REDMOND, Wash. — July 28, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced that its Microsoft Software & Systems Academy (MSSA), a 16-week program that provides IT training to eligible U.S. active-duty transitioning service members, is now operating at Camp Pendleton in California and Fort Hood in Texas. The program was first launched in 2013 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, where a third class is now benefiting from the program.

With the addition of Camp Pendleton and Fort Hood, the MSSA is now assisting transitioning service members at two of the five largest military installations in the country, as well as the major Marine Corps base on the West Coast. With the expansion, nearly 90 service members are benefiting from or have already completed the MSSA.

On the heels of Monday’s announcement, a ceremony will occur at Fort Hood where 10 service members who just completed the first MSSA class at the base will be recognized for their achievement. Officials from Fort Hood, Microsoft and Launch Consulting, a veteran-owned, veteran-operated technology consulting firm administering the program, will be on hand to congratulate them.

“These military bases are home to some of the most talented, dedicated professionals our country has to offer,” said Microsoft Vice President of Military Affairs Chris Cortez. “We’ve expanded our program because we want more transitioning service members to have the opportunity to pursue rewarding careers at Microsoft and other technology companies.”

In the 16-week course, participants are taught by professors from Saint Martin’s University in Washington and Central Texas College, using a customized Microsoft IT Academy curriculum. Microsoft employees volunteer as mentors by connecting to the class through Lync and Skype. Through interactive lessons and mock interviews, participants receive training to help prepare them for the final step: the opportunity to interview at Microsoft.

Microsoft is focused on providing service members with opportunities for training and employment as they seek new careers. It operates a careers website, We Still Serve, with tips and resources for job seekers, a list of Microsoft job opportunities, and connections with Microsoft employees who are veterans. Microsoft also participates in the 100,000 Jobs Mission, the Student Veterans of America Success Corps and Hire America’s Heroes.

“Training programs like the Microsoft Software & Systems Academy offer excellent opportunities for our transitioning service members,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas R. Gault, U.S. Garrison Fort Hood. “The beauty of programs like this is they develop the necessary skills that complement the talents of our service members while they are still in the Army — skills that translate into real job opportunities before they transition into civilian life. I would encourage any company that is looking for tough, hard-working, dedicated employees who demonstrate leadership to consider hiring our transitioning soldiers.”

“I applaud the leadership at bases in three states, including Texas, for supporting a program that prepares transitioning members of the Armed Forces to begin rewarding careers in the technology sector,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “In the Senate, we share the desire to help these bright men and women translate their skills, aptitude and military experience into high-tech careers in the private sector.”

The MSSA is part of Microsoft YouthSpark, the company’s global initiative to help young people gain the critical technology skills required for today’s jobs. Microsoft’s establishment of the MSSA was made possible by the 2011 VOW to Hire Heroes Act. The bill allows service members to begin the employment process before their separation from the military to facilitate a seamless transition to other jobs.

“We supported the Vow to Hire Heroes Act because so many of America’s heroes are transitioning from the military due to the drawdown from our engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Congressman John Carter, R-Texas. “Many service members already have what major technology employers need — leadership experience and an aptitude for complex problem-solving — and simply need to sharpen their technical skills. We hope to see more technology companies support a model like MSSA to help transitioning service members apply their many skills to the private sector.”

For eligibility requirements, service members should contact the education centers at participating bases or visit WeStillServe.com/MSSA for general guidelines. About Microsoft Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Launch Consulting Group Launch CG is a division of Direct Technology, a leading veteran-owned and operated technology consulting firm that fulfills the promise of technology. Veteran owned and operated since 1996, they are on a mission to employ 1000 veterans in high-tech, high-skill, and high-trajectory careers. Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Media Relations team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — July 29, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced the winners and finalists of the Sales Achievement program. Winners and finalists were recognized at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2014, the company’s annual event for industry partners, July 13–17 in Washington, D.C. The Sales Achievement program recognizes global Microsoft partners for achieving exceptional sales results in fiscal year 2014.

“Partners that won this year’s Sales Achievement recognition have demonstrated extraordinary commitment in transforming their businesses to support customers worldwide with Microsoft technology,” said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft. “As customers’ needs evolved, these partners made the right investments to grow their businesses with Microsoft and are now well-positioned to take advantage of new opportunities in fiscal year 2015 and beyond.”

Categories, winners and finalists appear below:

Azure Sales Achievement
Winner: Softbank
Finalists: ATEA and NEC Corp.

Cloud LSP Sales Achievement
Co-Winners: Insight Enterprises and SoftwareONE
Finalist: Bytes Technology Group

Corporate Accounts LSP Sales Achievement
Winner: Crayon
Finalists: Comparex and PC Connection

EPG Global ISV Sales Achievement
Winner: Redknee
Finalist: Jeppesen, A Boeing Company

EPG System Integrators Sales Achievement
Winner: Hewlett-Packard Company
Finalist: Dimension Data

Office 365 Sales Achievement
Winner: CDW LLC
Finalists: Adelior France and Phoenix Software Ltd.

OEM MNA Sales Achievement
Winner: Fujitsu
Finalists: Dell and Panasonic

OEM Named Sales Achievement
Winner: Trigem
Finalists: Seiko Epson and Wortmann

SMB Distribution Sales Achievement
Winner: Tech Data Europe
Finalists: ComPortal and Synnex, US

SMB RESELLER Sales Achievement
Winner: PERSPICUITY
Finalists: CCB and Palmetto Technology Group

About the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference provides Microsoft’s partner community the opportunity to interact with leaders from around the globe: innovative partners, Microsoft team members and tech visionaries. Partners have access to key marketing and business strategies, leadership, and information regarding specific customer solutions designed to help partners succeed in the marketplace. Along with informative learning opportunities covering sales, marketing, services and technology, the Worldwide Partner Conference is an ideal setting for to network with thousands of partners from across the world. Attendees come from over 150 countries and represent many of the most successful, top-tier Microsoft partners. More information can be found at http://www.digitalwpc.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — July 23, 2014 — Microsoft Devices Group today announced the Lumia 530, the most affordable Lumia to date, delivering an uncompromised smartphone experience with the latest Microsoft and Lumia innovations. It is expected to be available for an estimated retail price of 85 euros before taxes and subsidies, beginning in August 2014.

Available in both single-SIM 3G and dual-SIM 3G variants, Lumia 530 will expand the reach of Windows Phone as the first Lumia introduced below 100 euros, allowing more people to enjoy the innovations and Microsoft services found in high-end Lumia smartphones, which includes the following:

• The latest version of Windows Phone 8.1 including one-swipe notifications from Action Center, and the fast Word Flow keyboard
  

• A powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor that delivers a fast user experience of favorite apps, gaming and Internet browsing on the 4-inch LCD display
  

• Seamless integration with Microsoft services such as Skype and Microsoft Office, available right out of the box
  

• Popular social apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Viber and WeChat, plus key gaming apps such as Asphalt 8, available in the Windows Phone Store.
  

• The dual-SIM 3G variant for easy switching between two SIM cards, helping people manage their data costs
  

• Smooth performance with signature Lumia apps such as Creative Studio and Glam Me, which help people take voice-guided selfies with the 5-megapixel rear camera
  

• More content and apps with 4 GB of onboard memory, expandable with SD cards up to 128 GB, and an additional 15 GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive that lets people sync, store, access and share files between Lumia 530 and computers, laptops and tablets
  

“We are moving quickly to help more people experience the uncompromised Lumia technologies, third-party apps and Microsoft services that we deliver on our flagship products,” said Jo Harlow, corporate vice president of Microsoft Devices Group. “Lumia 530 underscores our commitment to making affordable smartphones for everyone, and introducing more people to the best of Microsoft.”

Microsoft also announced the rechargeable Bang by Coloud speaker. Perfect for enjoying music with friends, Bang by Coloud is portable so people can connect multiple speakers together for a loud daisy chain of sound.

The Lumia 530 comes with changeable cover shells in bright orange, bright green, and stylish neutrals dark grey and white. The Lumia 530 will be available globally and begins rolling out in select markets in August 2014.

Tech specs summary

About Microsoft Devices

The Microsoft Devices Group includes award-winning hardware used by over a billion people around the world, including Lumia smartphones and tablets, Nokia mobile phones, Xbox hardware, Surface, Perceptive Pixel products, and accessories.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — July 22, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $23.38 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Gross margin, operating income, and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) for the quarter were $15.79 billion, $6.48 billion, and $0.55 per share, respectively.

Microsoft completed the acquisition of substantially all of the Nokia Devices and Services (“NDS”) business on April 25, 2014. Revenue and cost of revenue from the acquired business, including amortization of intangible assets, are reported in the new Phone Hardware segment. For the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014, the results of NDS contributed revenue, gross margin, operating income, and diluted EPS of $1.99 billion, $54 million, $(692) million, and $(0.08), respectively.

“We are galvanized around our core as a productivity and platform company for the mobile-first and cloud-first world, and we are driving growth with disciplined decisions, bold innovation, and focused execution,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “I’m proud that our aggressive move to the cloud is paying off – our commercial cloud revenue doubled again this year to a $4.4 billion annual run rate.”

“Our solid execution and expense discipline allowed us to deliver a strong finish to the fiscal year,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Microsoft. “As we enter fiscal 2015, we are focused on aligning our resources to strategic investments that we believe will deliver the next wave of innovation, growth, and long-term shareholder value.”

The following table reconciles these financial results reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) to Non-GAAP financial results. We have provided this Non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding the company’s performance. All growth comparisons relate to the corresponding period in the last fiscal year.

Additionally, we note below certain operational items that also impacted the company’s financial performance (“Noted Items”). Noted Items and the Non-GAAP measures are defined following the financial tables and highlights.

