Hyderabd Special: Growing On Indian Soil

Millions of people across the world use some or the other version of the

Windows operating system at work or play. The developers at Microsoft, who make

computing happen by writing reams and reams of codes, make Windows such a

powerful and popular product that it's also found in Gachibowli, Hyderabad.

The place has now become a strategic product development hub for Microsoft. The

Microsoft India Development Center (MS-IDC) in Hyderabad is the second such

center for Microsoft, outside its Redmond facility. The India center employs

about 1,000 people and plays a significant role in developing entire suite of

Microsoft products-from Windows to Internet Explorer.

Driving from India is Srini Koppolu, vice-president and MD at the Microsoft

India (R&D).  Koppolu has been

with Microsoft since 1989, initially based in Redmond. Says Koppolu, “When we

made the decision, I came to India, spent a month and visited different cities.

We finally decided on Hyderabad that offered us the best fit for our R&D

work.” From day one the center had one mission: to significantly add value to

Microsoft's product offering; no wonder the center has filed numerous patents

over the years. Thanks to its 3i strategy of IP creation, incubation and

innovation.

Key Contributions



MSIDC is totally different from other software development companies in

terms of the culture and the kind of work it does. Says Koppolu, “In the

initial two years, our emphasis was on building a strong foundation for the

right R&D center. In a product development, different kinds of teams are

involved, right from marketing, production planning to product development.

Every department has a role to play.” MSIDC has mastered the art of creating

highly successful products. For instance, with Vista being the next major launch

for Microsoft, one-fourth of MSIDC is focused on Vista. Aspects like routing and

remote access capabilities of the OS are developed out of this center.

MSIDC has also contributed to the data protection manager (DPM) product that

was fully developed by the Storage Platform and Solutions' Group. The DPM

product brings in defined benefits in managing enterprise storage and simplifies

tape to disk storage.

Going Forward



MSIDC, stands majestically with a 1,000 strong workforce, which demonstrates

India's prowess in computing. Today, the center is finding newer expansion

areas and charting new plans. Says Koppolu, “Our core focus is global research

and development, but in addition to that we would also explore in future the

computing requirements for emerging geographies like India, Brazil, Russia etc.

We would try to come out with solutions specifically designed for the emerging

markets. India would be the test bed for those products.” Clearly, the MSIDC

is into much bigger and exciting things ahead. In the times to come, one will

see many more path breaking initiatives.

Shrikanth G



shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in