Microsoft SA has partnered with technology providers to open the first in a new series of innovation centres aimed at supporting independent software vendors (ISVs), mainly in emerging economies throughout the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
Mayor of eThekwini Obed Mlaba officially opened the Microsoft Innovation Centre for Africa last night, at Durban`s SmartXchange business incubation and software development centre, alongside Microsoft`s first regional office in KwaZulu-Natal.
Gordon Frazer, MD of Microsoft SA, said establishing an office in Durban after a seven-year presence in KwaZulu-Natal demonstrated the company`s commitment to its customers and partners in the region.
Visiting Microsoft EMEA ISV manager Ulf Avrin hailed the opening of the new innovation centre as a significant step in developing Microsoft`s capacity to provide training and support to ISVs, particularly in developing regions of the world.
"This new brand of innovation centres is based on a pilot project started in Copenhagen, Demark, around 18 months ago that led to the decision to provide in-depth training and support facilities closer to our software partners in the EMEA region," said Avrin.
Hubs for competence
Based on results achieved in Copenhagen, Avrin said the new centres were expected to help ISVs reduce new product development times by up to nine months.
"We believe the new innovation centres will become hubs for competence and technology transfer between partners and contribute to the EMEA region`s ecosystem of software developing companies," said Avrin.
Frazer said the new innovation centre would provide facilities for ISVs across SA and the African continent to develop, test and refine new software applications and solutions.
"ISVs will be able to get some input and advice from us in terms of what their architecture might look like, as well as see how their solutions will work in real-world environments by using the service and network infrastructure at the innovation centre," he said.
Frazer said Durban was a natural choice for the location of the innovation centre because of the passion and commitment from people in the local and provincial governments to growing the IT industry by focusing on small and medium businesses, as well as building a sustainable knowledge economy.
Significant economic impact
"Studies have shown that professional software developers each contribute between R0.75 million and R1.5 million to SA`s gross domestic product a year. Therefore, we believe that by supporting this industry we can make a significant impact on the country`s economy," he said.
Danny Naidoo, director of the developer and platforms group at Microsoft SA, added that, in contrast with other cities, the development of the local knowledge economy was already part of eThekwini`s strategy before officially engaging with Microsoft around the project.
"Through an ISV project with the SmartXchange centre, we discovered that within eThekwini there was a group of politicians who understood intimately what we were talking about in terms of a software economy and the kind of support required by innovators in this country," he said.
Having won EMEA regional approval for the establishment of an ISV-focused innovation centre in Durban to service the whole of Africa, Naidoo was tasked with securing sponsorship from partners to complement Microsoft`s investment to bring the project to fruition.
"Right from the first discussions, we found super enthusiastic partners in Mecer, APC, Dimension Data, Internet Solutions, Intel and SmartXchange. They liked the idea, got involved, and made things happen," said Naidoo.
According to Avrin, Microsoft plans to open another 10 ISV innovation centres mainly in emerging markets across the EMEA region over the next 12 months.
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