????首席執行官薩蒂亞?納德拉并不是唯一一個出任新職位的微軟公司（Microsoft）高管。最近，同樣是微軟資深員工的葛迪普?辛格?帕爾被任命為Skype和Lync這兩大通信產品的主管。本周末，他將在拉斯維加斯的Lync大會上首次公開亮相。

????這將是一次回家探親式的聚會。早在2010年，帕爾就曾經受命領導Lync的工程團隊，還推出了Windows Messenger的升級版。接下來那年，他主要負責Skype的收購及初步整合工作。最近，帕爾在微軟又出任了一個全新的職位——信息平臺和體驗公司副總裁，任務是打造一個人工智能平臺。

????現在他又重新執掌微軟公司的通信業務了。主要面向消費者的Skype擁有約3億用戶，但它的競爭對手也層出不窮【就在本周，跟它競爭的通信應用Viber被日本電商企業樂天公司（Rakuten）以9億美元的價格收購】。據弗雷斯特研究公司（Forrester Research）分析師阿特?舍勒稱，主打企業市場的Lync在統一通信市場保持了領頭羊的地位，但在市場份額上落后于思科公司（Cisco）。

????顯然，還有大量工作在等著他，尤其是如何整合這兩個平臺。為了進一步了解他對這兩個產品的愿景，以及對競爭形勢（包括微軟新任首席執行官）的看法，我們搶在帕爾在即將舉行的Lync大會上發表主旨演講前采訪了他。

????《財富》雜志：看來您要去倫敦工作了！

????帕爾：是的，我正在準備前往倫敦。現在我每隔一周就會去那兒，幾個月后就會完全搬過去。我和雷德蒙德（微軟總部所在地）及那里的所有團隊都保持著密切聯系。不過就Skype來說，它的開發團隊還是主要在倫敦辦公。

????您對Skype和Lync的愿景是什么？

????看看Skype，它在全球有超過3億的用戶，現在已成了一個家喻戶曉的名字，我們希望進一步擴大它的知名度。一般來說，人們在家里用的溝通工具希望在工作場合也能用得上。人們對那些看起來怪里怪氣的新玩意沒什么耐心。用戶可不想花半小時裝個什么東西。云平臺使各種機器學習預測能力成為可能。比如，當我在開電話會議時，我的手機應該自動靜音（當其他電話打來時也不會響鈴）。

????您進入統一通信領域以來，市場的競爭格局發生了怎樣的變化？

????十年前我們談起統一通信時，會看到很多傳統廠商。這些廠商現在還在，但他們的處境已經很艱難，因為老一套模式已經不管用了。現在更多的話題都涉及云技術以及工作場合和休閑生活之間的轉換。而我們在這個行業擁有獨特的定位。

????您怎樣看待谷歌公司近期在這個領域的努力？

????谷歌所采取的創新方式十分有效，他們會測試上百種方案，看哪個可行。但我們不認為這是很可靠的方法。我們不認為哪家企業會愿意采用那些經不起考驗的方案。

????您對貴公司的新任首席執行官薩蒂亞?納德拉怎么看？

????薩蒂亞是一位精通技術，動力十足，又非常專注的領導者。我跟他認識快22年了。對他上任我倍感鼓舞，他有能力帶領公司開拓創新。這個行業對傳統不感興趣，它在乎的是創新。我不會回到這個（Lync和Skype）團隊中說什么：“我們放松一點，沉浸在我們過去在通信領域的成功就行了。”我們關注的是下一步該做什么，這也是薩蒂亞定下的基調。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????

????Chief executive officer Satya Nadella isn't the only Microsoft (MSFT) exec with a new role. Gurdeep Singh Pall, also a longtime company insider, was recently named head of the Skype and Lync communications products. He makes his public debut later this week at the Lync Conference in Las Vegas.

????It's a homecoming of sorts. Pall was tasked with leading the Lync engineering team and launching the Windows Messenger replacement back in 2010. The following year, he worked on the Skype acquisition and its early integration efforts. Most recently, Pall took on a new role at Microsoft -- corporate VP of information platform and experience -- where he worked on building out an artificial intelligence platform.

????Now he's back to run the company's communications business. Consumer-focused Skype has about 300 million users, but it has a growing pool of rivals. (Just this week, the competing messaging app Viber was acquired by Rakuten, a Japanese online retailer, for $900 million.) And enterprise-focused Lync remains a top player in the unified communications space, but it trails Cisco (CSCO) in market share, according to Forrester Research analyst Art Schoeller.

????Clearly, there is plenty of work to be done, foremost in integrating the two platforms. To find out more about his vision for both products and his thoughts on the competition (and Microsoft's new CEO), we caught up with Pall ahead of his keynote speech at the upcoming Lync Conference.

????Fortune: So, you're moving to London!

????Pall: Yes, I'm in the process of moving to London. I spend every other week there now, and will move there in a few months. I feel very connected to Redmond and all the teams here. If you look at Skype, though, the development team in particular is in London.

????What's your vision for Skype and Lync?

????When I look at Skype, it's used by over 300 million users around the world. It's a word people know. We want to build on that familiarity. The same tools you use at home, you want to use at work. People have no patience for things that look odd. Users don't want to configure something for half an hour. And the fact that it's in the cloud opens up all sorts of machine learning predictive capabilities. For example, when I'm on a conference call my phone should automatically go silent [and not ring when other calls come through].

????How has the competition changed since you got started in unified communications?

????Ten years ago, when we talked about unified communications, you found a lot of old-school players. They're still around, but they are starting to struggle. The old model doesn't work anymore. It's more about the cloud, and moving between work and life. We have a unique position in this industry.

????What about some of the recent efforts Google (GOOG) has made in this space?

????Google has found a very effective way of innovating where they take a hundred things and throw them on the wall and see what sticks. We don't think that's really a credible approach. We don't think any enterprise will want to adopt something that can slide off the wall.

????What are your thoughts on your new chief executive, Satya Nadella?

????Satya is highly technical, and a very driven, very focused leader. I've known him for almost 22 years. I couldn't be more excited. He's leading on innovation. This industry doesn't favor tradition. It favors innovation. I didn't come back to this [Lync and Skype] team and say, "Let me just sit back and soak in how well we've done on communication." It's about what is the next thing we have to do. That's the kind of tone that Satya is setting.