It also reveals the workings of its Operations and Technology Group (OTG), which is responsible for managing IT security for more than 55,000 employees and around 300,000 computers located over 400 sites.
The paper disclosed some interesting facts:
The last part of the paper launches into some mindless dribble about how the OTG is central to "silently installing patches on desktops and servers" and the admission on Microsoft's part that it "regularly releases patches to correct vulnerabilities in operating system and user applications."
In fact, in an interview published by ZDNet Australia last month, a senior Microsoft executive admitted that "it's been a fairly painful year from a security standpoint...there have been more patches than we would have liked."
This week, Microsoft could start testing a CD designed to allow users of older Windows systems to update their PCs in a "simplified" fashion. This product has the potential to ensure that computers are duly patched whenever a vulnerability is detected.
The white paper and CD are decent marketing tools to elevate Microsoft's security standing but this doesn't negate the fact that the crux of the matter is its malformed software.
The competitive landscape will only intensify. Afterall, open-source groups, for instance, are here to stay. Sure, time-to-market pressures are part and parcel of the business world but if Microsoft persists on delivering [more] sub-standard products, and producing documents with empty rhetoric, in time, the cracks will get bigger and it might be too late to defend itself.
In the US, Sun Microsystems is speaking to Walmart and Office Depot to sell computers installed with Java Desktop System. If K-mart and Harvey Norman start selling similar PCs in Australia, will this put a huge dent in Microsoft's market share? Send your comments to itmanager@zdnet.com.au.
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