MS announces winners of 'Heroes Happen Here'

BANGALORE, INDIA: Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited has announced the winners of "Heroes Happen Here" after the launch of its three new products namely Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008.

Through the last four months Microsoft globally and in India, ran an extensive campaign titled, "Heroes Happen Here" aimed at celebrating the contribution of technologists including IT professionals and developers to the business success.

In India, the contest received over 900 technologists writing in about their achievements, and over 10,000 developers, IT Professionals and visitors submitted their votes.

Based on this, Microsoft India selected three winners - Rajesh Shirpuram from Spadeworx, Saravanan Rajappa from TCS and Rizwan Ahmed, who have now headed to the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond.

Commenting on Heroes Happen Here, Doug Hauger, chief operating officer, Microsoft India said, "Over the last few years, IT professionals and developers have evolved from mere facilitators to frontline business contributors and helping companies do their business better. The contest 'Heroes Happen Here', was aimed at acknowledging their contribution and it is overwhelming to see the initiatives being undertaken by India's technologists towards their organizations as well as society at large."

"Today's launch is a milestone in our commitment to businesses, developers and IT professionals and heralds the new era of enterprise technologies. We are positive that our customers in India will benefit tremendously from Microsoft's new infrastructure and application platform, thereby allowing them to improve their business continuity," Mr Hauger added further.

The Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) in Hyderabad, which is the largest development center outside Redmond, has played a key role in the development of each of these products.

The company has plan to release the Windows Essential Server Solutions family of products for small and midsize companies built on Windows Server 2008 and the newest Microsoft server technologies and services: Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 later this year. Additionally, Windows Storage Server 2008, the next-generation storage solution based on Windows Server 2008, will be available by the end of the year.