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