Microsoft Corporation

Description

Microsoft Corporation is one of the leading technology companies in the world. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, US, the company has an employee count of more than 170,000. The company has its operations globally, and it is listed in the Nasdaq stock market, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and in S&P 500 and S&P 100. The company mainly develops and manufactures software’s, consumer electronics, and personal computers. Their key products include Windows operating system, Office productivity applications, web browser (Internet Explorer and Edge Web Browser) and cloud services. 

The company mainly operated under 3 segments.

• Personal Computing: It sells products and services, usually to end-users, IT managers, and developers. Some of the products which form a part of this are Windows operating systems; phones; tablets; PC accessories etc. 

• Productivity and Business processes: It covers products and services that are usually communication and information products such as Office 365, Share point, Skype, etc.

• Intelligent Cloud: It consists of public, private, and hybrid server product titles by Azure cloud computing service. Products and services included under this segment are SQL server, Windows server Visual studio etc.

Their business-oriented social network, LinkedIn (acquired in 2016 for more than US$26 billion), is used by millions of their customers where people can make their connections. The company also provide its gaming console Xbox, which is also used by millions of people and comes second next to Sony's playstation. Microsoft operates globally, and they have a wide range of customers starting from individuals, small and medium businesses to world’s largest companies and government bodies. The Big Five information technology company of the world includes Microsoft apart from Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook.

The company was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Initially they focused on developing and selling Basic computer languages. Gradually they expanded their business and developed computer operating system MS-Dos, followed by Microsoft Windows. 

The company acquired the ownership of Skype Technologies in 2011 for around US$8.5 billion. Apple replaced Microsoft in 2010 as the most valuable publicly-traded company globally, but it retrieved its position in 2018. In 2019, Microsoft became the third company in the US among others (Apple and Amazon) to be valued at over US$1 trillion (Market capitalization of Microsoft was around US$3 trillion). As of 2020, Microsoft was the third-highest valued brand in the world.

The company operates and provides its service worldwide with more than 250 subsidiaries and 600 branches in total.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic has arrived, there has been a rapid shift in how people manage their work and life. Due to the closure of education institutes and increased caretaking requirements of the loved ones back home, Microsoft supported its employees by introducing caregiver leave programs. This program is designed to allow employees to take flexible time off to manage the transition to remote learning and take care of their loved ones. 

Microsoft vision is to “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more”