There are lots of small, secret groups around Microsoft. As soon as I hear about them I beg to come over with my camcorder and find out more about what they are doing. Ric Merrifield's Motion Initiative is one such "incubation team." Turns out his charter was to go and study businesses. So, he and a small team of researchers spread out across the globe and started making a map of how business works. They've been working over the past few years and that work led to identifying underserved software markets and led directly to the acquisition of Navision. Interesting look into how Microsoft is trying to learn new things about markets it isn't yet in.

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