Devices and Consumer revenue grew 42% to $10.00 billion, with the following business highlights:

• Windows OEM revenue grew 3%, driven by 11% growth in Windows OEM Pro revenue.
  

• Office 365 Home and Personal subscribers totaled more than 5.6 million, adding more than 1 million subscribers again this quarter.
  

• The acquired Phone Hardware business contributed $1.99 billion to current year revenue.
  

• Bing search advertising revenue grew 40%, and U.S. search share grew to 19.2%.
  

Commercial revenue grew 11% to $13.48 billion, with the following business highlights:

• Commercial cloud revenue grew 147% with an annualized run rate that exceeds $4.4 billion.
  

• Windows volume licensing revenue grew 11%.
  

• Server products revenue, including Azure, grew 16%, with double-digit growth for SQL Server and System Center.
  

“Our results reflect our customers’ long-term commitments to our products and services, and strong execution by our field teams. We are thrilled with the tremendous momentum of our cloud offerings with Office 365 and Azure both growing over 100% again,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. “Looking forward, we are excited by the amazing opportunities enabled by our technology roadmap and our strong engagement across partners, customers, and developers.”

For Microsoft’s fiscal year 2014, the company’s revenue, gross margin, operating income, and diluted EPS were $86.83 billion, $59.90 billion, $27.76 billion, and $2.63 per share, respectively.

The following table reconciles these financial results reported in accordance with GAAP to Non-GAAP financial results. We have provided this Non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding the company’s performance.

The impact of Noted Items on the financial results was the same for the fourth quarter and for fiscal year 2014.

Business Outlook

Microsoft will provide forward-looking guidance in connection with this quarterly earnings announcement on its earnings conference call and webcast.

On July 17, 2014, Microsoft announced a restructuring plan to streamline and simplify its operations and align the recently acquired NDS business with the company’s overall strategy. The pre-tax costs associated with this plan are estimated to be between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion and will be recorded in fiscal year 2015, substantially in the first half of the fiscal year.

Webcast Details

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer, Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Frank Brod, chief accounting officer, John Seethoff, deputy general counsel, and Chris Suh, general manager of Investor Relations, will host a conference call and webcast at 2:30 p.m. PDT (5:30 p.m. EDT) today to discuss details of the company’s performance for the quarter and certain forward-looking information. The session may be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/investor/. The webcast will be available for replay through the close of business on July 22, 2015.

Adjusted Financial Results and Non-GAAP Measures

During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013, GAAP revenue, gross margin, operating income, and diluted EPS included the recognition of previously deferred revenue for the Office Upgrade Offer. For fiscal year 2013, the financial results included the recognition of previously deferred revenue related to the Windows Upgrade Offer as well as the European Commission Fine. These items are defined below. In addition to these financial results reported in accordance with GAAP, we have provided certain Non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding the company’s performance. Presenting these measures without the impact of these items gives additional insight into operational performance and helps clarify trends affecting the company’s business. For comparability of reporting, management considers this information in conjunction with GAAP amounts in evaluating business performance. These Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP Definitions

Revenue recognition of $782 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 related to the revenue deferred on sales of the previous version of the Microsoft Office system with a guarantee to be upgraded to the new Office at minimal or no cost (“Office Upgrade Offer”).

Revenue recognition of $540 million in fiscal year 2013 related to the revenue deferred on sales of Windows 7 with an option to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro at a discounted price (“Windows Upgrade Offer”).

Fine of €561 million ($733 million) assessed by the European Commission in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013 for violation of an order to provide a browser choice screen with Internet Explorer on PCs sold in Europe (“European Commission Fine”).

Noted Items Definitions

Charge of $900 million recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 for Surface RT Inventory Adjustments (“Surface RT Inventory Adjustments”).

Revenue recognition of $382 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014 from the contractual relationship between Nokia and Microsoft related to joint strategic initiatives which was terminated in conjunction with the acquisition of substantially all of the NDS business (“End of Nokia Commercial Agreement”).

Expenses of $127 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014 associated with the acquisition and integration of NDS. These expenses consist of transaction fees and direct acquisition costs, including legal, finance, consulting and other professional fees. These costs also include employee compensation and termination costs associated with certain reorganization activities ("Integration and Restructuring”).

Tax provision adjustment of $458 million, or a $(0.05) per share impact, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 related to adjustments to prior years’ liabilities for intercompany transfer pricing that increased taxable income in more highly taxed jurisdictions (“Adjustment to Prior Years’ Taxes”).

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release that are “forward-looking statements” are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as:

• intense competition in all of Microsoft’s markets;
  

• increasing focus on services presents execution and competitive risks;
  

• significant investments in new products and services that may not be profitable;
  

• acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances may have an adverse effect on our business;
  

• impairment of goodwill or amortizable intangible assets causing a significant charge to earnings;
  

• Microsoft’s continued ability to protect its intellectual property rights;
  

• claims that Microsoft has infringed the intellectual property rights of others;
  

• the possibility of unauthorized disclosure of significant portions of Microsoft’s source code;
  

• cyber-attacks and security vulnerabilities in Microsoft products that could reduce revenue or lead to liability;
  

• disclosure of personal data that could cause liability and harm to Microsoft’s reputation;
  

• outages, data losses, and disruptions of our online services if we fail to maintain an adequate operations infrastructure;
  

• government litigation and regulation that may limit how Microsoft designs and markets its products;
  

• potential liability under trade protection and anti-corruption laws resulting from our international operations;
  

• Microsoft’s ability to attract and retain talented employees;
  

• adverse results in legal disputes;
  

• unanticipated tax liabilities;
  

• our hardware and software products may experience quality or supply problems;
  

• exposure to increased economic and operational uncertainties from operating a global business;
  

• catastrophic events or geo-political conditions may disrupt our business; and
  

• adverse economic or market conditions may harm our business.
  

For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Microsoft’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft’s Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft’s Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/investor/.

All information in this release is as of July 22, 2014. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company’s expectations.

For more information, financial analysts and investors only:

Chris Suh, general manager, Investor Relations, (425) 706-4400

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news/. Web links, telephone numbers, and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Shareholder and financial information, as well as today’s 2:30 p.m. PDT conference call with investors and analysts, is available at http://www.microsoft.com/investor/.

From: Satya Nadella
To: All Employees
Date: July 17, 2014 at 5:00 a.m. PT
Subject: Starting to Evolve Our Organization and Culture

Last week in my email to you I synthesized our strategic direction as a productivity and platform company. Having a clear focus is the start of the journey, not the end. The more difficult steps are creating the organization and culture to bring our ambitions to life. Today I’ll share more on how we’re moving forward. On July 22, during our public earnings call, I’ll share further specifics on where we are focusing our innovation investments.

The first step to building the right organization for our ambitions is to realign our workforce. With this in mind, we will begin to reduce the size of our overall workforce by up to 18,000 jobs in the next year. Of that total, our work toward synergies and strategic alignment on Nokia Devices and Services is expected to account for about 12,500 jobs, comprising both professional and factory workers. We are moving now to start reducing the first 13,000 positions, and the vast majority of employees whose jobs will be eliminated will be notified over the next six months. It’s important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we are adding roles in certain other strategic areas. My promise to you is that we will go through this process in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible. We will offer severance to all employees impacted by these changes, as well as job transition help in many locations, and everyone can expect to be treated with the respect they deserve for their contributions to this company.

Later today your Senior Leadership Team member will share more on what to expect in your organization. Our workforce reductions are mainly driven by two outcomes: work simplification as well as Nokia Devices and Services integration synergies and strategic alignment.

First, we will simplify the way we work to drive greater accountability, become more agile and move faster. As part of modernizing our engineering processes the expectations we have from each of our disciplines will change. In addition, we plan to have fewer layers of management, both top down and sideways, to accelerate the flow of information and decision making. This includes flattening organizations and increasing the span of control of people managers. In addition, our business processes and support models will be more lean and efficient with greater trust between teams. The overall result of these changes will be more productive, impactful teams across Microsoft. These changes will affect both the Microsoft workforce and our vendor staff. Each organization is starting at different points and moving at different paces.

Second, we are working to integrate the Nokia Devices and Services teams into Microsoft. We will realize the synergies to which we committed when we announced the acquisition last September. The first-party phone portfolio will align to Microsoft’s strategic direction. To win in the higher price tiers, we will focus on breakthrough innovation that expresses and enlivens Microsoft’s digital work and digital life experiences. In addition, we plan to shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows. This builds on our success in the affordable smartphone space and aligns with our focus on Windows Universal Apps.

Making these decisions to change are difficult, but necessary. I want to invite you to my monthly Q&A event tomorrow. I hope you can join, and I hope you will ask any question that’s on your mind. Thank you for your support as we start to take steps forward in evolving our organization and culture.

Satya

Hello there,

Microsoft’s strategy is focused on productivity and our desire to help people “do more.” As the Microsoft Devices Group, our role is to light up this strategy for people. We are the team creating the hardware that showcases the finest of Microsoft’s digital work and digital life experiences, and we will be the confluence of the best of Microsoft’s applications, operating systems and cloud services.

To align with Microsoft’s strategy, we plan to focus our efforts. Given the wide range of device experiences, we must concentrate on the areas where we can add the most value. The roots of this company and our future are in productivity and helping people get things done. Our fundamental focus – for phones, Surface, for meetings with devices like PPI, Xbox hardware and new areas of innovation -- is to build on that strength. While our direction in the majority of our teams is largely unchanging, we have had an opportunity to plan carefully about the alignment of phones within Microsoft as the transferring Nokia team continues with its integration process.

It is particularly important to recognize that the role of phones within Microsoft is different than it was within Nokia. Whereas the hardware business of phones within Nokia was an end unto itself, within Microsoft all our devices are intended to embody the finest of Microsoft’s digital work and digital life experiences, while accruing value to Microsoft’s overall strategy. Our device strategy must reflect Microsoft’s strategy and must be accomplished within an appropriate financial envelope. Therefore, we plan to make some changes.

