Credit: Mike Blake/Reuters Microsoft will step up its investments in Asia over the next two years as part of a bid to strengthen its relationship with partners and corporate customers in the area of mission-critical technologies.“Over the next two years, we’re going to invest about [US]$14 million in resources and facilities,” said Chris Sharp, Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific general manager of server and tools products, during a phone interview.As part of these investments, Microsoft will assign 100 technical specialists to work with customers and independent software vendors on mission-critical software products, including Windows 2003 Server and SQL Server 2005. The company also plans to open two technology incubation centers in Seoul and Bangalore, India.“These technology centers are there to showcase the capabilities of server technology and help people port their applications to mission-critical hardware,” Sharp said. Microsoft’s planned investments in Asia will boost the effectiveness of the company’s enterprise sales team in Asia, said Dane Anderson, head of research at Springboard Research.From a technology standpoint, Microsoft’s products are competitive with offerings from rival vendors, but the sales cycle for enterprise products is longer and more involved than for sales of desktop operating systems or application suites, Anderson said. “These investments help to address that,” he said. Customers that have an established relationship also expect to benefit from the added investment and new technology centers.“We think it’s pretty good for us,” said James Kang, chief information officer of NTUC Income Insurance Cooperative, noting that the incubation centers are available to help his company run simulations and test new applications.-Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service (Singapore Bureau)Related Link: Microsoft Vista, Office 2007 Biz Launch Kicks Off in AsiaCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content feature 10 most popular IT certifications for 2023 Certifications are a great way to show employers you have the right IT skills and specializations for the job. These 10 certs are the ones IT pros are most likely to pursue, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White May 26, 2023 8 mins Certifications Careers interview Stepping up to the challenge of a global conglomerate CIO role Dr. Amrut Urkude became CIO of Reliance Polyester after his company was acquired by Reliance Industries. He discusses challenges IT leaders face while transitioning from a small company to a large multinational enterprise, and how to overcome them. By Yashvendra Singh May 26, 2023 7 mins Digital Transformation Careers brandpost With the new financial year looming, now is a good time to review your Microsoft 365 licenses By Veronica Lew May 25, 2023 5 mins Lenovo news Alteryx works in generative AI for speedy analytics results OpenAI integration and AI wizardry for report generation are aimed at making Alteryx’s analytics products more accessible. By Jon Gold May 25, 2023 3 mins Analytics Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe