Microsoft was founded in 1975. The company develops and markets software, services and solutions that deliver new opportunity, convenience, and value to people’s lives. The company’s product segments provide management with a financial view of its key businesses. The segments provide a framework for the alignment of strategies and objectives across the development, sales, marketing, and services organizations, and for the timely and rational allocation of development, sales, marketing, and services resources within businesses. The company’s seven product segments are: Client; Server and Tools; Information Worker; Microsoft Business Solutions; MSN; Mobile and Embedded Devices; and Home and Entertainment.

The company’s research and development facilities are located primarily in Redmond, Washington with smaller facilities located in Mountain View, California; Fargo, North Dakota; Beijing, China; Dublin etc. As of June 30, 2005, the company employed approximately 61,000 people.

Microsoft’s ambitions are anything but small. The world’s leading software company provides a variety of products and services, including its Windows operating systems and Office software suite. The company has expanded into markets such as video game consoles, servers and storage software, and digital music players. Microsoft has reached settlements to end a slew of antitrust investigations and lawsuits, including agreeing to uniformly license its operating systems and allowing manufacturers to include competing software with Windows. In early 2008 the company made an unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo! for about $44.6 billion.

The company’s ERP HCM solution suite, Microsoft Dynamics, offers integrated, adaptable business applications for small and medium-sized organizations and divisions of large enterprises.

These integrated solutions—delivered through a worldwide network of experienced Microsoft Certified Partners—work like and with familiar Microsoft software. They are designed to manage every aspect of employee resources. From attracting and retaining top talent to managing a wide range of employee information that supports informed, consistent decision-making.

Microsoft Key Strengths

• Microsoft, one of the largest IT companies in the world, recorded a revenue of $51.12 billion in fiscal year 2007. It has a strong presence in more than 100 countries. The company’s recent product launches and a strong pipeline of products provide excellent growth avenues to the company. It continues to grow both organically and inorganically.
• Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a range of software products for computing devices. The Company’s software products include operating systems for servers, PCs and intelligent devices, server applications for distributed computing environments, information worker productivity applications, business solution applications, high-performance computing applications and software development tools.
• The company has five segments: Client, Server and Tools, the Online Services Business, the Microsoft Business Division, and the Entertainment and Devices Division, and provides world-class consulting and product support services, and trains and certifies computer system integrators and developers.
• The company’s revenues for the fiscal year ended June 2007 grew by 15.4% over 2006. This increase is attributable to the increase in revenue associated with SQL Server, Windows Server, and Visual Studio, increase in Xbox 360 console sales, and the revenue accrued from licensing of the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista.
• Microsoft’s human resource management software solutions can help organizations fulfill the potential and increase the loyalty of their workforce while minimizing the cost and complexity of administrating salaries, benefits, recruiting, and performance management.