Supplier
Diversity
Microsoft Works to Strengthen
Diversity of its Supplier Pipeline
W
hat connects President Lyndon
Johnson’s 40-year-old Great So-
ciety program with Microsoft Sur-
face multi-touch computer technology, a
next-generation technology that turns an
ordinary tabletop into an interactive com-
puting platform?
Three words:
supplier diversity programs.
Recently, Microsoft’s supplier diver-
sity team was instrumental in recruiting
a minority-owned business to become
an authorized reseller of its pathbreak-
ing Surface technology, making the New
York-based company Microsoft’s first mi-
nority partner in the United States in the
cutting-edge surface computing realm.
Like many major corporations, Micro-
soft has been active in supplier diversity
for more than 20 years. It has a robust
outreach program dedicated to identifying
business opportunities with certified Mi-
nority and Women Business Enterprises (
MWBE ) and veteran-owned businesses,
Small Disadvantaged Businesses, and
HUBZone business concerns. The com-
pany’s supplier diversity program seeks
to give back to diverse communities by Success Stories: health organizations in and outside New
providing woman- and minority-owned
Supplier Diversity as a Driver
York. This represents a new market op-
business enterprises with an opportunity
for Business Growth
portunity for both firms and an opportu-
to compete. nity for organizations looking to upgrade
Fernando Hernandez, director of Sup- Besides consistently increasing its di- to more modern, efficient systems
plier Diversity at Microsoft, says that Mi- versity spending, recent success stories According to Michael Jones-Bey, ex-
crosoft believes strongly in diversity as a for Microsoft’s supplier diversity program ecutive director of Empire State Develop-
standard practice that strengthens its busi- include driving a $3 million contribution ment’s ( ESD ) Division of Minority and
ness model. Though supplier diversity has to the Business Consortium Fund of the Women-Owned Business Development,
been a business reality at Microsoft for National Minority Supplier Development Microsoft applies the same innovative
a while, the company decided to aggres- Council, and managing a treasury initia- corporate culture that has vaulted it to the
sively pursue diversity initiatives about tive to increase deposits in 20 local, mi- forefront of global technology solutions
five years ago. “Today, we’ve grown nority-owned banks. to its approach to supplier diversity.
this initiative to the point where we have Earlier this year, the Supplier Diver- “Microsoft has consistently found cre-
spent more than $1 billion annually, last sity team was instrumental in forging a ative ways to build capacity and expand
year and this year, working with more groundbreaking alliance with an MWBE market opportunities for MWBEs,” says
than 1,200 diverse vendors and partners,” firm that specializes in building custom Jones-Bey. “We are excited about the
Hernandez says. “Exceeding the $1 bil- applications for Health and Human Ser- synergy we have found between qualified
lion mark is a big milestone for us, as it vices case management. The business MWBE companies and Microsoft and
catapults us into an elite league of top 15 relationship is founded on using Micro- believe that this kind of relationship will
corporations worldwide that rack up such soft Dynamics software to create highly potentially serve as a national model for
huge amounts in diversity spending.” replicable case-coordination solutions for supplier diversity.”
18
www.blackeoejournal.com The Black E.O.E. Journal
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