We will be particularly focused on making the market for Windows Phone. In the near term, we plan to drive Windows Phone volume by targeting the more affordable smartphone segments, which are the fastest growing segments of the market, with Lumia. In addition to the portfolio already planned, we plan to deliver additional lower-cost Lumia devices by shifting select future Nokia X designs and products to Windows Phone devices. We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products.

To win in the higher price segments, we will focus on delivering great breakthrough products in alignment with major milestones ahead from both the Windows team and the Applications and Services Group. We will ensure that the very best experiences and scenarios from across the company will be showcased on our products. We plan to take advantage of innovation from the Windows team, like Universal Windows Apps, to continue to enrich the Windows application ecosystem. And in the very lowest price ranges, we plan to run our first phones business for maximum efficiency with a smaller team.

We expect these changes to have an impact to our team structure. With our focus, we plan to consolidate the former Smart Devices and Mobile Phones business units into one phone business unit that is responsible for all of our phone efforts. Under the plan, the phone business unit will be led by Jo Harlow with key members from both the Smart Devices and Mobile Phones teams in the management team. This team will be responsible for the success of our Lumia products, the transition of select future Nokia X products to Lumia and for the ongoing operation of the first phone business.

As part of the effort, we plan to select the appropriate business model approach for our sales markets while continuing to offer our products in all markets with a strong focus on maintaining business continuity. We will determine each market approach based on local market dynamics, our ability to profitably deliver local variants, current Lumia momentum and the strategic importance of the market to Microsoft. This will all be balanced with our overall capability to invest.

Our phone engineering efforts are expected to be concentrated in Salo, Finland (for future, high-end Lumia products) and Tampere, Finland (for more affordable devices). We plan to develop the supporting technologies in both locations. We plan to ramp down engineering work in Oulu. While we plan to reduce the engineering in Beijing and San Diego, both sites will continue to have supporting roles, including affordable devices in Beijing and supporting specific US requirements in San Diego. Espoo and Lund are planned to continue to be focused on application software development.

We plan to right-size our manufacturing operations to align to the new strategy and take advantage of integration opportunities. We expect to focus phone production mainly in Hanoi, with some production to continue in Beijing and Dongguan. We plan to shift other Microsoft manufacturing and repair operations to Manaus and Reynosa respectively, and start a phased exit from Komaron, Hungary.

In short, we will focus on driving Lumia volume in the areas where we are already successful today in order to make the market for Windows Phone. With more speed, we will build on our success in the affordable smartphone space with new products offering more differentiation. We’ll focus on acquiring new customers in the markets where Microsoft’s services and products are most concentrated. And, we’ll continue building momentum around applications.

We plan that this would result in an estimated reduction of 12,500 factory direct and professional employees over the next year. These decisions are difficult for the team, and we plan to support departing team members with severance benefits.

More broadly across the Devices team, we will continue our efforts to bring iconic tablets to market in ways that complement our OEM partners, power the next generation of meetings & collaboration devices and thoughtfully expand Windows with new interaction models. With a set of changes already implemented earlier this year in these teams, this means there will be limited change for the Surface, Xbox hardware, PPI/meetings or next generation teams.

We recognize these planned changes are broad and have very difficult implications for many of our team members. We will work to provide as much clarity and information as possible. Today and over the coming weeks leaders across the organization will hold town halls, host information sharing sessions and provide more details on the intranet.

The team transferring from Nokia and the teams that have been part of Microsoft have each experienced a number of remarkable changes these last few years. We operate in a competitive industry that moves rapidly, and change is necessary. As difficult as some of our changes are today, this direction deliberately aligns our work with the cross company efforts that Satya has described in his recent emails. Collectively, the clarity, focus and alignment across the company, and the opportunity to deliver the results of that work into the hands of people, will allow us to increase our success in the future.

Regards,

Stephen

REDMOND, Wash. — July 17, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. today announced a restructuring plan to simplify its organization and align the recently acquired Nokia Devices and Services business with the company’s overall strategy.

These steps will result in the elimination of up to 18,000 positions over the next year. Of the total, about 12,500 professional and factory positions will be eliminated through synergies and strategic alignment of the Nokia Devices and Services business acquired by Microsoft on April 25.

The actions associated with the plan are expected to be substantially complete by Dec. 31, 2014, and fully completed by June 30, 2015.

The company expects to incur pre-tax charges of $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion over the next four quarters, including $750 million to $800 million for severance and related benefit costs, and $350 million to $800 million of asset-related charges.

The plans were outlined in an email from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to Microsoft employees, and an email from Microsoft Executive Vice President Stephen Elop to Microsoft Devices Group employees. To read Nadella’s email, see http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2014/jul14/07-17announcement1.aspx. To read Elop’s email, see http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2014/jul14/07-17announcement2.aspx.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For more information, press only:

Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Communications, (503) 443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Note about forward-looking statements. Certain statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to our business plans, objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. A detailed discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements is included in the section titled “Risk Factors” of our Forms 10-K and 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

WASHINGTON — July 15 , 201 4 — At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2014 in Washington, D.C., yesterday, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) honored its highest-performing Microsoft Dynamics partners for demonstrating exceptional levels of growth while delivering innovative solutions that have helped their customers drive their businesses forward.

“Each year, we recognize and honor a select group of Microsoft Dynamics partners from around the world for exemplary performance,” said Neil Holloway, corporate vice president, MBS Sales & Partners. “These award-winning partners inspire us by the standards they set and the impact they have on the business. Microsoft’s success is a direct result of their contribution, and it is an honor to recognize them for their achievements this past year and for their dedication and support of Microsoft Dynamics applications.”

At the pinnacle of the partners recognized, Hitachi Solutions America Ltd. was named the Microsoft Dynamics Global Outstanding Reseller of the Year, and Incadea GmbH and To-Increase BV were named the Global Outstanding ISVs of the Year. Microsoft honored 13 resellers with the 2014 Microsoft Dynamics Regional Reseller of the Year award, and nine independent software vendors (ISVs) were awarded the 2014 Microsoft Dynamics Regional ISV of the Year award. Several key criteria were considered when selecting Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partners for this special recognition, including outstanding sales performance, thorough technological expertise on Microsoft Dynamics products and services, a consistently high level of customer satisfaction, and feedback from Microsoft team members. The performance-based Microsoft Dynamics Regional Partner of the Year award recipients are as follows:

Reseller Awards

• Microsoft Dynamics Global Outstanding Reseller of the Year: Hitachi Solutions America Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Asia Pacific: Hands-On Management Pty Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Canada: ADXSTUDIO Inc.

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Central and Eastern Europe: GMCS Verex

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Greater China: Shanghai Wicresoft Co. Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for France: ISATECH SASU

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Germany: KUMAvision AG

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for India: Acxiom Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Japan: Hitachi Solutions Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Latin America: Fesworld SA de CV

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Middle East and Africa: AccTech System

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for United Kingdom: eBECS Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for United States: mcaConnect LLC

• Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Western Europe: HSO International
  

ISV Awards

• Microsoft Dynamics Global Outstanding ISVs of the Year: Incadea GmbH and To-Increase BV

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Asia Pacific: Flintfox International Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Central and Eastern Europe: LS Retail EHF

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for France: GFI Progiciels

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Germany: GOB Software & Systeme GmbH & Co. KG

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Middle East and Africa: Veripark

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for United Kingdom: K3 Retail Solutions Ltd.

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for United States: CoCentrix Inc.

• Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Western Europe: 4PS

During the recognition ceremony, a select group of Microsoft Dynamics partners were named to the 2014 Microsoft Dynamics Inner Circle and the 2014 Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club. The Microsoft Dynamics Inner Circle represents an elite group of the most strategic Microsoft Dynamics partners from around the world, with sales achievements that rank them in the highest echelon of the Microsoft Dynamics global network of partners. These partners are recognized for their exceptional overall company performance in delivering valuable solutions to Microsoft Dynamics customers. Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club honors high-performing Microsoft Dynamics partners with a commitment to customers reflected in their business success and growth.

A list of the Microsoft WPC 2014 and Regional Partner award winners and finalists can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/partnernetwork/docs/DynamicsPartnerAwards.pdf.

A list of the 60 2014 Microsoft Dynamics Inner Circle award winners can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/partnernetwork/docs/DynamicsInnerCircle.pdf.

A list of the 219 2014 Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club award winners can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/partnernetwork/docs/DynamicsPresidentsClub.pdf.

About the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference provides Microsoft’s partner community the opportunity to interact with leaders from around the globe: innovative partners, Microsoft team members and tech visionaries. Partners have access to key marketing and business strategies, leadership, and information regarding specific customer solutions designed to help partners succeed in the marketplace. Along with informative learning opportunities covering sales, marketing, services and technology, the Worldwide Partner Conference is an ideal setting for to network with thousands of partners from across the world. Attendees come from over 150 countries and represent many of the most successful, top-tier Microsoft partners. More information can be found at http://www.digitalwpc.com.

About Microsoft Dynamics

At the heart of every successful business are the people who make things happen. Microsoft Dynamics designs modern business solutions that empower individuals with intuitive tools that allow them to do their best work. Our proactive, easy-to-use business applications adapt to the way people and systems work, enabling businesses to rapidly deploy and be forward-looking in an ever-changing world.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 29, 201 4 — On Sunday, at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference, Microsoft Corp. announced that the Pasadena Independent School District (ISD) in Texas is adding to the growing momentum of schools choosing Microsoft technology and resources to help transform the student learning experience in the classroom. After a two-year pilot at schools around the district, Pasadena ISD will give students and teachers 12,900 Dell Venue 11 Pro Tablets with Windows 8.1 and Microsoft Office 365 with OneNote. A primary consideration in the district’s decision was the innovative digital inking technology available in Windows 8.1 that is brought to life with OneNote and a touchscreen device like the Dell notebook.

