Microsoft on Tuesday said it would double its investments in India and the employee strength in the small and medium business segment to expand its reach in the country by the year-end.
"We are doubling our investments and headcount in the country and expanding to more number of cities. By the end of this year we will have presence in 32 Indian cities," Neelam Dhawan, managing director, Microsoft India said. She, however, refused to quantify the investment plans.
While unveiling the company's expansion strategy in India, Dhawan said Microsoft launched an integrated enterprises resource planning and customer relationship management solution 'Navision 4.0' aimed at SMB segment.
"Navision 4.0 is an exclusive software for SMB segment and we expect to double our MBS business with the new Navision version," she added.
"About 1.8 million entities are from SMB segment and we are coming with a tailor-made solution for this segment," she said, adding the company is expecting to double its business in a year's time.
Navision is a SMB specific ERP solution with applications in finance management, supply chain management, manufacturing and distribution.
Microsoft also announced the entry of an integrated business solution called Microsoft Dynamics, infrastructure solution, namely Microsoft Windows Server Centro, and a Windows Server System Assessment and Deployement software.
The global giant will join hands with over 3,000 partners across the country for software distribution.
In a move to curb piracy and provide easy access to its products, Microsoft announced an 'Open Value Software Licensing' programme covering all its products.
"This is a three-year licensing programme whereby customers could pay the money for a period of three years, hence equipping them to counter piracy," Neelam Dhawan, managing director, Microsoft India said.
"This is a significant change in our license policy in India to make our software affordable and accessible. The licensing will cover entire set of our products and hence equipping us to counter piracy," she said.
Stating that Microsoft was the worst affected company due to software piracy, Dhawan said about 73 per cent of Micorsoft products sold in India was pirated.
"More than 73 per cent of our software deployed in India is pirated. We are trying to reduce it through this licensing programme. Even if the success (rate) is 10 per cent, we would be happy," she said.
Stating that Microsoft's India revenue stood at $2 billion, Dhawan said a 10 per cent savings in piracy would help the company increase earnings significantly.
"If we succeed, it will have an impact, not only on our revenues, but also government earnings through taxes, which will definitely reflects in the country's GDP as well," she added.
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