On both counts, I think it's actually IBM who didn't get the importance. Both of the 386 to OS/2 and how important quick-to-market hardware was (even if just for brand prestige) versus Compaq.

Microsoft always got it, and I feel certain the first release of NT (3.1) sold many times as many copies for x86 as it did for other architectures; and it was targeted for it as much as for any other arch.

It was actually Microsoft that saw early that OS/2 needed to exploit the 386 but IBM dragged their feet on it. A strategy similar to Windows/286 vs. Windows/386 would've made a lot of sense IMO. And probably helped IBM sell more 32-bit Micro Channel hardware early on!