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Technology Stocks : Wind River going up, up, up! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: peter grossman who wrote (3253)	5/29/1998 8:10:00 PM
From: Peter Church	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10309

"growth will diminish in this area (seats, support and service) from about 45% per year to 30% IMO, this performance alone justifies WIND's current valuation." I am confused about something here. Are customer service and support going to add to margins or are they just a necessary cost of doing business? It seems that they may be the least profitable slice of WIND's business model. Ron Abelmann said that 27% of their staff are now engaged in customer support and that it was a "critical component to success in our business." The customer service expenses are paid for by customers, so maybe they are a wash. They do add significant good will and opportunities for the company, I suppose. Why is it that MSFT can't redirect their business model to provide the same level of customer support and differentiation for their products? Are they really that locked in to their "catagorical imperative"? Is it a business style or generation issue? Another question (at the risk of seeming obtuse): Why is it that the embedded market developers are more interested in differentiating their products than are desktop market developers? Thanks