'Opportunities in mobile business exciting'

Q&A: Jeanne Sheldon/ Microsoft

Jeanne Sheldon, corporate vice-president (office authoring solutions), Microsoft, leads the product development teams for Microsoft Office Word, OneNote, Office Publisher and Microsoft Works "" applications that are a central part of the MS Office system. Sheldon has been associated with Microsoft since 1989. During her recent visit to the Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) in Hyderabad, the company's largest product development centre outside its headquarters in Redmond, USA, Sheldon spoke to K Rajani Kanth on the company's new offerings "" Office Mobile 2007 and Microsoft Office Live "" and MSIDC's role in developing them.

Microsoft recently released its Office Live for SMEs in the US. What about India?

We launched Office Live in the US and six other countries last week, and a part of it was done at the MSIDC. Office Live will allow users to share and manage their data. This is for the information worker.

When I say information worker, I think of a soccer manager assigning one person to put up the roster and bring the drinks. That's information work too. Lots of SMEs, whose data and information are critical, too need this application. That's the aim of Office Live. The scheduled launch of the product in India is still under discussion and whether it could be sometime this year would be speculating now.

How many professionals were involved in the development of Office Mobile?

Office Mobile was launched in the US in 2007 and we have made it available in India already. It is compatible with all Windows 6, 6.1 and Windows Mobile 5 and all should be able to either download or upgrade to this version. All work for this product has been done at MSIDC, and we are proud that we have shipped a very significant product from here to the whole world.

What are your expectations from this product?

Overall, the numbers are very high. Close to half of the people on the planet are using mobile phones. At Microsoft, we look at PC business as a very good one. But then, we have an opportunity in the mobile business which is exciting. The potential is enormous.

What is the scenario in India regards the smartphone and Window Mobile platforms?

Vodafone has struck a deal with Microsoft last month to make Windows Mobile as part of their package, which helped us quickly accelerate adoption of Windows Mobile. Another point is that the price has dropped significantly, ie. close to Rs 12,000, which will improve sales.

Another trend globally is that companies are very concerned about where the data goes on the mobile devices. More and more companies are moving to smartphones for this reason. Looking forward, we see more than half of the business phones as a front door opportunity for Microsoft.

Security and data management are going to be the driving forces in that. According to a Gartner report, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of smart phones market globally will be 30.10 per cent over the next three years.

Are you looking at future deals, similar to the one with Vodafone?

We wouldn't want that to be exclusive.

How many patents have been filed from the MSIDC thus far?

Over the last three years, we have filed 180-odd patents. In the first two years, we filed 100 while it was 80 in the last one year. The numbers are progressively going up each year and that shows the focus on India, coming out with innovation after innovation.