Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. today announced that it is running a host of programs to prepare, enable and take feedback from the partner community for the 2007 Microsoft Office System launch. Microsoft has already touched over 1000 partners across India under these programs. The programs include initiatives like,ISV Touch Down and Ascend Program, Breadth Partner Readiness Program, System Integrator Solutions Series,, Partner Readiness Program, , Partner Capacity Planning and Building for Office 2007. 2007 Microsoft Office System represents Microsoft’s next generation platform for business computing needs and is designed to help businesses manage the huge influx of information and accelerate the effectiveness and impact of their people.

Microsoft has made significant investments in developing the local software ecosystem, the company works closely with the developer, ISV (Independent Software Vendor) and SI (System Integrator) communities, providing them with the skills and know-how required to truly compete in the global market and enable them to deliver on the Microsoft platform. The multiple partner eco system programs include:

Integrated Solutions Vendor Touchdown and Ascend Program: Aimed at getting a broad community of developers and ISVs to create IP on 2007 Microsoft Office System, Microsoft has engaged with 29 ISVs across verticals. 11 partners have already developed product offerings on 2007 Microsoft Office System which are ready to go to market.
System Integrator Partner Solutions Series: Aimed at helping the System Integrator partners develop solutions around 2007 Microsoft Office System, 6 product based frameworks touching diverse verticals like Finance, ITeS Government, and Manufacturing have been created by these the partners so far. This includes Sonata, which has developed a product development lifecycle solution for the manufacturing vertical and Wipro which has developed a portal based knowledge management and employee self service solution for diverse verticals.
Partner Readiness Program: The program is aimed at enabling the partner sales and pre-sales resources on 2007 Microsoft Office System products. Microsoft has touched 1000+ people across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Pune.
Partner Capacity Planning and Building: The program is aimed at building partner capacity for enterprise and mid-market customers. Microsoft will be investing significantly to build partners competency and partner go-to-market strategy as a part of an integrated Microsoft solution partner plans. Over 80 key enterprise and mid market partners will be targeted for this.

Commenting on these programs, Sundar N. Balasubramanian, Director, Information Worker Business Group, Microsoft India, said, “Microsoft is committed to build, support and enable it’s rich partner eco system to deliver on its forthcoming innovative platform 2007 Microsoft Office System. This platform will give an opportunity to system integrator partners to develop vertical specific solutions. So far we have received an overwhelming response form the partner community for these programs. The Beta 2 version of Microsoft Office System has been the most popular beta version of Office to date with over 3 million downloads worldwide. In India over 300,000 Beta 2 CDs have been accessed so far. We believe that these initiatives will go a long way in helping our customers adopt the next generation of Microsoft Office products and our partners will play a critical role in this adoption”.

Commenting on the benefits of partnering with Microsoft, Ashutosh Vaidya, Vice President- Personal Computing, Wipro Infotech, said “Microsoft platform offers a great opportunity for partners to develop robust solutions to meet the evolving enterprise needs. Wipro Infotech with its dedicated business unit will leverage office 2007 to showcase the next wave of office applications, workplace scenarios in employee self-service and knowledge management. As a system integrator, Wipro Infotech has developed Portal based solutions that is people ready framework to connect and collaborate. We are confident that the partnership and framework capabilities will have tangible impact on self-sufficiency and effectiveness.”