In the space of less than a week in late April, two events made one thing very clear about Microsoft: The company is now pursuing a cloud-first strategy, with Windows taking a back seat. And that will continue as far into the future as the eye can see.
The first event was the April 26 release of Microsoft’s earnings report for its third fiscal quarter, which ended March 31. A close look shows that cloud revenue has become the company’s driving force, outpacing money the company gets from its onetime cash cow, Windows.
