Christened 'People-Ready', this vision will form the foundation for a series of innovative solutions in new and existing categories that Microsoft will bring to market over the next year.
The new vision was unveiled by Jeff Raikes, president, Microsoft Business Division, Microsoft Corporation who previewed the 2007 Microsoft (r) Office version, which is currently in beta and is expected to be released later this year.
He also inaugurated a Microsoft Office solutions showcase of 18 information worker productivity solutions developed by its local ISV partners for the Indian market.
Commenting on new vision, Raikes said, "Today, successful business leaders understand that it's their people who drive business success and growth. A people-ready business will give its people software tools that enable them to collaborate and work together globally, to contact and serve customers instantly, and to streamline and reinvent processes intuitively."
"People-ready ties into our founding vision of empowering people through great software. Over the next year, we will introduce a range of offerings which will work together in new ways to enhance innovation and drive greater value for businesses."
Microsoft has identified six areas for product innovation to address the trends emerging in the new world of work; unified communications and collaboration, enterprise search, the mobile work force, business intelligence, customer relationship management and infrastructure.
The 2007 release of Microsoft (r) Office is designed to increase individual impact, simplify collaboration, streamline business processes and content management, and improve business insight.
One of the most noticeable changes will be the new result oriented user interface. The 2007 release will also include new and improved software suites and applications for volume license and retail customers.
In a parallel event, Microsoft showcased 18 Office based applications customised specifically for the Indian market. Based on the 'Innovating for and with India theme', a host of ISVs demonstrated their applications in areas such as e-governance, education and defense, in addition to specific vertical solutions for the banking, publishing and retail sectors.
Commenting on the solutions showcase, Raikes said, "The information worker applications on display today, not only highlight the pioneering work being done by the Indian ISV community, but also confirm our belief that Indian organisations have a People-Ready approach, and will derive immense value from the range of innovative solutions that we will launch in the coming year."
"Innovation has driven our success as a company for over three decades. The showcase reiterates that Indian ISVs are raising the bar for product innovation, and we are proud to partner with them in India's rise up the IT value chain" he added.
At the event, Raikes spoke of Microsoft's investments in sales and marketing and its worldwide partner network to execute the People-Ready vision. Outlining its global strategy last month, Microsoft had announced a $500 million global marketing and sales campaign designed to broadly communicate the company's software value proposition for businesses.
It had also announced that more than 640,000 Microsoft enterprise and mid market partners around the world would be mobilised to help customers assess their status and determine the next steps for becoming a People-ready business.
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