‘Power Your Future’ charts a career path

Pratima Amonkar
Director - Strategic Audience 
Marketing at Microsoft

The advent of trends like consumerisation of IT, cloud computing and proliferation of devices has gone a long way in rapidly changing the way business is done. As an average Indian today spends maximum time using some kind of application on his / her device, the demand for app developers is growing rapidly. 

In India, Microsoft is currently making significant investments in working with 1.6 million developers, over 1000 Independent Software Vendors and more than 2000 System Integrators to empower them with the tools, technologies and training required to develop high end skills and compete in a global marketplace.

Microsoft along with 23 learning solution partners like NIIT, Aptech, IT-Networkz hosted the ‘Power Your Future’ initiative across the country.  There was a record presence of over 45,000 developers and IT professionals who participated in a simultaneous orientation session across 1000 locations. Pratima Amonkar, Director - Strategic Audience Marketing at Microsoft talks to VARINDIA about the initiative taken by Microsoft…….

What were the key ‘takeaways’ for the participants from the ‘Power Your Future’ initiative that you recently hosted? How did you ensure to make it successful?

‘Power Your Future’ initiative was aimed at helping developers and IT professionals chart their career path. It will also provide direction to hone their skills to build apps for the global marketplace. 

The rationale was to arm the emergent developer community with the necessary skills, exposure and the winning skills that one needs to acquire to excel. The event was led by our tech evangelists who took them through the key skills required and how they can hone and put their existing skill sets to use. Our partnership with solution partners like NIIT, Aptech was to help them see app development as a career; a fruitful one.

Could you tell us more about this initiative you have started?

The reality of multi-device, multi-screen experience is reforming how developers think about both building and monetizing apps, and the increasing presence of cloud services in the back end adds to this ongoing change. 

Developers need to acquire the requisite skills to write modern apps. ‘Power Your Future’ initiative will give professionals and students an opportunity to hear from senior Microsoft leaders and mentors from across the country. This will help them understand the latest trends, identify their strengths and interest areas and have career discussions with counselors at their local learning center. 

The initiative was powered by Microsoft Virtual Academy, the leading learning resource from Microsoft, and aimed at empowering developers with appropriate skills for the upcoming app demand.

We believe ‘Power Your Future’ initiative would not only fuel the need for next generation technologies in the developer community, but also help create a pool of certified professionals as needed by the industry. 

Who are the partners you are working with? What will be their contribution to this initiative?

The learning solution partners with whom Microsoft partnered with were - APTECH, NIIT, IT-Networkz, CMS, Digiterati, DreamsPlus Consulting, RJP INFOTEK PRIVATE LIMITED, Mazenet, Koenig, TAI Infotech Pvt. Ltd., Multisoft Systems, Trainedge, UPTEC computers, New Horizons, IT Business Management Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., India Options, Varnaaz, IACE TECHNOLOGIES & SERVICES (P) Ltd, Knowledgewoods, APYL Software and systems ltd, Ingram Micro, Seed,  SUN Info.

Through this event, the learning solution partners will reach out to more than 1, 00,000 developers and IT professionals from hundreds of educational institutions in the next twelve months. 

Developers and IT professionals would be identified through aptitude tests and then trained and mentored by learning solution partners and Microsoft to develop socially relevant apps. These developers and IT professionals would then compete at various levels enhancing their knowledge and skills by showcasing their creative ideas, development capabilities by competing at District, State and Zonal levels before reaching the National level competition. To encourage maximum participation, wild card entries would be allowed at all levels of the competition and various exciting gifts and prizes will be awarded to the participants. 

How enlightened are Indian developers when it comes to developing applications on Cloud? 

Cloud Computing and developing Apps are big trends. It is reshaping the landscape in many ways and the developers and IT professionals have an opportunity like never before to increase their reach and possibilities. 

Indian developers have already started building apps on Cloud and realize its true potential. Insurgence of cloud and the proliferation of devicesgives lucrative opportunities to Indian developers and with time apprehensions such as security are also fading away. 

What are some of the recent developments that have taken place in the Applications space?

Apart from ‘Power Your Future’ initiative, we have recently released a new developer network experience portal -developer.microsoft.com, an intuitive single point of entry to help developers interact with Microsoft. The collaborative portal will enable networking amongst the developer community, offer expert guidance to developers and remotely solve their queries, empowering them to be more efficient as they go from idea to app.

Also, recent developer initiatives like Windows AppFest with support from the Government of Maharashtra & Government of Madhya Pradesh, Windows AppFest creating a world record, TechEd, TechDays, WOWZAPP highlights how Windows platform together offer the biggest opportunity to the developer ecosystem in India.