“There is a massive transition to digital happening across the country and around the world in education, and schools looking to prepare their students for the world beyond the classroom are empowering their students and teachers by providing devices, services, training and other elements needed for improved student outcomes,” said Margo Day, vice president of U.S. education at Microsoft. “At Microsoft, we are proud to be a partner with so many great schools that are leading the way forward for education and in preparing our youth for tomorrow’s workforce.”

After carefully evaluating its device options, Pasadena ISD concluded that the inking capabilities in Windows 8.1, combined with the power of OneNote, gave students and teachers the most engaging experience possible. The district originally looked at a Windows 7-based netbook, but when it saw how digital inking on a tablet can duplicate the pen-and-paper experience, it captured peoples’ imaginations. The district saw the possibilities for things like real-time note taking, art projects and annotations, and determined that was the best option for students.

Pasadena joins a growing list of schools around the country that have recently chosen Microsoft devices and services to help bring technology and Microsoft YouthSpark resources into the classroom to improve student outcomes and opportunities, including the following:

• Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS). As part of Baltimore County Public Schools’ Students & Teachers Accessing Tomorrow (S.T.A.T.) initiative, the district is rolling out 150,000 HP Elitebook 810 Revolve devices running Windows 8.1 to all students and teachers over the next four years. The initiative is aimed at fundamentally shifting teaching and learning in the district. Also, through the Microsoft Student Advantage offer, the district, which is already providing Microsoft Office to faculty and staff, will also offer the productivity suite to students at no additional cost. BCPS has developed a thoughtful approach to all the critical components to an effective one-to-one computing (1:1) initiative that also includes ongoing training for educators. Its curriculum offices are currently developing a framework and template for use in BCPS One, the new digital portal for curriculum and instruction, assessments, student data, reporting, and analysis.
  

• Bureau of Indian Education: In support of President Obama’s ConnectED Initiative and to accelerate the speed at which students in Bureau of Indian Education schools in the U.S. experience the benefits of a move to digital environments, Microsoft is working with Verizon Wireless to bring 10 tribal K–12 schools to digital 1:1 environments, which will include digital textbooks, content filtering and device management. The devices provided as part of the initiative are Nokia Lumia 2520 tablets. Data plans, network build-out, and appropriate educator and student training are included in the agreement. Build out of the network and implementation will take place in the coming months.
  

• Chester County School District. This South Carolina district is in a close-knit, rural community, yet the school district also wanted to ensure that its young people had a global perspective. The district worked with local Internet providers to create Wi-Fi hotspots in strategically placed locations, such as parks and libraries, and provided students with Windows 8 devices. The devices were selected based on the district’s education priorities, a long battery life and durability.
  

• Cincinnati Country Day School (CCDS). One of the first schools in the nation to go 1:1 in 1996, CCDS has been on the cutting edge of the digital transition for a long time. The school is now deploying Microsoft Surface Pro 3 devices for its students in grades 5–12 and faculty. According to the school, these devices meet all three critical elements for technology in the classroom: the importance and value of reading and writing to the way students learn; the school’s focus on the creative process; and tools that are versatile enough to support a variety of projects and experiments, regardless of subject.
  

• Fresno Unified School District (FUSD). The fourth-largest district in California with 75,000 students is currently rolling out 15,000 ASUS Transformer T100 devices running Windows 8.1 to third through eighth graders. The district chose the Windows platform to meet Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s requirements for testing and the district’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) vision.
  

• Houston Independent School District (HISD). The largest school district in Texas and seventh-largest in the U.S., HISD purchased Microsoft solutions to help it improve student outcomes, solve privacy concerns and amend manageability worries that plague many other education technology implementations. Microsoft Office 365 and HP Elitebook Folio 9470m Ultrabooks running Windows are helping to support HISD’s more than 14,000 students and 1,200 teachers in the first phase of its PowerUp initiative to transform how teachers teach and how students learn.
  

• Leon County Schools. The Florida district has been deploying Windows 8.1 devices to its 34,000 students, allowing them to keep the business-class tools already in use today and provide maximum flexibility for both elementary and high school levels.
  

• Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DPS). The nation’s fourth-largest school district, initiated its digital convergence project, rolling out 150,000 HP devices running Windows 8.1, with tablets for seventh-grade civics and ninth-grade world history classes, and laptops at the elementary level. In addition, more than 10,000 interactive boards will be added to classrooms across the district, and all 350,000 students will receive Microsoft Office Professional Plus for free as part of Microsoft Student Advantage. One-third of MDCPS schools will also be Microsoft IT Academy schools, receiving specific IT skills training and certification testing. Finally, the first wave of M-DPS teachers have begun training with Microsoft Expert Educators.
  

• West Virginia. West Virginia Department of Education, as part of a statewide agreement is allowing all its public schools to upgrade to Windows 8.1, as well as providing Office 365 and Office 365 ProPlus to students, teachers and staff, resulting in lower costs and broader access for schools and families in the state.
  

This digital transition is not just happening in the U.S., but also in schools around the world where technology is empowering students. In Thailand, for example, the Office of the Basic Education Commission recently signed a memorandum of understanding that will provide all 8 million students and 400,000 teachers in the country with access to Microsoft Office 365 for Education.

About Microsoft in Education

Microsoft is deeply committed to working with governments, communities, schools and educators to use the power of information technology to deliver technology, services and programs that provide anytime, anywhere learning for all. Since 2003, Microsoft has partnered with educators to impact more than 207 million students in 119 countries. Through TEACH.Org, Microsoft and other partners, candidates are provided with free access to the online tools and resources necessary to pursue a career in teaching. For more information: http://www.microsoft.com/education.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

NAIROBI, Kenya — June 26, 2014 — On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. unveiled an online intellectual property (IP) portal called the Microsoft 4Afrika IP Hub, in an effort to create an IP protection culture in Africa. The IP Hub will offer developers and independent software vendors the skills and tools necessary to develop, protect and monetize their innovations. The portal will pilot in Kenya for two years, after which it will be handed over to the local government with similar pilots being rolled out to other African countries.

Most small businesses in Africa are relying on secrecy instead of using established copyright, trademark, trade name and patent programs to protect their valuable IP, making it vulnerable to exploitation. At the same time, worthy innovations miss out on the opportunity to be realized for the African continent, stifling its technology advancement and development of the knowledge economy. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), only 383 resident patent applications were filed in Kenya through the Patent Cooperation Treaty procedure or with the national patent office between 2009 and 2012. Similarly, only 683 resident patent applications were filed in Egypt; 608 in South Africa; and a mere 53 resident patent applications were filed by resident inventors in the Ivory Coast. In contrast, approximately 268,000 resident patents were filed in the United States during the same period.

“Most African innovators function on the premise that the idea is theirs until someone else takes it to market, or duplicates it. As Africa’s innovation continues to flourish, the future remains uncertain if these promising ideas are not supported and protected properly,” said Louis Otieno, director for Legal and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft 4Afrika.

Innovators must have proof of ownership to be able to market or sell their innovation. Many do not know this, and for those that do, the process of filing IP protection can be long, manual and intimidating. The IP Hub will streamline and digitize the process, while educating young innovators about the importance of IP protection, and assisting them to enforce their ownership against third parties.

As John Waibochi, CEO of Kenya’s Virtual City Group, a local innovator, said, “IP protection has played an important role in the foundation and growth of our business. From when it was just in the idea stage, we registered it through our IP lawyers with the relevant authorities. This has allowed us to grow to where we are today, and ensures that our technology remains in the hands of Africans, for Africa and the world.”

“The Microsoft 4Afrika innovation goal is to bring to market and help African startups monetize their innovations and ideas, and allow them to make the right connection with investors,” Otieno said. “Protecting intellectual property ultimately leads to wealth creation and economic growth, and encourages development of knowledge-based industries. We designed the IP Hub to play a critical role in empowering African innovators and spurring this growth.”

To learn more about the IP Hub and sign up for membership, users can go to http://www.iphub.co.ke.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 24, 2014 — On Tuesday, Microsoft Devices Group unveiled the Nokia X2, the newest addition to the expanding Nokia X family of affordable smartphones designed to introduce the “next billion” people to the mobile Internet and cloud services. The Nokia X2 represents the rapid evolution of the Nokia X family, delivering an enhanced experience across apps, hardware and the user interface. The Nokia X2 offers stunning design, a more visually striking Fastlane, more Microsoft services, and upgraded specifications including a 4.3-inch ClearBlack display and 5MP rear camera with autofocus and flash. At a suggested retail price of just 99 euros,[1] the Nokia X2 is a compelling choice for a new generation of smartphone buyers.

Downloads: Web

Like the Nokia X, the new Nokia X2 provides access to a world of Android apps and popular Microsoft services, while allowing people to switch between their favorite apps with the Fastlane feature. The Nokia X2 delivers an even more intuitive, smoother user experience powered by a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 200 processor featuring a dual core 1.2Ghz CPU and 1 GB of RAM. The Nokia X2 debuts the next-generation Nokia X Software Platform 2.0 and major enhancements to the user interface. People can choose between three types of screens to facilitate navigation: the colorful “home” with resizable tiles; Fastlane to access recent apps and future calendar items; and a new Lumia-inspired apps list, from which people can pin items to the home screen. A pull-down notifications tab also allows people to glance at connectivity options as well as actionable items, such as software updates available for download. A new home key and visual multitasking complete the experience.

Microsoft continues to invest in services for the Nokia X family

As a gateway to Microsoft services, the Nokia X family is driving strong uptake of services such as Skype and OneDrive, while complementing the Lumia family of smartphones. The Nokia X2 will debut with Outlook.com, Skype and OneDrive pre-loaded, with more available from the Nokia Store, including the Bing Search app.

