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FACE TO FACE                                                           March  2002 Issue








Face to Face with Microsoft's Mark Phibbs

Most people tend to think of Microsoft as a software producer of applications for desktop PCs. That is something the company plans to change with its new products aimed squarely at the corporate solutions market. Its ".NET" programme, which promises to make the Internet easier and more productive for businesses to use, is an integral part of this strategy. Bulletin Editor Malcolm Ainsworth spoke with Microsoft's General Manager for Hong Kong, Mark Phibbs, about how the territory fits into this development. Following are excerpts from that interview.

THE BULLETIN: Microsoft is trying to capture a slice of the corporate solutions pie. How important is Hong Kong in this plan?

MARK PHIBBS: What is interesting in terms of this corporate-solutions pie is the number of challenges today for corporations all looking for better returns on their investment. They are all looking at how to improve customer service and how to do it in a cost-effective way. The thing that Microsoft brings to the equation is excellent price performance, but also this concept we call agility. So rather than a project taking several years to complete -- which people are often used to -- it only takes four to six months. So you get that return very quickly, and suddenly you are able to support your customers much more effectively.

Does this also mean it is much cheaper than competing products? And what industries are you targeting?

We are focused on a few markets -- on the financial services industry, government, manufacturing and, of course, generally how to make small-medium businesses more productive, which is key to Hong Kong's success given small-medium businesses play a significant role in the economy.

How much progress have you made in pitching the solutions to corporate Hong Kong?

Pretty good progress. We've some great customers in Hong Kong, people like China Light and Power, China Gas, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Standard Chartered Bank -- these are the large enterprise customers I'm talking about -- so significant progress. Already we are the standard on desktops, but I'm talking more in the server solutions space, and we are gaining significant share against our competitors.

What are the challenges in selling business products such as your Solution for Supplier Enablement to Hong Kong businesses?

The challenge is to put the solution in terms that our customers understand. So to be able to translate technology into such a solution that the customer says, "Okay, I get it. I understand how this can help my business." We are making good progress there. Some of our key focuses, in terms of solutions, are business intelligence. That is basically taking all the data in your organisation on your customers and suppliers and making more effective use of it, so that you can better judge how your business is going to go in the next six to twelve months and what remedial action you need to take in order to be prepared for those changes.

A common complaint among SMEs is that they have to master half a dozen different platforms if they want to develop an e-commerce strategy. What is being done to standardise platforms?

So say you have multiple organisations that have to communicate in terms of a supply chain. What XML does, and a product we have called BizTalk Server, is to standardise the way people communicate. So even if you have different systems, say Windows 2000 Server, Unix system and AS400 system, BizTalk Server will connect them all and use the same protocol so that they can all talk together. That is important because so much effort is being put into this [supply chain] and often it doesn't come to fruition because people say they can't communicate.

How are sales of Windows XP doing?

We are really pleased with the performance of Windows XP and so far we have sold over 18 million copies worldwide. It is really a significant launch for us. It's sort of the equivalent for when we launched Windows 95. You know Windows 98 was a step forward, but not as big a step forward as Windows 95 [from Windows 3.1]. So it is a significantly better product -- better security, reliability and multimedia.

What big products are coming up in the next six months?

The big launch we have in March is Visual Studio.NET. That is really targeted towards developers, because that is the building block for .NET which is our strategy to make the Internet easier to use, more valuable for companies and more effective for their business.

How is the .NET programme doing in Hong Kong?

It is going well. We are working with many large customers on their .NET implementation to see how they can transform their business using Web services. There are so many examples of how they could do this. The easiest way to think about it is, say you have a bill from PCCW. Normally you get the bill in the mail. But with .NET you will be able to get your bill via an instant message on your PC. You could scan that bill and hit reply and it automatically gets taken out of your bank account and paid to PCCW. Or if you had a query, you could respond back and their customer service would get in touch with you. So just think about the cost this takes out of the system and the improvement in customer service that allows. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Everything that you do that connects you between your customers and their banks and everything else; it is quite enormous.