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Since the late 1990’s, Microsoft IT has been putting a great deal of effort into transforming its globally decentralized organization into to a highly centralized one. From years of experience in executing IT projects and initiatives, the organization has acquired extensive technical competency and competitive strength in managing global IT operations.
As part of this global organization, Microsoft Taiwan IT team has also evolved from functioning in a purely operational role to playing a strategically important role in the local subsidiary. As Microsoft IT continues to seek new business opportunities that enable it to sell its technical expertise more aggressively to external customers, Microsoft Taiwan IT team as well as its regional headquarter managers are looking for creative and practical ideas to expand its business to any high potential areas.
This thesis consists of three sections: a business plan for launching a new IT technical service to external customers, a case study of Microsoft IT’s transformation during the last decade, and a final discussion and conclusion about the feasibility of implementing the business plan. Firstly, the proposed business plan uses the author’s work experience in Microsoft IT to elaborate on a practical business model, its business scope, and the necessary steps of launching a new IT technical service to external business partners and customers in Taiwan. Secondly, the case study describes Microsoft IT’s role at different stages in its history by using the IT Strategic Grid to identify each stage of the organization’s transformation and further identifies the root causes of Microsoft IT’s past success and failure in its efforts to explore new external business opportunities. The conclusion uses Porter’s Five Forces Analysis to identify the current market situation and provide suggestions for Microsoft Taiwan IT organization in preparation for launching this new business plan.
In addition to secondary information collected from the Microsoft and other internet websites, a few interviews were also conducted with several Microsoft Regional IT former and incumbent staff members to collect authentic information for the history and background section presented in the case study. A survey was also used to get feedback from local business partners and identify their interest in the proposed IT Technical Advisory service.
Keyword List:
Decentralized organization, centralized organization, supportive role, global direction, technical service, transformation, new business opportunities, stages, history background, analysis, market situation, suggestion.
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