14 DAY TRIAL // The Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek 2009 event in Houston was the stage where Microsoft announced that it was moving the leadership of its Worldwide Oil and Gas Business to Dubai. The Redmond company is attempting to no less than secure a presence at the oil “center” of the world, revealed Albrecht (Ali) Ferling, Ph.D., managing director, Worldwide Oil and Gas Industries for Microsoft. The move to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, means that the software giant's global industry initiatives will leave Vienna, Austria, where they were previously located.
“Our industry is facing unprecedented challenges that demand a truly borderless response,” Ferling explained. “From Dubai, Microsoft will be centrally located for ready access to our customers in the prevailing and emerging energy centers of the world. Future demand growth will come largely from countries like China, India and the Middle East. Dubai, located midway between Central Europe and the Far East, is ideal for business travel to all oil capitals, from Houston to Beijing. And with the power ultimately shifting from consumer to producer in the global energy equation, the Middle East is an important location for Microsoft and our partners.”
The Redmond company remains committed to driving technology innovations that will end up fueling the oil and gas value chain, Ferling revealed. In this regard, the head of the software giant's Worldwide Oil and Gas Busines ensured that customers would be able to tap resources capable of boosting performance while managing risk and compliance.
“We’re continuing to tackle the creation of technology solutions for some of the industry’s top priorities – better collaboration, unified communications and role-based productivity – to fundamentally change the way people work by introducing novel workflows that maximize scarce labor talent and bring the information to workers wherever they are,” Ferling promised.