Going the collaboration route, Microsoft partners with a state-owned company to develop products for the mammoth government and enterprise sector in China
Microsoft has partnered with the Chinese government-owned China Electronics Technology Group (CETC) to release a specially-modified version of Windows 10 for use in government and enterprise applications.
After a continuing series of setbacks in breaking into the Chinese government sector -- from the Chinese government blocking Microsoft product sales post the Edward Snowden NSA leaks, to the Chinese government’s unsuccessful attempt at launching their own Linux-based OS called Red Flag, it hasn’t been easy for Microsoft offerings to be deployed in government operations in the region.
Even though the Chinese government has -- since 2003 -- been allowed to review the source code of software for the purpose of upholding security, the Snowden leaks were a major setback to US software companies looking to do business with China, where China in turn had reason enough to push back on foreign products and focus more on developing home-grown solutions.
CETC, which is also the body responsible for developing technology for the Chinese government as well as their military will be entering into a joint venture with Microsoft called C&M Information Technology Co. Ltd, where CETC will have a 51 percent controlling stake. The new entity will be conducting trial runs of this new operating system across three government sites. This specially-developed Microsoft operating system will have Windows 10 at its core, but with hard-coded system policy settings that are customized for government users.
While the regular version of Windows 10 is available to Chinese consumers for purchase it still stands banned from government applications, while implies an absence from numerous large enterprises that are government-controlled.
This approach of partnering with local Chinese-owned entities looks to be a route that several international software players are adopting -- IBM announced a similar partnership with the Chinese Wanda Group to sell products in their markets recently.
In a statement to Arstechnica, a Microsoft spokesperson said, "We are pleased with the progress we are making with our partners in China, and look forward to making Windows 10 available for procurement by government and state-owned infrastructure entities upon final government review. We look forward to sharing more in the future."
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