Microsoft outsources IT services to Infosys | Hacker News Reader

Microsoft outsources IT services to Infosys

techflash.com

15 pointsFraaJad16 comments

Microsoft's response to the article:

This is simply a consolidation of work that used to be provided by multiple vendors to a single provider, Infosys. As you know, we have had a concentrated effort to be more efficient and save money. This was a major area where we could do this. This new contract will not impact our internal resources. And it won’t affect the usual internal exercises we do.

Nice to know that even Microsoft employees can't get good answers about how Windows works. At least they can RTFS, I guess...

(But seriously, my guess is that only non-programmers are getting their IT outsourced. The HR people don't need the latest dev build of Windows, after all.)

Microsoft IT is responsible for all workstation computers. They force you to install an anti-virus, updates, etc. They are also who you call if you have network connectivity problems or other general IT issues. Everyone is an admin on their own box, but they run tools to verify compliance via nagging. Generally, MSIT is a bit of a joke to the engineering teams. One more joke that I won't have to deal with any longer: I've got a meeting at 3pm to inform my manager that my last day will be April 30th. Startup world: here I come.

Do you guys use Windows 7 yet? (I only ask because I work at a big company, and I estimate we will get something other than XP shortly after hell freezes over.)

Absolutely everyone is on Windows 7, but only because it is that much better and people upgraded on their own. A significant number of brave souls also dogfood pre-release Windows, Office, and many other products.

I personally avoid extra beta software like the plague, as MSIT volunteered us for dog-fooded Exchange. System crashes and document loss is not something I want to add on top of unreliable Email delivery, but a lot of people feel obligated to take the pain to help other product teams.

Oh, and it's official: I just quit :-) Really, I think Microsoft is a great company. However, at this stage in my life, I just need to do my own thing!

I thought Microsoft was all about eating their own dog food. How can they sell IT software when they don't use it themselves?

I'd imagine Microsoft IT would have been a great place to solicit feedback about what sucks about their own products. Guess not.

Did you read the article? Microsoft addressed that very point.

They basically address this by saying, "It's not a problem. Trust us."

No, they addressed it by claiming that nothing that wasn't already outsourced has been outsourced; they simply centralized vendors.

It's not just MS. Apple also "leverages" [Infosys](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/04/13/microsoft-outsou...)

I think they will use their own software, only it will be supported by Infosys.

I think that in Real Life, there's enormous value in using (or at least supporting) the software you write. Nothing like having to debug a production concurrency problem to make you appreciate adequate logging, with timestamps.

Yawn.

Call me back when the organization that's now running Microsoft IT services starts swapping in Unix servers on Power or z/OS on System z10 boxes or other notable migrations.

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