DHAHRAN, 22 May 2007 — As part of Microsoft’s initiative for education and development, the company recently held an IT awareness session at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (www.kfupm.edu.sa). The session was prepared and presented by Ahmad Alafaliq, the desktop product manager at Microsoft in Saudi Arabia who shared with students how Windows Vista and Office 2007 can help them with their studies.
By directly speaking and interacting with the students, Microsoft was able to share with them how the new software could help them realize their full potential. “Most companies don’t take the time to come and speak to students and show them how their products can be beneficial,” said Yasser Al-Sulami, a freshman chemical engineering major at the university. “Microsoft really showed that it cares about us students as people and not just as consumers. I am looking forward to any future events or products they may have.”
The session, which took place at the Prince Naif Auditorium, attracted over 1,000 students, staff and faculty members from different departments at the university.
“We were expecting 400 students to attend,” said Alafaliq, “and were amazed when we saw over 1,000 students and faculty members at the awareness session. It shows that there is a genuine interest from the Saudi youth to adopt technology to help them on their educational journey.”
The session, which was conducted in an informal, interactive setting, included a tailored demonstration of Windows Vista and Office 2007 for the students, showing how the software could be of use in both their studies and their personal life.
“We’re keen to offer all our students the best possible education, and equip them with the right tools to aid their study,” said Dr. Kanaan Faisal, chairman of the Information & Computer Science department at KFUPM. “Advances in Information Technology are paving the way for future development in education and are helping our students realize their potential.”
Alafaliq agreed. “Today, with the advances in new technology, students have a much richer and more rewarding learning experience. Windows Vista and Office 2007 are great tools which students can take advantage of during their education to boost their productivity, increase their creativity, and improve their collaboration and connectivity with the rest of the world. It was a great opportunity for us to hear directly from the students. We’re looking forward to running similar workshops with other educational institutions in Saudi Arabia.”
It’s not just in Saudi Arabia that Microsoft is reaching out to students. Last month, as part of its “Partners in Learning Program,” Microsoft announced the Microsoft Student Innovation Suite, an affordable and reliable software package for governments purchasing and giving Windows-based PCs to primary and secondary students for their personal use at home and for schoolwork. The education suite includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office, and Windows Live Mail desktop.
Microsoft will offer this suite in the second half of 2007 for $3 to qualifying governments that purchase and supply PCs directly to students. More information about the offer is available at http://www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential/MSIS.
“Given the immense challenge of bridging the digital divide, the industry will have to take a comprehensive approach to providing computing to the ‘next billion people,’” said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc. “Strategies with the greatest potential will involve collaboration among many players, including governments, NGOs, commercial carriers, financing entities, local providers, services organizations, and hardware and software vendors. Microsoft’s Student Innovation Suite is an important complement to programs that provide underserved students with refurbished PCs or low-cost devices, such as Intel’s Classmate PC, AMD’s 50x15 efforts in conjunction with its OEM partners, and VIA’s pc-1.”
Additional Microsoft investments to empower students and teachers include a new set of education authoring tools that will enable publishers to create and assemble vibrant learning content adaptable to individual learning needs and enhance the role of digital technology in education.
All these good deeds are grand, but at the end of the day Microsoft needs to keep its profits rising in order to continue supporting those activities that have the potential to digitize the world. Last week Microsoft bought aQuantive Inc. in order to ensure that in the future more of its earnings will come from online advertising, a sector where it has lagged behind Google and Yahoo. Microsoft paid $6 billion in cash to acquire aQuantive, a leading agency for Internet ads which also has powerful technology that serves display and banner ads to other websites.
aQuantive is the largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history, but paying for it won’t make a big dent in the company’s bottom line. Microsoft reported $28 billion of cash on its balance sheet for the quarter ending in March.
The company stated that the deal expands upon its previously outlined vision to provide the advertising industry with a world class, Internet-wide advertising platform, as well as a set of tools and services to help its constituents generate the highest possible return on their advertising investments. The aQuantive acquisition also enables Microsoft to strengthen relationships with advertisers, agencies and publishers by enhancing the company’s advertising platforms and services beyond its current capabilities to serve MSN. The acquisition provides Microsoft increased depth in building and supporting next generation advertising solutions and environments such as cross media planning, video-on-demand and IPTV.
The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of Microsoft’s fiscal year 2008. aQuantive, which has approximately 2,600 employees, will continue to operate from its Seattle headquarters as part of Microsoft’s Online Services Business.
“The advertising industry is evolving and growing at an incredible pace, moving increasingly toward online and IP-served platforms, which dramatically increases the importance of software for this industry,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “Today’s announcement represents the next step in the evolution of our ad network from our initial investment in MSN, to the broader Microsoft network including Xbox Live, Windows Live and Office Live, and now to the full capacity of the Internet. Microsoft is intensely committed to creating a thriving advertising business and to partnering closely with all key constituencies in this industry to help maximize the digital advertising opportunity for all.”
