Promoting developer ecosystem in India, says Microsoft

Bangalore, March 18 (IANS) Global software major Microsoft is promoting a developer ecosystem by empowering its about 1,000 independent software vendors (ISVs) in India with tools, technologies and training to compete in a global marketplace.

"We have played a big role in developing high-end skills of ISVs, IT professionals and students. As a result, our partners have greater opportunity to create modern apps (applications) connected to cloud services that make information more accessible to users on any device at any time," Microsoft India general manager Joseph Landes said at a technology event here.

The software behemoth is making significant investments in working with 1.2-million developers worldwide to create the second-largest developer ecosystem for developing apps on its latest platforms -- Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Office 2013, Office 365 and Windows Azure.

"Our aim is to provide the developer community with a supportive environment to drive path-breaking innovation globally on our range of platforms, which open up countless opportunities to shape the app ecosystem across multiple devices, giving developers the chance to maximise their revenues," Landes at the Indian subsidiary's 'TechEd 2013' premier tech event.

Other initiatives like 'Tech Days,' the 'I Unlock Joy,' 'Mobile Acceleration Week' and the first-ever women app developers event in India highlighted the company's commitment towards the developer community to lead innovation by building applications on Windows platform.
The two-day event evoked huge response from IT students and budding entrepreneurs to keynote speeches, demos and workshops from experts and helped them catalyse their business potential.
With the employability rate in the Indian IT services sector falling three times to 16.4 percent from 29.4 percent in 2012, there is a need for educational institutions to produce industry-ready candidates, which otherwise may become an impediment for growth for want of trained manpower for product-based and research-based projects.
"As the Indian IT industry matures, it is imperative that skill building should be the focus area for progressive growth and to bridge the opportunity divide amongst youth in India," Landes said in his address.
On the eve of Windows 8 launch Oct 26, 2012, Microsoft hosted Windows AppFest in this tech hub and made history by setting a world record for the 'most participants in a software development marathon in one location'.
The record has been set at 2,567 developers coding non-stop for 18 hours.
Developers from India and overseas participated in the event for building, designing and testing apps for the Windows platform with global mentoring and technical resources at hand.