New-to-the-lineup services including OneNote and Yammer are also available to download free[2] from the Nokia Store. OneNote allows people to create notes and save them to the cloud through OneDrive, while Yammer makes collaborating with people online as easy as posting to a social network. The option to automatically back up the camera roll to OneDrive takes full advantage of 15 GB of free cloud storage now available through the service, for safeguarding photos, videos, documents and more.

The Nokia X2 will also introduce new third-party titles such as LINE Ranger, Brewster and Findery. Instagram, WeChat, Skype, Benji Bananas Adventures and many more are already available on the redesigned, easy-to-navigate Nokia Store — the place for finding the highest-quality Android apps for the Nokia X family.

Stunning , distinctive design

The Nokia X2 features a seamless monobody and showcases a new approach to the design of the exchangeable back covers that fuses a brightly colored core with a translucent outer layer. The overall result is a durable device that appears lit from within.

The Nokia X2 will be available at launch in glossy orange, black and green, with glossy yellow, white and matte dark grey coming later to the lineup.

“The Nokia X family is going from strength to strength, with the Nokia X smartphone achieving top-selling status in Pakistan, Russia, Kenya and Nigeria,[3] while earning the third-best-selling smartphone spot in India,” said Timo Toikkanen, head of Mobile Phones, Microsoft Devices Group. “The Nokia X2 elevates the Nokia X experience with a stellar new design, ease of use and new Microsoft experiences. We’re proud to continue to bring smartphone innovation to lower and lower price points.”

The Nokia X2 will be available initially as a dual-SIM device and will begin rolling out globally in July 2014 for 99 euros.[4]

Nokia X2: S pecifications at a glance

About Microsoft Devices

Microsoft Devices Group is responsible for the company’s devices strategy, including Lumia smartphones and tablets, Nokia mobile phones, Xbox hardware, Surface, Perceptive Pixel products, and accessories.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

[1] Suggested retail price before local taxes and subsidies.

[2] Carrier fees may apply.

[3] No. 1 in its price point in Russia, Kenya, Nigeria; No.1 overall in Pakistan (all rankings Gfk).

[4] Suggested retail price before local taxes and subsidies.

Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

For more information about Microsoft :

http://www.microsoft.com

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 17, 2014 — PHT Corporation, the leading provider of technologies used to collect patient-driven electronic data for clinical research, has selected Dell Venue 11 Pro tablets featuring Windows 8.1 to run its SitePad® System. The SitePad System replaces traditional paper data collection methods in clinical research with electronic methods, providing better-quality data, real-time access to that data and, ultimately, faster time to data analysis for pharmaceutical trial sponsors. The SitePad System is used in clinical trials to collect clinician- and patient-reported outcomes for supporting label claims of new therapies.

PHT selected the Dell Venue 11 Pro with Windows 8.1 for the SitePad platform because the device provides a superior user experience. The Venue has a high-resolution touch screen that supports greater ease of use for both clinicians and patients. In addition to providing a superior user experience, the Dell Venue provides multiple modes of data communications including Wi-Fi, Ethernet and an embedded 4G card.

PHT chose the Windows 8.1 tablets because of the flexibility and security aspects of Microsoft technology and because the solution allows PHT to increase the quality of real-time site-based data capture for trial participants and clinicians. It also allows PHT to run custom software that helps decrease clinical trial costs for sponsors by reducing time spent downstream resolving missing and inconsistent data. The superior end-user experience helps provide additional convenience and comfort for end users, enabling rapid entry of electronic source clinical data.

“Paper is no longer the gold standard, and clinical trial sponsors are rapidly abandoning paper methods for collecting critical information about how patients feel and function in addition to key clinician observations and assessments,” said Sheila Rocchio, vice president of Marketing & Product Management at PHT. “PHT is helping to lead the electronic transformation in clinical research by providing reliable, easy-to-use and regulatory-compliant systems that increase data quality and protocol compliance and reduce costs in monitoring and data management. In one recent trial, the SitePad System saved the sponsor more than 30 percent over the cost of paper.”

PHT has purchased more than 2,000 Dell Venue 11 Pros, which will be deployed at clinical trial sites around the globe. Each SitePad is configured for a specific study protocol and used by clinicians and patients participating in the trial to collect study-specific assessments. Data collected on the SitePad device are sent to StudyWorksTM, the PHT online portal that provides real-time information about compliance as well as key measures used for study operations and patient safety monitoring. Each tablet is preconfigured with study-specific schedules, assessments and questionnaires. Patient and clinician compliance with SitePad on average exceeds 98.5 percent.

“The Dell Venue 11 Pro with Windows 8.1 is a modern and sleek device that both patients and clinicians enjoy using — the usability testing feedback has been excellent,” Rocchio said. “Sponsors are also very excited about the embedded 4G modem in the Dell Venue 11 Pro, which eliminates the need for an additional wireless hotspot, making setup much easier.”

More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

About PHT Corporation

PHT Corporation is the eClinical innovator leading the adoption of patient-driven mobile apps for better clinical research. The PHT electronic clinical outcome assessment (eCOA) system collects and reports secure real-time patient data from the latest mobile devices. PHT scientific, regulatory and technological expertise combined with quality outcomes data enable clients to make decisions with confidence. Sponsors and CROs have leveraged the PHT Patient Suite in 650+ trials resulting in 16+ regulatory approvals. Visit phtcorp.com for more information on PHT. Follow PHT on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 17, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. and American Family Insurance are launching a unique business accelerator for startups focused on home automation. The accelerator will help the next generation of startups create advancements that can help lead to safer and smarter homes. Startups interested in participating in the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in partnership with American Family Insurance can apply now at http://www.microsoftventures.com/accelerators/seattle.

The new Microsoft Ventures Accelerator was announced at the tech company’s Global Startup Day in San Francisco, celebrating startups from several of its programs around the world that are seeing market traction. Microsoft currently runs startup accelerators in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, London, Paris and Tel Aviv. The new accelerator will be hosted on its campus in Redmond and conducted September through December. By working with American Family Insurance, a leading multiline insurance company, the program will connect startups with experts in the industry.

“Home automation is ripe for startup innovation,” said Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president, Developer Experience and Evangelism for Microsoft. “We are working closely with American Family Insurance to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for entrepreneurs in our accelerator. Startups accepted into the program will gain critical industry insight to build companies with the potential to have an enormous impact on our lives.”

The accelerator provides mentorship, workspace and an immersive experience focused on launching world-class companies with an eye on the global marketplace. American Family Insurance, the eighth largest homeowners’ insurer in the U.S., will provide deep industry experience, important consumer insights and a wealth of homeowner knowledge that would be impossible for young companies to gain access to on their own. American Family Insurance is also offering a minimum optional $25,000 equity investment in each startup accepted into the program.

“We are focused on helping early stage companies bring new products and services to market that can make our policyholders’ homes and lives safer,” said Dan Reed, managing director at American Family Ventures. “Working closely with startups and making early-stage investments in emerging technology companies is a great way to support the ecosystem and also benefit our customers. We look forward to working with the next generation of companies that are reimagining the connected home.”

About American Family Insurance

Based in Madison, Wis., American Family Insurance offers auto insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, business insurance and farm/ranch insurance in 19 states. American Family insurance is the nation’s third-largest mutual property/casualty insurance company and ranks 373rd on the Fortune 500 list. Learn more at www.amfam.com.

About American Family Ventures

American Family Ventures, the direct venture capital arm of American Family Insurance, makes early stage investments in emerging technology companies as part of its commitment to proactively protect policyholders, present and future. To learn more about how American Family Ventures is fueling entrepreneurs’ dreams, visit http://amfamventures.com.

About Microsoft Ventures

Microsoft Ventures is a global initiative to help entrepreneurs build great companies. Working with startups at every stage of maturity, the initiative provides tools, resources and expertise to help startups succeed. Visit Microsoft Ventures at www.microsoftventures.com to learn more about how Microsoft is helping the next generation of smart companies take flight.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Mexico City — June 12, 2014 — With the goal of continuing to improve the services offered to Mexican taxpayers, Mexico’s Tax Administration System (SAT) chose Microsoft Azure cloud computing services, a solution that has allowed it to receive electronic documents in a more secure and reliable manner.

Through Microsoft Azure, the government agency took advantage of the elasticity of cloud computing services to help perform the following tasks:

• Issue electronic invoices
  

• Provide direct customer support from the portal to all taxpayers who require to check, cancel or download electronic invoices issued by themselves or on their behalf
  

• Support more than 85 authorized certification providers with filing-related services
  

For the 2013 annual tax returns process, a version of DeclaraSAT was designed in the open and flexible Microsoft Azure cloud platform to facilitate the timely and efficient completion of the annual return for taxpayers. The implementation of this solution helped the tax agency record, at the end of April, an increase of 8.24 percent more tax returns compared with the previous year’s statements. DeclaraSAT on Microsoft Azure reached more than 1,539,000 filings, compared with traditional DeclaraSAT, which recorded 299,300.

Through the SAT, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit reported that at the end of the April 2014 period, it had received the largest number of annual individual statements ever recorded.

“Since we started using Microsoft Azure services with the SAT, we have processed close to 4 billion documents with the peace of mind that Microsoft Azure helps keep the information secure, which is fundamental for the organization,” said Juan Manuel Galarza, general administrator for communications at the SAT. Microsoft Azure has also allowed the agency to process daily peaks of up to 34 million electronic invoices.

“At Microsoft we are proud to be able to provide our technological tools to government institutions, especially when they result in benefits for citizens,” said Carlos Allende, director of Public Sector and Education of Microsoft Mexico. “An example of this is Microsoft Azure, which offers external connectivity at least 99.95 percent of the time and allows institutions to run cloud solutions while providing absolute security in the management of processed information. In addition, it provides automatic software updates, network load balancing and high availability.”

