Microsoft officially launches BizSpark Program in India
Microsoft has officially announced BizSpark program for Indian entrepreneurs – the program is designed to to help accelerate the succ
ess of early stage startups by providing key resources (like software, support etc).
The program is open to early stage startups as well; and in general, MS is looking at the entire program as a way to create a buzz among startups (who are hopefully, tomorrow’s ISVs for MS).
Any startup can enroll for the program (no upfront cost) – the only hook is that you need to pay $100 if you leave the program in-between.
Startups will get a free three-year license to Microsoft software and servers including Visual Studio, Windows Server and Microsoft SQL server. They will also get access to business and technical support from the network partners, and will be promoted on the Microsoft Startup Zone site.
So far, 75 startups have enrolled for the program.
Qn: As a startup, will you choose MS technologies over open source, based on programs like this? Do share your opinion.
Recommended Read:
- Steps to enroll for Microsoft’s BizSpark program.
- MS wants to catch you young with free Microsoft developer products.
About the author - Ashish Sinha is a Startup Mentor/Product Strategy Coach, and the founder/chief editor of pluGGd.in.
He has launched/managed couple of products (consumer as well as enterprise) in US and India, and now consults with startups/small businesses on their product/media strategy. He can be reached at: ashish (at) pluGGd.in [+91 98452 06443]
Ashish,
It was a pleasure meeting you at the Microsoft Office on the Microsoft BizSpark Launch. Regards
Sanjay Mehta CEO MAIA Intelligence httP://blog.maia-intelligence.com
Thanks for your post on BizSpark. Simply put, BizSpark makes it easy for startups to look at Microsoft technologies.In delhi, attendees talked about how MS technology makes their products go live faster and we had a little demo of creating a website in 4-5 clicks. With BizSpark, startups can benefit from the scaffolding that MS technologies provide. One important factor attendees also mentioned was availability of people to code in that particular technology.