We help customers in devising their long-term IT strategy

Is Microsoft Enterprise Services Division aligned with the products

business?



Microsoft Enterprise Services is 100% aligned with the products, and works

only on the Microsoft platform. There is no pretence that we give technology

agnostic advice. We make no bones about it. The customer knows were not going

to talk about any other technology. And this is fine with our customers as,

typically, the Services Division comes in when the customer has already decided

on the technology or in cases where the investment has already been made into

Microsoft technology. Our role is to help these customers derive a lot more out

of their investments into Microsoft technology. The goal is to drive and

catalyze technology adoption for Microsoft.

What is your go-to-market strategy?

Vikas Arora, director, Enterprise Services, Microsoft India

Overall, were mostly focused on large enterprisesthe top 500-600 customers

in the country. Broadly, there are two market segments that we address. A lot of

people over time have made their investments into Microsoft technology and these

enterprise customers need help and support for the products. Few customers have

very sophisticated IT infrastructure.

But why would the customer come to you rather than go to any other

consulting outfit?



The reason is simple. Its our technology; therefore, we do it best. We

would understand our own technology better than other consulting vendors.

Customers need a lot of sophistication to derive and leverage the best use of

the technology that they have invested in. And who better to do that than the

makers of that technology.

What have been the growth drivers?



The presence of the Services Division dates back to 1996-97. However, it has

experienced strong growth, especially in the last three years. The catalyst for

this has been the growth in the adoption of Microsoft in the enterprise in

diverse areas like business productivity areas. The company has launched a lot

of server stacks in the last 3-4 years, thereby fuelling the need for services

from us. In fact, the launches of SQL server and Windows Server 2007 have been

the inflection points for the Services Division.

Shipra Malhotra



shipram@cybermedia.co.in