Last October, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella surprised analysts on an earnings conference call with a declaration that his company’s future strength would depend on enterprise movement to multicloud. Nearly a year later, that statement gained more credence based on evidence from this week’s Microsoft Ignite gathering in Orlando, Florida.

Microsoft’s focus on a broad range of products and services encompassing Office 365, Windows on both desktop and server, virtualization and public cloud helps make a convincing case.

“Who will customers turn to for help in the multicloud world?” asked Stu Miniman (@stu), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during theCUBE’s coverage of the Microsoft Ignite event. “I don’t think there’s any company that’s closer to customers’ applications across the spectrum of options.”

Miniman was joined at the conference by co-host Rebecca Knight (@knightrm), and they discussed a re-commitment of many Microsoft employees to the company’s direction, the role of Azure Stack in a multicloud strategy, and the need for continued focus on workplace diversity. (* Disclosure below.)

Commitment to changing strategy

Microsoft’s significant presence in the tech industry spanning more than four decades only increased the odds that the company’s focus would inevitably change. Yet, Miniman and Knight noted that many of Microsoft’s executives have remained at the company, something not often seen in the volatile tech world.

“People have recommitted to Microsoft, and that’s something really interesting to see, especially in the tech industry where people, Millennials especially, stay a couple of years and then move on to the next shiny, new thing,” Knight said.

One of the significant drivers in Microsoft’s strategy has been its presence in the public cloud, and Azure Stack has emerged as a key element of its multicloud solution. “When I look at Azure Stack, it reminds me of solutions I helped build with converged infrastructure,” Miniman said. “Azure Stack is not from modernization out, but the cloud in. This is the operating model of Azure.”

Along with its evolving diverse product portfolio, Microsoft has also focused on building a more diverse workforce. Although the company reported an increase in the percentage of female employees last year, workplace diversity remains an industry-wide issue.

“It’s not in a good place right now,” Knight said. “The tech industry is way too male, way too white. Things are starting to change because women are buying a lot of the tech.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Microsoft Ignite event. (* Disclosure: Cohesity Inc. sponsored coverage of Microsoft Ignite, and some segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE are sponsored. Sponsors have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: Microsoft