Who needs a microphone with Steve Ballmer around! His voice resonates with the passion that clearly remains.....

Who needs a microphone with Steve Ballmer around! His voice resonates with the passion that clearly remains after years of running Microsoft. As the delegation chairman I was privileged to run an open Q&A session with UK software developers, Harvey Nash clients and Microsoft senior executives and Steve Ballmer. The Visit to Vietnam of both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer is vital to maintain the huge interest in IT, the commitment by the Vietnamese government to education and the increasing growth of the countries software industry

Harvey Nash, jointly hosted the official visit to Vietnam today with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation, and representatives from the UK Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partner community. The delegation, which was supported by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is the first of its kind to Vietnam and highlighted the region’s emerging status as a destination for offshore and outsourced services. The British Ambassador to Vietnam, Robert Gordon spoke of the energy and commitment of the young Vietnamese population 56% are below 25 years and how the UK is now a leading trading partner.

Paul Smith said “For the past ten years the UK has been suffering from a skills shortage within IT. Our clients were demanding skills that simply weren’t available in their local labour market. With a growing and youthful IT workforce and an ambition to develop its software services, Vietnam was a natural offshore location. Seven years on, we now employ over 1,800 technology professionals, helping Microsoft ISV partners develop new software applications and, in turn, helping boost the local software economies of both the UK and Vietnam.“

The Vietnamese government has strongly promoted the software industry as a pillar of national development. Harvey Nash and Microsoft have also invested heavily in university programmes, helping boost the growth of a young, highly-skilled workforce; over half of Vietnam’s population of 84 million is under 25 years old and 83% of all graduates are science-based, compared to fewer than 13% in the UK

Claire O’Halloran, leading the strategy for ‘next generation’ partnerships at Microsoft UK, said:

“Throughout the world Microsoft ISV partners are developing and deploying new and innovative applications which make businesses and individuals more effective, efficient, competitive and productive. These same ISVs are now asking us to help them expand internationally and take their solutions to the broader worldwide marketplace. If we can assist our partners access new markets, Microsoft’s share will grow correspondingly.”