Microsoft 2009 Annual Report Download - page 14

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PAGE 14
BUSINESS (CONTINUED)
Increasingly, we are taking a global approach to innovation. While our main research and development facilities
are located in the United States, in Redmond, Washington, we also operate research facilities in other parts of the
United States and around the world, including Canada, China, Denmark, England, India, Ireland, and Israel. This
global approach will help us remain competitive in local markets and enables us to continue to attract top talent from
across the world.
We invest in innovation by focusing on the emerging technology trends and breakthroughs that we believe offer
the greatest opportunity to deliver value to our customers and growth for the company. Microsoft Research is one of
the world’s largest computer science research organizations, and works in close collaboration with top universities
around the world to advance the state-of-the-art in computer science, providing us a unique perspective on future
technology trends.
Based on our assessment of key technology trends and our broad focus on long-term research and development
of new products and services, areas where we see significant opportunities to drive future growth include:
Cloud computing and software plus services
The ability to combine the power of desktop and server software with the reach of the Internet is creating
important opportunities for growth in almost every one of our businesses. Accordingly, we are focused on
innovation and broadening our platform to develop a cloud computing ecosystem that positions us for success
in areas including virtualization, management, and security identity. We are also focused on delivering end-to-
end experiences that connect users to information, communications, entertainment, and people in new ways
across their lives at home, at work, and the broadest possible range of mobile scenarios through investments
in datacenters; new versions of Windows and Office that are designed to support a wide range of connected
scenarios; solutions for businesses that can be deployed by a customer, by a service provider like Microsoft, or
by a Microsoft partner; tools for developers and Web designers; and consumer products including Xbox 360
and Zune.
Natural user interfaces
The next few years will also see dramatic changes in the way people interact with technology as touch,
gestures, handwriting, and speech recognition become a normal part of how we control devices. This will make
technology more accessible and simpler to use and will create opportunities to reach new markets and deliver
new kinds of computing experiences. Our long-term investments in natural user interfaces can be seen in
products like Windows 7, the Microsoft Auto software platform, and Microsoft Surface.
New scenario innovation
Continuing improvement in the power of computers and devices and the speed and ubiquity of networks is
creating opportunities to deliver innovation that will transform a number of key industries and address
significant global issues including healthcare, environmental sustainability, and education. In healthcare, for
example, computing will connect personal health information to medical research and help make healthcare
more preventive, personalized, and cost-effective. Today, Microsoft products such as HealthVault and Amalga
help individuals manage their personal health and enable healthcare professionals to integrate research and
health information so they can deliver more effective care. We also believe that we are entering a period where
personal computers will play an increasingly important role in virtually every field of scientific research and
discovery.
Intelligent computing
As computing power increases, our ability to build software that has the intelligence to understand a user’s
preferences based on the tools and information they have accessed in the past and anticipate their future
needs is rapidly improving. This development will enable us to deliver a new generation of software solutions
that make people more productive by enabling them to focus more on what they want to accomplish and less
on the steps needed to use technology.