IT companies, the world over, are trying to come up with new strategies to cope with the decrease in corporate IT spends, especially in the North American markets. Microsoft, the largest software developer in the world, is no exception to this. The company is showing greater interest in hitherto untapped markets to make up for the dip in earnings from its traditional strongholds.
The company’s software development centre, Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC), based in Hyderabad, will be increasing its focus on emerging markets. The research and development centre, which is the company’s largest located outside the US, has several patents to its credit. Microsoft is aiming at increasing computer penetration in India, which has not lived up to expectations.
MSIDC has successfully completed 70 projects till date and is working on 23 others. It is betting on mobile computing and testing tools to be the next big thing in the technology world. Hence, it has come up with an incubation centre completely focused on R&D in the mobile phone space. The centre, which has completed 10 years of its existence, is also interested in making its mark in the data and business applications segment.
Srini Koppolu, corporate vice president and managing director, MSIDC, said, “It’s been an incredible experience so far, building a team of 1500 very smart people developing core Microsoft technologies and products. It’s been possible only because of the great talent, experience and leadership of the many key people who have joined me in creating this organization.”
MSIDC has added an additional facility to its campus, which has the capacity to accommodate 2,000 people. The building has been constructed according to global quality standards, the company claims. It has won the Leeds Gold certification for energy efficiency and hi-tech safety systems.
Microsoft’s shift of focus to the emerging countries is an attempt at getting to know the new markets. The company acknowledges the fact that the next major spike in demand for computer technology and mobile telephony could come from these regions.
Speaking about MSIDC’s new ventures, senior vice-president of the development division, S Somasegar, said “MSIDC is working on building platform technologies for mobile devices. The global mobile phone penetration is around 2.1 billion. Also, access to personal computers is still limited to only 1.1 billion people. We are looking at providing the computing experience through televisions.” There are currently 300 professionals working in the company’s mobile phone division. Also, on the cards, is technology to provide search solutions in various Indian languages to reach out to a wider customer base.
MSIDC would also be working on further improvements to Microsoft’s Windows’ and ‘Live’ products. A team of professionals would be working on newer versions of the Windows operating system.
“We are focusing on how innovation can make computing more effective and how technology can become more accessible to people, Somasegar said.