This is a very exciting time, with new hardware innovation afoot and the ability to mix and match solutions for clients based on their needs, be it full, on-device solutions or making use of the cloud across devices and media, says Mteto Nyati, MD of Microsoft SA.
“We're all in. Nearly every one of our products has or is developing features and/or services that support the cloud,” he explains. “Also, the cloud informs our investments across the company, from data centres, to platform technologies, to development tools and applications.”
Nyati says another focus for Microsoft SA this year will be on devices. “It's going to be an interesting year for device innovation and I think we will see some very interesting form factors. We're going to see cloud starting to become a little more mainstream, enabling some interesting integration across devices and media. Applications will be the order of the day, both on devices and in the cloud.”
Talking of devices, it is Nyati's view that Windows Phone, most specifically, is set to change the smartphone landscape with the announcement of Microsoft's partnership with Nokia and the introduction of the Lumia device.
Announcements
He says big bets for the year include Windows 8, which will be previewing soon; Office 365, which can transform the way companies buy and use productivity software; and the company's alliance with Nokia in the smartphone space, where he feels Microsoft has a powerful business story to tell.
Speaking of the channel, Nyati describes it as Microsoft's lifeblood, as the company executes 99% of its business through its partners. “We're constantly looking to add new partners in rapidly growing areas like mobile, security and healthcare as we look to take the most comprehensive offering to market that we can.”
What's hot?
Nyati sees two major trends for 2012. “The first is the irrevocable blurring of the lines between home, work and entertainment. People take their work home, and their home life to work - and expect to be entertained along the way. This has seen an explosion of devices: phone, laptop, tablet, television. People use these devices in different ways, but want them all to 'talk' to each other.
“The second trend is cloud computing - and in Africa, the connectivity to take advantage of cloud computing. Cloud computing is fundamentally changing the economics of technology as we know it: by delivering computing services to the world from centralised hubs, the cost of computing globally is being driven down, with the result that it's accessible to more people than ever.”
According to Nyati, these two trends together have the makings of another computing revolution. “New industries will be born, new companies will be born, new jobs will be created, new careers will open up.”
The industry
“While buyers of technology are more cautious than in previous years,” says Nyati, “they're investing heavily in mission-critical technologies that deliver real value to the business. Areas where we're seeing significant uptake are especially in the public sector and advertising and online.
“Our CRM and ERP business is growing steadily, and unified communications is doing very well, as companies explore ways of saving travel costs and collaborating more effectively. We're also enjoying growth in our browser share locally, with IE8 and IE9 usage on Windows PCs showing significant growth over the past year.”
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