jeannette Di Louie, Assistant Editor, Mt. Vernon Research
How One Company's Groundbreaking "Cancer Blaster" Could Make You Rich
While the World Health Organization predicts 12 million people will develop cancer in 2009, this little-known company is fighting the surge with its amazing cancer-killing device...
Although most people know nothing about it, this "Cancer Blaster" has already saved thousands of people around the world... Like Ohio resident, Caroline Brubaker, who says "with just three, pain-free outpatient visits, I had my life back" or Richard Swanson of Arizona who ended up cancer-free after just 4 hours of treatment...
The best part is, the company recently discovered an extraordinary breakthrough that could go mainstream in a matter of days... Read the full details to find out how you can get in ahead of the event - and be on your way to booking truly incredible gains.
|
Comments
Due to the amount of comments we receive Smart Profits Report will not be able to respond to all questions. By submitting your comment you agree to adhere to our Comment Policy.
Got something to say?
