Innovate locally, says Microsoft strategic team

The 8216;8216;latent potential8217;8217; for business opportunity in public sector units, government departments and affordable computin...

The 8216;8216;latent potential8217;8217; for business opportunity in public sector units, government departments and affordable computing solutions will be the focus of Microsoft8217;s India plans over the next five years.

The biggest software maker is engaging with Ministries of Commerce and Industry, IT, and Science and Technology to spur innovation in local software companies. The goal, company executives said on Monday, is to kick-start latent demand in the domestic PC market.

8216;8216;There is innovation, but most of it is outside India. Over the last year, we have framed an internal framework for coordinating innovation from India, with India and for India,8217;8217; said Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India.

While the 8216;8216;innovation is India8217;8217; messaging will be included in Microsoft8217;s external marketing and advertising campaigns over time, it is already a serious element of its internal communications here. If successful, the campaign will increase demand for software services and PCs within India and boost domestic revenues for software firms. It will also mark as successful break from the tradition where Indian software firms have survived on exports alone.

8216;8216;To be successful in India, it is important to innovate for the market and with the market. With local partners and offerings for India, we see ourselves playing a major role in the current system,8217;8217; said Neelam Dhawan, Managing Director, Microsoft India.

Most successful Indian software companies rely substantially on export revenues. This is largely because the domestic market is tough to penetrate, has not grown much and has poor margins.

Venkatesan said enough international funds are coming into India to fuel expansion of a new breed of smaller companies Independent Software Vendors or ISVs that can supply to and support innovative software solutions developed within the country.

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A key stumbling block, India8217;s limited English language capability, has Microsoft strategising on future software releases in Indian languages. The beginner8217;s version of flagship Windows is already in Hindi/English and Tamil/English, and Microsoft has got the flexibility from Redmond, California to introduce nine more Indian languages versions by the year end.

Two key products, Vista, the consumer system and 8216;8216;MS Office 128217;8217; are also planned for release later this year. The company will have around 350 retail software points in India by October, 2006, marking a major shift in strategy of only selling its software bundled with PCs.