Supplier
Diversity
The alliance is the latest in a spectrum company, beyond its existing relationship has been crucial to our growth.”
of fruitful relationships between Micro- with Microsoft. In several cases, MWBE firms have
soft’s supplier diversity team and New For instance, Microsoft’s recent suc- the advantage of skipping lengthy bidding
York-based MWBE firms. Over the past cess with its New Jersey-based surface processes and partnering with Microsoft,
few years, this relationship has created technology partner Logistic Solutions set owing to new laws that support minority-
new opportunities for both the MWBE new standards within the health informa- owned businesses. According to Jonathan
community and the State of New York to tion exchange ( HIE ) space, streamlining McKinney, president at Facts and Mea-
modernize existing technologies. Micro- the mobilization of healthcare informa- sures, an MWBE that has partnered with
soft currently serves on the New York & tion electronically across organizations, Microsoft to help customers manage data,
New Jersey Minority Supplier Develop- regions or hospital systems. By using his company’s status as an MWBE not
ment Council, which promotes business surface computing technology to cre- only spared it a month-long bidding pro-
opportunities between minority firms and ate applications that offer greater access cess, but also helped avoid competition
other private-sector businesses. and transparency to government data, with larger corporations in a bidding war.
this relationship is likely to catalyze fur- At the same time, the business relationship
Everybody Wins: ther breakthroughs in areas ranging from with icrosoft has opened doors in terms of
Relationships of Mutual health record management to geospatial acquiring new clients in the future.
Benefit renderings of homeland security initia- “Our relationship with Microsoft has
When larger corporations partner with tives. been crucial to driving new business,”
smaller MWBE companies, they are fre- “Success breeds success; our relation- says McKinney. “When I go into pitch
quently able to harness the potential of the ship with Microsoft can testify to that,” meetings and use Microsoft as an ex-
MWBE partners and tap their potential to says Al Limaye, CEO of Logistic Solu- ample while demonstrating workflows or
run more innovative and streamlined op- tions. “Our milestone relationship with cost-savings options, it invariably scores
erations. In many cases, the relationship Microsoft in the surface technology space points in our favor. Having Microsoft val-
not only fuels business growth, but also was noticed by other leading corporations idate our work has consistently helped us
opens up new possibilities for innovation. and even in this dwindling economy, we win jobs.”
At the same time, successful relation- could cast a wider net and establish new The Supplier Diversity team also main-
ships with MWBE partners often lead to relationships with marquee clients. Get- tains a keen focus on empowering MWBE
new business opportunities for the partner ting the stamp of approval from Microsoft firms with the right tools to expand their
skills. Aziz Ahmad, CEO of UTC Associ-
ates, a minority-owned technology con-
sulting and system integrations company
that has partnered with Microsoft to pro-
vide services and solutions for customers,
says that Microsoft invests heavily in its
MWBE partners to ensure that they have
the right tools to drive success for their
customers. Earlier this year, Hernandez’
group sent executives from 10 MWBEs,
including UTC Associates, to the Tuck
School of Business at Dartmouth for ex-
ecutive training.
“Microsoft’s continual investments in
its partners is not only a morale booster
for all the beneficiaries but also fosters a
healthy environment for shared success,”
says Ahmad. “By supporting its MWBE
business partners and helping them build
their skill sets, Microsoft is champion-
ing a ‘growing together’ model that helps
companies like ours move forward.”
Marking a Shift: From Doing
Good to Doing Well
Historically, the first supplier diversity
program can be traced back to President
20
www.blackeoejournal.com The Black E.O.E. Journal
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84