Microsoft 2014 Annual Report Download - page 12

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11
Office Commercial revenue growth depends on our ability to add value to the core product set and to continue to expand
our product offerings in other areas such as content management, enterprise search, collaboration, unified
communications, and business intelligence. Competitors to Office Commercial includes software application vendors such
as Adobe Systems, Apple, Cisco Systems, Google, IBM, Oracle, SAP, and numerous web-based competitors as well as
local application developers in Asia and Europe. Cisco Systems is using its position in enterprise communications
equipment to grow its unified communications business. Google provides a hosted messaging and productivity suite.
Web-based offerings competing with individual applications can also position themselves as alternatives to our products.
We believe our products compete effectively based on our strategy of providing powerful, flexible, secure, easy to use
solutions that work well with technologies our customers already have and are available on a device or via the cloud.
Skype competes with a variety of instant messaging, voice, and video communication providers, ranging from start-ups to
established enterprises.
Our Microsoft Dynamics products compete with vendors such as Oracle and SAP in the market for large organizations
and divisions of global enterprises. In the market focused on providing solutions for small and mid-sized businesses, our
Microsoft Dynamics products compete with vendors such as Infor, The Sage Group, and NetSuite. Salesforce.com’s cloud
CRM offerings compete directly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premises offerings.
Commercial Other
The principal products and services provided by the Commercial Other segment are: Enterprise Services, including
Premier product support services and Microsoft Consulting Services; Commercial Cloud, comprising Office 365
Commercial, other Microsoft Office online offerings, Dynamics CRM Online, and Microsoft Azure.
Enterprise Services, including Premier product support services and Microsoft Consulting Services assist customers in
developing, deploying, and managing Microsoft server and desktop solutions and provide training and certification to
developers and information technology professionals on various Microsoft products.
Office 365 Commercial is an online services offering that includes Microsoft Office, Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync, and
is available across a variety of devices and platforms.
Dynamics CRM Online is designed to provide customer relationship management and supply chain management for small
and mid-size businesses, large organizations, and divisions of global enterprises. Revenue is largely driven by the
number of information workers licensed.
Microsoft Azure is a scalable operating system with computing, storage, database, and management, along with
comprehensive cloud solutions, from which customers can build, deploy, and manage enterprise workloads and web
applications. These services also include a platform that helps developers build and connect applications and services in
the cloud. Our goal is to enable customers to devote more resources to development and use of applications that benefit
their businesses, rather than managing on-premises hardware and software.
Competition
The Enterprise Services business competes with a wide range of companies that provide strategy and business planning,
application development, and infrastructure services, including multinational consulting firms and small niche businesses
focused on specific technologies.
Competitors to Office 365 Commercial are the same as those discussed above for Office Commercial.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s online offerings primarily compete with Salesforce.com’s on-demand CRM offerings.
Microsoft Azure faces diverse competition from companies such as Amazon, Google, IBM, Oracle, Salesforce.com,
VMware, and other open source offerings.