Our Company
Our Mission
To help people and businesses around the world realize their full potential.
Download the Microsoft2011 Citizenship Report
Archived Reports
Our Business
As the worldwide leader in software, services, and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is committed to sharing our successes with our employees, our shareholders, and the communities in which we operate. We approach that commitment with the same energy and innovation with which we approach all parts of our business.
Where We Are
Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. In fiscal year 2011 (FY2011) we employed approximately 90,000 people on a full-time basis in more than 100 countries/regions and territories. Approximately 54,000 employees were based in the United States and 36,000 were based internationally.
Financial Information
For detailed financial information, see the Microsoft annual financial report.
Business Structure (revenue per business division shown in billions)
For detailed information about Microsoft’s business structure and financial performance, visit the Microsoft Investor Relations website.
Our Customers and Partners
Our success as a business depends on our ability to listen and respond to feedback from our customers and partners. We continually focus on improving our customer relationships and our broad range of listening systems, including product satisfaction surveys, usability studies, online feedback forms, support communities, research forums, and our customer service Twitter account @MicrosoftHelps. All of these help us understand and respond to the experiences that people have with our company.
Across Microsoft, employees and executives are accountable for customer and partner satisfaction metrics from our global surveys, and satisfaction ratings are a core measurement for both individual and regional performance. Microsoft’s latest third-party global survey results show that satisfaction with Microsoft has improved significantly over the past two years. In addition, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) reports a 2 point gain for Microsoft over the last year and a 7 percent gain since 2009.
For more information on customer and partner experience or to provide feedback, visit the Microsoft Customer and Partner Experience website.
Partners
Microsoft partners with approximately 640,000 businesses—mostly small to medium-sized and locally-owned—to develop, market, sell, and service Microsoft products. Our partners’ impact is felt in economies around the world. In 2011, the activities of Microsoft and its partners supported many millions of jobs globally in addition to the jobs of Microsoft corporate employees.
Our Products
Microsoft products include operating systems for personal computers, servers, phones, and other intelligent devices; server applications for distributed computing environments; productivity applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games; and online advertising. We also design and sell hardware, including the Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment console.
This past year, cloud-based solutions that provide customers with software, services and content over the Internet continued to grow in significance for our business. Some examples of Microsoft’s cloud services are:
- Bing, our Internet search engine that finds and organizes the answers that people need so that they can make faster, more informed decisions.
- Xbox LIVE, a service that enables online gaming, social networking, and access to a wide range of video, gaming, and entertainment content.
- The Azure family of platform and database services that helps developers connect applications and services in the cloud or onsite.
In FY2011 Microsoft released a number of new products and services that further diversified our business. These included:
- Windows Phone 7: Our next-generation mobile phone operating system. By the end of FY2011, the Windows Phone Marketplace had more than 20,000 apps available for download.
- Kinect for Xbox 360: A revolutionary device that enables people to control their Xbox 360 game console by using gestures without requiring a mouse or controller.
- Microsoft Lync 2010: Our newest communication service that integrates voice, video and messaging.
- Microsoft Office 365: The first cloud-based application for Microsoft Office, enabling users to work, connect and collaborate flexibly from almost anywhere.
Research and Development
These and other products are the result of considerable investment in research and development, which is conducted by Microsoft Research and dedicated product teams. In FY2011 we invested more than $9 billion in research and development, equal to 13 percent of revenue, with a majority of this investment focused on product development.
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Research and development spending (in billions) |
$ 9.04 | $ 8.71 | $ 9.01 |
| As a percentage of revenue | 13% | 14% | 15% |
More information about Microsoft investment in research and development is available on pages 9 and 30 of our FY2011 10-K filing.