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 11 , 2014 — Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced details for in-store events and experiences in the more than 90 Microsoft retail stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, to celebrate the launch of the tablet that can replace your laptop: Surface Pro 3. Starting now, and continuing through launch day on June 20 and beyond, Microsoft Stores are offering the best way to experience, pre-order and celebrate the arrival of Surface Pro 3. Everyone is encouraged to come in and check out the excitement for themselves and get expert tips and advice on Surface Pro 3 directly from the company that created it.

G et hands -on with Surface Pro 3 in store and pre-order now

Customers can go in store or online at MicrosoftStore.com now to pre-order Surface Pro 3, and can visit any Microsoft retail store to be among the first to have a hands-on experience with Surface Pro 3 and the latest accessories — including a Microsoft Store exclusive red type cover — before they’re available to the public on June 20. Each store will have multiple devices to try along with a team of store experts dedicated to delivering the best choice, quality and service with every technology purchase.

Launch morning events in all stores on June 2 0

To celebrate the arrival of the Surface Pro 3, all Microsoft retail stores in the U.S. and Canada will host launch day activities starting when stores open on Friday, June 20, including VIP white-glove pre-order pickup, giveaways, music, food and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to win dozens of giveaways and prizes, including a family vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii, for four. See https://microsoft.promo.eprize.com/surfacepro3 for full official rules.

People can join the event advance at the Microsoft Store Facebook page to get the latest information, and additional details will be posted at http://www.microsoftstore.com as they become available. You can also visit your local Microsoft retail store to find out more.

Surface Summer Celebration events on June 28

The fun continues the following week with Surface Summer Celebration events taking place in Microsoft retail stores on Saturday, June 28. All stores will have summer-themed activities and giveaways, then attendees at 10 select stores will enjoy a family-inspired afternoon of fun featuring food, games, and the chance to meet local sports celebrities as well as the newest member of the Surface family, Surface Pro 3. Events will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. local time at the following stores:

• Bellevue Square, Bellevue, Washington

• Aventura Mall, Aventura, Florida

• Westfield San Francisco Centre, San Francisco

• Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus, New Jersey

• Scottsdale Fashion Square, Scottsdale, Arizona

• Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, Illinois

• The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, Arlington, Virginia

• Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga, Ontario

• South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, California

• The Shops at La Cantera, San Antonio

About Surface Pro 3

Surface Pro 3 is the tablet that can replace your laptop. Powerful, portable and designed to maximize productivity, Surface Pro 3 brings the best of a laptop and the best of a tablet together in one sleek device. With a large, 12” ClearType Full HD color-calibrated display, multi-position kickstand, increased processing power, a new Surface Pen, front- and rear-facing cameras, and weighing only 1.76 lbs, Surface Pro 3 is light yet powerful, delivering the power, portability and productivity you need.

About Microsoft retail stores

Microsoft continues to expand its existing retail footprint in the U.S., offering an assortment of best-in-class products, including Windows 8.1 PCs, Surface Pro 3, Windows Phones, Xbox One, Microsoft Office 365 and more. Customers also receive end-to-end service with an Answer Desk and knowledgeable staff to answer questions, make recommendations, and help with PC setups and other services, so they can walk out the door with a product that’s ready to run. More information can be found at http://www.microsoftstore.com.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspective from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — June 4, 2014 — Wednesday during a keynote address at Computex, Nick Parker, Microsoft corporate vice president responsible for Microsoft Corp.’s device partnerships, demonstrated the breadth of innovation happening across Windows and the Windows device ecosystem. He was joined during his keynote by Tony Prophet, corporate vice president of Windows Marketing, and Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon, managing director of Microsoft Research Asia and distinguished scientist at Microsoft, who provided evidence of how Microsoft is innovating to deliver opportunity for partners and value to customers in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.

Parker opened the keynote talking about Microsoft’s vision for devices in a rapidly changing market and how Microsoft is innovating across its products, partnerships and business model to create opportunity for partners. Parker also talked about Microsoft’s device partner strategy to drive scale and innovation with Windows, through new partnerships and new technology that delight customers.

To talk about how the Windows team is operating with new speed and agility to deliver enhancements to customers and partners, and how Microsoft and its partners can build the next 1 billion devices together, Parker invited Tony Prophet to the stage. Prophet talked about how recent Windows enhancements including $0 Windows for devices smaller than 9 inches, relaxed certification requirements, the release of Windows 8.1 Update, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows universal apps all make building incredible Windows devices easier for a broader ecosystems of hardware partners and ultimately more valuable and affordable for customers. He talked about the value of Microsoft cloud services across devices and shared the latest momentum:

• 2 billion Skype minutes per day

• 4.4 million Office 365 Home subscribers

• 400 million active Outlook.com users

• 250 million OneDrive users

• 48 million Xbox Live members

• 18 percent share of U.S. search market for Bing
  

He also shared momentum on apps and announced that Kabam, a leader in free-to-play games, will deliver its lineup of hit games to Windows tablets and phones over the next year, including “Fast & Furious 6: The Game,” “Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon” and “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth.” Moving forward, Kabam games will be available for Windows in the same timeframe as for other platforms.

Prophet was joined on stage by Nick Hedderman, group manager in the Windows Product Management team. Hedderman demonstrated the latest capabilities in Windows 8.1 Update and Windows Phone 8.1, showing a number of new experiences that were built based on customer and partner feedback, including improved mouse and keyboard navigation in Windows and enhanced notification, personalization and file management options in Windows Phone. He finished the demo with a look at Cortana, Microsoft’s new personal assistant on Windows Phone, and spoke about its upcoming availability in both China and the U.K.

Microsoft and its hardware partners announced new designs, price points and markets for Windows devices. Parker had nearly 40 brand-new devices on stage, including all-in-ones, laptops, 2-in-1s, tablets and smartphones. He gave the first sneak peek of Toshiba’s 7-inch tablet that will be available in the coming months at a value-driven price point that is very competitive to any other 7-inch-class device and unveiled the HP Pro x2 612 2-in-1 that is packed with business-ready capabilities including security features, a Wacom stylus, and dual batteries in the tablet and the power keyboard. He demonstrated an expanding ecosystem with new partner devices including numerous tablets from partners in the China technology ecosystem in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai, including Haier, VIDO and Luckystar. Parker also showcased a breadth of smartphones from value to premium from new partners including BLU, InFocus Corp., Prestigio and Yezz. These new devices are the result of Microsoft’s expanded collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies Inc. on its reference design program, which enables device manufacturers to quickly and efficiently broaden their portfolio with Windows Phones.

Dr. Hon joined Parker on stage for a discussion about the future of computing and key areas of investment for Microsoft Research that include big data, machine learning, datacenter, sensors, computer vision and natural user interface. Dr. Hon talked about advancements in computer science and provided examples of how technology coming out of Microsoft Research ends up in products such as Xbox, Bing and Skype. He concluded by sharing his thoughts on how computing is evolving to become more human-centric, which provides a more personal and contextual user experience for people to do more, know more and be more.

Computex is the second-largest computer exhibition in the world, drawing a range of manufacturers and developers each year for a look at the latest upcoming devices and technologies. Microsoft products and partner devices can be seen on display in the Microsoft booth in Nangang Exhibition Hall, L Area-#0110. More information is available at http://www.computextaipei.com.tw/.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 3, 2014 — Houston Independent School District (HISD), the largest school district in Texas — seventh largest in the U.S. — has purchased Microsoft solutions to help prepare students for the digital world. With a large majority of students from low-income families, HISD is making strides in improving the broader community by transforming each student’s learning experience and providing technology to students who otherwise couldn’t afford it. Microsoft technology helps HISD improve student outcomes, solve privacy concerns and amend manageability worries that plague many other education technology implementations. Microsoft Office 365 and HP Elitebook Folio 9470m Ultrabooks running Windows are helping to support HISD’s more than 14,000 students and 1,200 teachers in the first phase of its PowerUp initiative to transform how teachers teach and how students learn.

“Educating our kids is important, but having our parents and community understand digital awareness is imperative to their success,” said Lenny Schad, chief information technology officer at Houston Independent School District. “The entire community is behind our PowerUp initiative; we’re partnering with restaurants, churches, YMCAs and apartment complexes to install wireless infrastructures so students can access the network from anywhere, since we know many of our students do not have Internet access at home. Meeting our goal is all about community participation.”

HISD is providing Office 365 to faculty and staff, and planning to roll it out to students at no additional cost using the Student Advantage benefit. This will help to improve communication and collaboration across the district. In addition to the Office productivity suite, as part of the PowerUp initiative, 65,000 high school students will receive HP laptops running Windows once the devices have been fully implemented over the next three years to further enhance personalized learning for students. Microsoft’s commitment to student data privacy and belief that student data should not be mined by second parties for ads helped HISD meet federal and state requirements, and feel confident the technology they are providing students uses sophisticated safety and security technologies and is easy to use virtually anywhere, anytime.

HISD has taken a unique and deliberate approach to its deployment. In the adoption year, the curriculum leads, campus leadership and professional development teams were first to receive the devices so they could implement technology strategies for the upcoming year. Three months later, all teachers received their devices and became familiar with them for a full semester before the district provided devices to all students. After the holiday break, the digital environment and culture had taken shape, and students at 11 high schools in the district were given the laptops, allowing them to engage in a more meaningful and 21st-century way for everyday learning.

“This deployment process was unique because teachers were given the opportunity to teach their students with just pen and paper during the first semester, and then see them the second half of the year on a digital platform,” Schad said. “Teachers tell us that students are blowing them away; artistic, writing and other skills come out of the woodwork when you allow students their own path to learning.”

After just one year of transformation, the district is optimistic about the future and is confident students are gaining new skills and experiencing new opportunities that will help them excel in their path from graduation into college or career.

