What an Ecosystem We Live In
Microsoft released a huge study on Thursday filled with facts and figures about
how much its software contributes to worldwide GDP, employment and tax revenues.
With the study stored on Microsoft's Web page in a subdirectory titled "Corporate
Citizenship," the primary audience for this document is obviously governments.
It's something Microsoft can point to when lobbying for less protectionist trade
policies and better IP protection.
There are plenty of tidbits in the IDC-prepared, Microsoft-commissioned study
that give partners a sense of where they stand in the bigger picture. How about
this one:
"Microsoft-related activities are responsible for 14.7 million jobs from
an IT industry total of 35.2 million people -- 42 percent of total IT employment
globally in 2007 -- and more than $514 billion in tax revenue worldwide,"
according to Microsoft.
It sounds like partners might be in the mix there. Some other highlights found
in the study are:
- "For every $1 Microsoft earns in 2007, companies working with Microsoft
will earn $7.79." That figure is lower in the United States, at $6.14,
but much higher in some places. "Countries such as China, India and Russia
see earnings in excess of $16 to $1," Craig Mundie, chief research and
strategy officer at Microsoft, said in a statement.
- There are more than 640,000 vendors in the Microsoft ecosystem.
- Those vendors will make more than $425 billion in revenues in 2007.
- IDC is bullish on IT jobs and businesses. The study predicts 7.1 million
new IT jobs and 100,000 new businesses over the next four years. China is
expected to be the No. 1 source of new jobs, followed by the United States.
The study is available here.
Posted by Scott Bekker on October 18, 2007