Microsoft — Communications Sector North America > Strategy Development back

Driving strategy with better communication

Company: Microsoft

Industry: Computer/Internet Technology

The Microsoft Communications Sector is responsible for advancing Microsoft's strategy for the communications industry and marketing and selling all of Microsoft's offerings. This includes selling industry solutions, services and core Microsoft products to communications service providers, hosting providers, and media and entertainment companies.

Need: Microsoft needed a strategic plan that helped their Communications Sector work more cohesively, and from that plan implement a management process that made Microsoft's five business units communicate more effectively. The business units included:

  • Industry solutions
  • Services and core Microsoft products
  • Communications service providers
  • Hosting providers
  • Media and entertainment companies

Service: Strategy Development

The Solution: The planning process involved looking holistically at how all five business units communicated and creating synergy where they overlapped. A governance and execution model would then be implemented to ensure successful execution organization-wide within each of the five business units and among them.

Deliverables:

  • Facilitated Strategy Sessions with the Communications Sector's Leadership Team and each business unit to develop the long-term strategy for the Communications Sector overall.
  • Development of an executable strategic plan that applies the best practices in strategic planning to the entire Communications Sector with each business unit working in a coordinated effort to produce results.
  • Development of strategy communication tools.
  • Development of a consistent execution strategy and implementation management process.
  • Connection with Account planning: Clearly established connection between the FY11 Strategic Plan and Account Plan.
  • Ongoing strategy and execution support throughout the planning process.

Result: The innovative approach to communications helped drive organization-wide strategy. It enabled all five businesses to align their goals and work together in a coordinated effort versus blinded to the big picture by their individual silos.

More Resources

One-Page Plans

Microsoft's Strategic Plan

M3 Planning helped Microsoft create a strategic plan that helped their Communications Sector work more cohesively.

"(We) found the (M3) team to have a rich tool box of tools/methods/approaches to bring together a diverse leadership team, create a unified vision, mission and strategic plan. Incredibly flexible approach to problem solving and they were able to adapt to our very dynamic culture. Very pleased with M3. They are client-centric and (we) would definitely use them again."
— Brian P. Freese,
Microsoft Director of Business Strategy & Operations, Communications Sector North America