“You can’t help but feel good when you see students’ faces as they open their laptops, or when you hear from parents and grandparents how grateful they are that this technology — something they’d never be able to afford on their own — has been provided, because it’s so important to their students’ futures and education,” Schad said.

Other districts in the Houston area using Microsoft solutions to improve student outcomes include Clear Creek Independent School District, Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, and Klein Independent School District.

More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 2 , 2014 — Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) on Monday announced that significant new capabilities in marketing, customer care and social listening are now globally available as part of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM spring wave of updates in 54 markets and 42 languages. This new release delivers a comprehensive solution that provides businesses with marketing, sales and customer care capabilities that are seamlessly integrated with leading productivity applications, such as Microsoft Office 365, Yammer, Lync, Skype, SharePoint and Power BI for Office 365. These available capabilities help businesses meet the needs of their customers today.

In addition to the availability of Microsoft Dynamics Marketing and Microsoft Social Listening, Microsoft also released updates to Microsoft Dynamics CRM that include a new Unified Service Desk. For on-premises customers, the company delivered these new capabilities as part of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Service Pack 1. Microsoft further announced it plans to expand the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online service to additional markets in Europe, Asia Pacific and South America in the third quarter of calendar year 2014.[1]

“Microsoft Dynamics CRM has made unbelievable progress over the last few years, and the amazing capabilities in this release deliver significant value to our customers as an important component of the Microsoft Cloud for business,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft Corp. “Through innovative business applications in the cloud, businesses can better meet their customers’ needs and thrive in a changing world.”

Microsoft on Monday reinforced that its contractual commitments for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online meet the requirements of the European Union’s “model clauses” and the high standards of European Union (EU) privacy law as acknowledged by the “Article 29 Working Party,” making Microsoft the first — and so far the only — company to receive this recognition.

“In addition to enjoying the benefits of these new capabilities across marketing, sales and service, customers can be comfortable doing business with Microsoft when it comes to their data,” said Bob Stutz, corporate vice president, Microsoft Dynamics CRM. “We focused our development efforts on understanding what our customers need to deliver amazing customer experiences. We redesigned our user interface, implemented a six-month rapid release cycle, made three acquisitions and built many new features — all culminating in the wave of releases we are bringing to market today.”

Global e xpansion

The expanded availability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to markets in Europe, Asia Pacific and South America begins this month with the availability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online in Turkey. This global expansion gives customers a new and comprehensive online CRM solution in their market.

Market smarter, sell effectively and provide care everywhere

Early Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 customers are already benefiting from the new capabilities that enabled them to sell more effectively than before to meet the challenges of a mobile and social world, become smarter marketers, and provide world-class care to their customers.

With Microsoft Social Listening, sales, marketing and service professionals tap into social conversations to get real-time feedback on their brand, products, competitors, campaigns and issues that might be relevant to their business. For instance, Sealord, a global sustainable fishing enterprise, uses Microsoft Social Listening to better understand its stakeholders — from their beliefs about key industry and sustainability issues to the global network of organizations and individuals influencing opinions in this area. When the topic of shark-finning sparked social media outrage, Sealord took the opportunity to make its stance known, resulting in global acknowledgement and a reach that could be easily measured, understood and communicated internally with Microsoft Social Listening.

“Without Microsoft Social Listening, we would not have had the opportunity to hear what was top-of-mind for our stakeholders and the community we serve, and ensure Sealord’s work to be sustainable in these areas was understood,” said Alison Sykora, public affairs and communications manager, Sealord.

Microsoft Dynamics Marketing gives marketers one solution that allows them to carefully plan their campaigns, deliver qualified leads to their sales teams and subsequently measure the return on their marketing investment.

Microsoft Dynamics Marketing customer the PGA TOUR uses the new marketing automation solution to better organize its creative, media and trafficking activities and to provide improved reporting information to its sponsors. A video of how the PGA TOUR uses Microsoft Dynamics Marketing to run marketing promotions across a wide array of media types year-round can be seen at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/customer-success-stories-detail.aspx?casestudyid=710000003750.

Microsoft is also enabling a complete range of functionality for customer service professionals. This includes the powerful self-service capabilities in the recently acquired Microsoft Parature offering to the multichannel capabilities coming in the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online update and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Service Pack 1 for on-premises customers, including the Unified Service Desk. Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables companies to provide relevant, responsive and personalized customer service.

New research from Gartner Research also positions Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant of Gartner’s April 24, 2014 Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center,[2] based on the product’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.

More capabilities and features of the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM spring wave of updates, including Microsoft Social Listening and Microsoft Dynamics Marketing, are detailed in the Release Preview Guide. A blog post series by Bob Stutz is available on CRM Connection. In addition, all can follow and engage with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM community @MSDynamicsCRM at http://www.twitter.com/msdynamicscrm, #MSDYNCRM.

About Microsoft Dynamics

At the heart of every successful business are the people who make things happen. Microsoft Dynamics designs modern business solutions that empower individuals with intuitive tools that allow them to do their best work. Our proactive, easy-to-use business applications adapt to the way people and systems work, enabling businesses to rapidly deploy and be forward-looking in an ever-changing world.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

[1] Microsoft will disclose the specific market availability at a later date, to be determined.

[2] Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — May 27, 2014 — On Tuesday, Microsoft Corp. announced the winners and finalists of the 2014 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. The annual awards celebrate top Microsoft partners that are solving customer challenges with creative technology solutions. Award winners and finalists, chosen from nominations from around the world, will be recognized at the 2014 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, taking place July 13–17, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

This year, there are 46 awards that celebrate each of the core partner competencies, including cloud technology; Windows 8, Office and SharePoint applications; public sector; citizenship; sales excellence; and many more. More than 2,800 entries were collected from more than 117 countries; the award finalists and winners were selected from a group of nominations based on their commitment to customers, their solutions’ market impact and exemplary use of Microsoft technologies.

“These prestigious award winners and finalists represent the best technology professionals our partner ecosystem has to offer,” said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft. “The 2014 Partner of the Year Award winners and finalists honor our top partners that solve complex business challenges by providing innovative solutions to our mutual customers. Congratulations to each winner on this incredible achievement.”

Categories, winners and finalists appear below. A complete list, including the Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award winners for 2014, is available at http://www.digitalwpc.com/Awards/Pages/Home.aspx.

Office and SharePoint App Developer Partner of the Year

• Winner: DocuSign

• Finalist: Nintex

• Finalist: AvePoint

• Finalist: Spikes

Windows 8 App Developer Partner of the Year

• Winner: Dell

• Finalist: Wortell

• Finalist: InterKnowlogy

Humanitarian Response Citizenship

• Winner: SELA Canada

• Finalist: SkyAlert

• Finalist: Ignify

• Finalist: Esprinet Iberica S.L.U.

Innovative Technology for Good Citizenship

• Winner: NV Interactive

• Finalist: I a cubed

• Finalist: Ignify

• Finalist: Eastridge

YouthSpark Citizenship

• Winner: Teleios Systems

• Finalist: KPN Consulting

• Finalist: New Signature

• Finalist: Enfinito Consulting Services

Cloud Partner of the Year — Enterprise Customers

• Winner: Caase.com

• Finalist: Dot Net Solutions

• Finalist: Infusion

• Finalist: Quadrasystems.net (India) Private Limited

Cloud Partner of the Year — Excellence

• Winner: Ensyst

• Finalist: Content and Code

• Finalist: iLink Systems, Inc.

• Finalist: Business Network Solutions Sdn Bhd

Cloud Partner of the Year — Packaged Solutions

• Winner: Cloudamour Limited

• Finalist: CDW

• Finalist: Infotech Caribbean Limited

• Finalist: NEC Australia

Cloud Partner of the Year — Small and Medium Business

• Winner: Object Consulting

• Finalist: InfraScience

• Finalist: Quadrasystems.net (India) Private Limited

• Finalist: Northdoor plc

Application Development Partner of the Year

• Winner: Infusion

• Finalist: Kentico Software

• Finalist: EVault, A Seagate Company

• Finalist: Saga d.o.o. Beograd

Application Lifecycle Management Partner of the Year

• Winner: nFocus testing

• Finalist: InCycle Software

• Finalist: GreenSQA S.A.

• Finalist: Canarys Automations Private Limited

Application Integration Partner of the Year

• Winner: Breeze

• Finalist: Fusionex

• Finalist: Neudesic

• Finalist: everis

Business Intelligence Partner of the Year

• Winner: OSIsoft

• Finalist: Accenture/Avanade

• Finalist: Ascribe Ltd.

Data Platform Partner of the Year

• Winner: CSK WinTechnology Corporation

• Finalist: dsp

• Finalist: Hewlett-Packard

• Finalist: Softpoint Cluster Technology

Collaboration and Content Partner of the Year

• Winner: Webzavod

• Finalist: Enlighten Designs

• Finalist: Gimmal

• Finalist: Rightpoint

Communications Partner of the Year

• Winner: Orange Business Services

• Finalist: Modality Systems

• Finalist: Polycom

Messaging Partner of the Year

• Winner: Binary Tree, Inc.

• Finalist: Hewlett-Packard Japan, Ltd.

• Finalist: Quadrasystems.net (India) Private Limited

• Finalist: Mimecast

Project and Portfolio Management Partner of the Year

• Winner: Sensei Project Solutions, Inc.

• Finalist: Corporate Project Solutions

• Finalist: Projility

• Finalist: UMT360

Devices and Deployment Partner of the Year

• Winner: Wortell

• Finalist: Data#3 Limited

• Finalist: Fujitsu Ltd.

• Finalist: Sogeti

Intelligent Systems Partner of the Year

• Winner: CGI IT UK Limited

• Finalist: Omnivex Corporation

• Finalist: NEC Corporation

• Finalist: Accenture/Avanade

Management and Virtualization Partner of the Year

• Winner: Convergent Computing (CCO)

• Finalist: NetApp

• Finalist: Concurrency, Inc.

