Microsoft eyes a business niche

Microsoft said yesterday that it planned to announce today a new strategy for selling software to medium-size business, including a revamped collection of programs that would handle specific jobs. The new software programs will be released starting this fall (US) and through next year.

The New York Times reports (7 September) that Microsoft long ago identified midsize businesses as growth opportunities, but today's announcement indicates that the company sees this market as increasingly important.

The newspaper says that in the new suite of programs, called Microsoft Dynamics, the company will include features for some 50 business tasks and incorporate new technology, which has been in development for the last few years under the code-name Project Green.

A new version of the company's accounting program, Great Plains, expected this fall, will automate the processes of jobs like accounting clerk, sales manager, controller and finance manager. The software will be renamed Microsoft Dynamics GP when it is released.

According to the NYT, as existing programs incorporate the new technology, they will also be renamed, the company said. For example, the new version of Microsoft's Axapta, a human resource management program, will become Microsoft Dynamics AX.

The NYT reports that the company also said it was developing a version of its Windows Server specifically intended for "overworked generalists," the workers who provide software support, fix network problems and handle whatever else comes up. Company officials said the new technology would help companies by automating much of the work of supporting software.