MICROSOFT has adopted a strategy to extend its partners’ payments to give them cost relief, in an effort to maintain strong partner relationships in the channel. This is also a response to the current global meltdown.
In addition, Microsoft is building data centres around the world to support its software-as-a-service (SaaS) strategy. The economic crisis is having a serious effect on the IT industry, according to Mteto Nyati, Microsoft South Africa’s chief executive officer.
Even the global software giant has not been saved from financial pain, as Microsoft’s had to slash 4,000 jobs worldwide to save revenue. The IT Confidence Conference held panel discussions with IT leaders on the issue of the financial crisis - what it means for the IT industry and emerging technology trends.
“We are facing one of the biggest global challenges yet, but we are also seeing a huge amount of opportunity. Risk today has become a big topic and people are looking for IT tools to do more with less to be much more productive,” Nyati said.
Organisations are looking to boost business efficiency and cut costs, he said. “Microsoft decided to take an approach to look at the worst case scenario and run an organisation that is leaner, but we are confident that we can ride out this economic storm,” he stated.
“The area that we perceive where a company can have a huge amount of savings is through new technologies such as virtualisation and SaaS. In this space, Microsoft is moving very aggressively and is driven to help its clients drive down costs and give them products that are affordable”.
Simon Carpenter, director for strategic initiatives at SAP, predicts that governance, risk and compliance will experience the greatest pressure.
This stems from the global credit crunch, as tighter legislation will clamp down on companies. He said even though companies are tightening their belts and looking to cut jobs, they should still innovate in research and development.
“In these tough times, this is the time where companies have to retain their customers and top talent, more than ever, while protecting and growing their brand,” he said.