• Finalist: Infront Consulting Limited

Server Platform Partner of the Year

• Winner: CommVault

• Finalist: KPCS CZ, s.r.o.

• Finalist: XCentral

• Finalist: Citrix

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Partner of the Year

• Winner: Hitachi Solutions America Ltd.

• Finalist: PowerObjects

• Finalist: Accenture/Avanade

• Finalist: RBA

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Partner of the Year

• Winner: HSO Group

• Finalist: mcaConnect

• Finalist: Tribridge

• Finalist: InterDyn BMI

Digital Advertising Partner of the Year

• Winner: Advance Digital

• Finalist: Cardinal Path

• Finalist: Semdrive

Distributor Partner of the Year

• Winner: Tech Data Europe

• Finalist: Synnex Corporation

• Finalist: ComPortal LLP

Hosting Partner of the Year

• Winner: Triple C Cloud Computing Ltd. & TeamNetcom Ltd.

• Finalist: TeleComputing

• Finalist: nGenx

• Finalist: SherWeb

Learning Partner of the Year

• Winner: Algebra

• Finalist: Global Knowledge

• Finalist: DDLS

• Finalist: Aptech Limited

Mobility Partner of the Year

• Winner: Accenture/Avanade

• Finalist: Blink Systems Assessoria e Informática Ltda

• Finalist: Sparked

OEM Device Partner of the Year

• Winner: COMPAX

• Finalist: DEPO Computers

• Finalist: MouseComputer Co., Ltd.

• Finalist: UNIT.COM.INC

Software Asset Management (SAM) Partner of the Year

• Winner: Softcat Ltd

• Finalist: Sam360

• Finalist: Infraware

• Finalist: Consistent Software Distribution

Identity and Security (Access) Partner of the Year

• Winner: Oxford Computer Group

• Finalist: Kloud

• Finalist: Credexo, Inc.

Volume Licensing Partner of the Year

• Winner: Brasoftware

• Finalist: Softcat

• Finalist: Insight

• Finalist: Softwareone

Midmarket Solution Provider Partner of the Year

• Winner: Comping

• Finalist: Quadrasystems.net (India) Private Limited

• Finalist: Softsource

• Finalist: BlackPoint IT Services Small Business Partner of the Year

• Winner: Bitscape Infotech Pvt Ltd

• Finalist: Eastridge

• Finalist: XCentral

• Finalist: HCS Business Solutions

Microsoft Dynamics Industry Partner of the Year

• Winner: Edgewater Fullscope

• Finalist: eBECS

• Finalist: Junction Solutions

• Finalist: UXC Eclipse

Microsoft Dynamics Cloud Partner of the Year

• Winner: Zero2Ten

• Finalist: Hands-on Systems

• Finalist: Socius

• Finalist: SMB Suite

Public Sector Partner of the Year — Education

• Winner: ITWORX

• Finalist: Corinth Investment

• Finalist: Learning Possibilities

• Finalist: Dell

Public Sector Partner of the Year — Government

• Winner: HP Enterprise Services UK Ltd

• Finalist: Gimmal

• Finalist: Espacios en Red y Servicios SA de CV

• Finalist: Sparked

Public Sector Partner of the Year — Health

• Winner: Winvision

• Finalist: Rapid Circle

• Finalist: Dell Japan Inc.

• Finalist: icomedias GmbH

Public Sector Partner of the Year — Public Safety/National Security

• Winner: AvePoint

• Finalist: Tribridge

• Finalist: NetApp

• Finalist: Intelecto Ltda

Public Sector Partner of the Year — CityNext

• Winner: ICONICS

• Finalist: OSlsoft

• Finalist: IEG4 Limited

• Finalist: Software Innovation

Sales Specialist Partner of the Year

• Winner: Geno Ceci of ePlus Technology, inc.

• Finalist: Robert Pope of Outsourcery

• Finalist: Varun Abbi of COMPAREX India Private Limited

• Finalist: Mark Seeley of Intellinet

Pre-Sales Technical Specialist of the Year

• Winner: Graham Quinn of Auxilion (I.T. Alliance Group)

• Finalist: Prashanth Subraman of Quadrasystems.net (India) Private Limited

• Finalist: Christopher Hertz of New Signature

• Finalist: Jason Bero of Softchoice

Alliance SI Partner of the Year

• Winner: Accenture/Avanade

Alliance ISV Partner of the Year

• Winner: Sitecore

About Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference

Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference provides Microsoft’s partner community with access to key marketing and business strategies, leadership, and information regarding specific customer solutions designed to help partners succeed in the marketplace. Along with informative learning opportunities covering sales, marketing, services and technology, the Worldwide Partner Conference is an ideal setting for partners to garner valuable knowledge from their peers and from Microsoft. More information can be found at http://www.digitalwpc.com and on the Partner Network home page at http://microsoftpartnernetwork.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Editor’s note – May 21, 2014 – The information below about access to Office 365 for Education was updated following initial publication.

Bangkok — May 21, 2014 — The Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) and Microsoft (Thailand) Limited on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding that will provide 8 million students and 400,000 teachers across Thailand with access to Microsoft Office 365 for education. The agreement, which also includes the extension of the highly successful Partners in Learning initiative to 2019, represents the single biggest cloud service deployment for Microsoft in the education sector globally.

“OBEC and Microsoft have enjoyed 10 years of collaboration for the betterment of Thailand’s future under Partners in Learning,” said OBEC Senior Advisor in Technology for Teaching and Learning Anek Ratpiyapaporn. “The 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan states that Thailand’s top priority is to develop its human resources through improvement in education. Microsoft’s support will ensure that educators and students are empowered with solutions and platforms that are aligned with their needs.

“This initiative will play a key role in our preparations for ASEAN Economic Community integration and drive the development of 21st century skills that are vital to the Smart Thailand 2020 strategy, whose key objective is to foster sustainable national growth and raise the standard of living through technology,” Ratpiyapaporn added.

Thai students utilizing access to new Office software Eight million students in Thailand now have access to Office 365 to help maximize their learning potential.

Conceived in 2003, Partners in Learning is a global Microsoft program that fosters innovative use of technology in education to help students and teachers around the world maximize their potential. So far, the program has provided training to more than 12 million educators and enhanced the learning experience for 200 million students in 119 countries. In Thailand, Partners in Learning has reached out to more than 164,000 teachers and 8 million students across 39,000 schools nationwide.

Haresh Khoobchandani, managing director of Microsoft (Thailand), said, “Microsoft has always seen technology as an important enabler of quality education, and this memorandum of understanding underscores our long-term commitment to Thailand and our vision of a holistic transformation of the Thai education system. Throughout Microsoft’s 20 years in Thailand, we have invested $5.2 million (156 million THB) in Thai education as part of our vision of We Make 70 Million Lives Better. This dedication to education in Thailand is part of our global YouthSpark initiative to help young people capture opportunities, to learn skills, to prepare for the jobs of the future or even to start their own business.

“Two million university students and staff members are already taking advantage of cloud technology through Office 365 for education, and this landmark partnership with OBEC will increase the number of users to more than 10 million,” Khoobchandani continued. “This enables schools and universities across Thailand to create massive repositories of knowledge that can be accessed and shared anywhere, any time, and on any device in a secured and trusted environment.”

Under this memorandum of understanding, schools under OBEC jurisdiction will gain access to Office 365 for education, giving students and teachers alike the ability to create, connect and collaborate on an advanced and enterprise-ready cloud platform that is safe and secured. A 2013 IDC study commissioned by Microsoft found that proficiency with Microsoft Office applications ranks high at No. 3 of the top 20 in-demand skills globally. The study also found that 29 percent of high growth or salary occupations call for Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office-related skills, such as word processing, spreadsheets and financial reporting.

Teachers and educators across Thailand now have better access to teaching software 400,000 teachers across Thailand have access to Microsoft Office 365 for Education.

Microsoft YouthSpark is a companywide, global commitment to provide young people with opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship, and Partners in Learning is a key element of this commitment that helps students and teachers benefit from Microsoft’s academic and technical resources. These include free educational materials through the Microsoft IT Academy, various teacher and school development programs, access to professional-class development tools and technical guidance through the Microsoft DreamSpark program. They will also be able to benefit from tech startup support through the Microsoft BizSpark program, and opportunities to showcase their creativity and expertise in the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition.

“With young people between the ages of 15 and 24 forming the largest segment of the unemployed in Thailand,1 there is a pressing need to drive transformational change in education,” said Anthony Salcito, vice president of Worldwide Public Sector Education for Microsoft. “The full impact of Microsoft’s partnership with OBEC is not simply in the millions of students that will have access to the most compelling and engaging technology for education and collaborative learning. It will be seen in how we are able to effectively integrate technology into the classroom to help prepare these students with the skills of the future.”

Wednesday’s announcement surpasses Microsoft’s previous largest cloud education partnerships — a partnership with the Sao Paulo State Department of Education to provide Office 365 to more than 4 million students; the 7.5 million Office 365 seats that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) deployed across 11,500 technical colleges and institutions in India; and the 4.5 million seats that the Catholic International Education Office deployed globally in 2012.

The memorandum of understanding between Microsoft and OBEC will cover a five-year period from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2019.

For more information on Partners in Learning and Office 365 for education, visit http://www.pil-network.com, http://www.pil.in.th and http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/academic.

About Microsoft (Thailand) Limited

Established in 1993, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited provides world-class software that is easy to use and localized to suit the local market’s needs. It also has a compelling and consistent platform to build powerful business solutions that can scale from a notebook computer to a mainframe – class multiprocessor systems using Microsoft technology. For further information, please visit the Microsoft (Thailand) website at: http://www.microsoft.com/thailand.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

1 International Labour Organization, Unemployment distribution by sex and age, Thailand (2012)

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.