Microsoft Recognizes Outstanding Contributions by Suppliers

REDMOND, Wash., March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced the recipients of the 2011 Microsoft Preferred Supplier Program (MPSP) Excellence Awards. The MPSP Excellence Awards recognize superior performance, exemplary service and innovation by suppliers that are members of the MPSP, previously referred to as the Microsoft Vendor Program. The purpose of the Microsoft Preferred Supplier Program is to build long-term relationships with a select group of strategic vendors that create long-term value for Microsoft.

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Winners of the 2011 MPSP Excellence Awards were nominated by Microsoft employees and awarded based on excellence in quality, value, service and innovation. Winners were announced during the 10th Annual MPSP Executive Briefing on Microsoft's corporate campus in Redmond.

"I am very excited and honored to recognize this year's winners for their outstanding performance," said Chris Drews, general manager and chief procurement officer at Microsoft.

2011 MPSP Excellence Award Winners

Winners were announced in seven categories: Diversity, Environmental, Quality, Service, Technology, Value and Supplier of the Year.

Diversity Excellence Award and Technology Excellence Award

Zones Inc. is a Microsoft-certified Diversity supplier* that has a long history of successfully supporting Microsoft. Today, the company supports Microsoft across many procurement categories and global locations spanning more than 30 countries. Since being awarded the U.S. hardware peripheral business in 2009, Zones has expanded its business model to provide world-class acquisition, logistics and fulfillment support for a number of Microsoft's business-critical projects. Zones has demonstrated an ability to work closely with Microsoft, building customized fulfillment solutions that are supported by a dedicated team of account and technical professionals. Its commitment to offering exceptional customer service scales all organizational levels, and its partnership helps Microsoft execute many strategic initiatives.

Environmental Excellence Award

Hyatt Hotels Corp., one of the world's largest hotel and hospitality companies, supported Microsoft's environmental goals through Hyatt Thrive, a global corporate responsibility program designed to "help make the communities places where our associates are proud to work, our guests want to visit, our neighbors want to live and owners want to invest." Hyatt recognizes that environmental sustainability is a journey and not a short-term endeavor. It has made considerable progress toward its aggressive 2015 goals to reduce energy consumption per square meter by 25 percent, reduce water consumption per guest night by 20 percent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions per square meter by 25 percent.

Quality Excellence Award

Moravia IT is a leading globalization solution provider specializing in e-learning, life sciences, localization and product testing services, internationalization, multilingual publishing, and technical translation. In FY11, Moravia IT delivered exceptional value to Microsoft by providing competitive pricing and service excellence as well as by consistently scoring an 85 percent performance rating on all deliverables. During the past three years, Moravia IT has supported more than 100 Microsoft product launches in over 100 languages, achieved consistent service excellence and efficiency gains, and surpassed Microsoft's Localization Community Language Quality Assessment by 10 percent.

Service Excellence Award and Supplier of the Year Excellence Award

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 236,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Accenture has proven to be an exceptional partner, enabling Microsoft to drive a best-practice business process outsourcing (BPO) model in which three critical finance processes across 96 countries were outsourced. The BPO model led to efficiencies, which resulted in savings of more than $30 million for both companies; in parallel, Accenture has surpassed all service-level expectations. This relationship has resulted in a truly win-win paradigm.

Value Excellence Award

ChinaSoft International is a leading global provider of premier IT services that offers a full range of services and leading-edge solutions that generate significant long-term value for global clients including Microsoft. ChinaSoft exceeded Microsoft's expectations by achieving over 50 percent cost savings by consolidating more than 100 individual resources from 16 suppliers to a single supplier with less than 70 individual resources. This model provides a 30 percent year-over-year return on investment through direct service level agreements, efficiency improvements and problem-solving. ChinaSoft's commitment to deliver highly competitive offshore and onshore rate structures, along with a tangible plan for measuring and committing to high levels of quality, has generated substantial savings for Microsoft.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Any Microsoft vendor claiming to be diverse must be officially certified as 51 percent or more owned, operated and managed by minorities, women or veterans, or must be an SBA-certified HUBZone (Historically Under Utilized Business Zone). http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/procurement/diversity/en/us/default.aspx

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.