BANGALORE: Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates finally indulged in some straight business talk in India's tech capital to announce a stronger partnership with Indian IT major Wipro to face the challenge from IBM in the global market. After two days of concentrating mostly on the charitable efforts of the Bill and Melinda Foundation while in New Delhi, the Microsoft founder spoke in Bangalore of the "very powerful combination" that his company and Wipro could make before customers worldwide. "We are building our engagement. Microsoft's largest competitor is IBM and IBM has chosen to be in the services business as well. We want to go to our customers with Wipro and its experience in services. This combination is a very powerful combination unlike the single company approach of IBM. So we have a bright future together," Gates said. Gates' announcement to the 1,500 software developers, a large number of whom work on Microsoft technologies, at Wipro's electronic city campus was received with thunderous applause. "Thank you for the good work done as a partner and customer for Microsoft," he added. The world's richest man spoke more as the chief software architect at both his engagements in Bangalore, first at the "Bill Gates Live" talk at the Infosys Technologies amphitheatre and later at Wipro. At his first engagement during the half a day visit to the city, Gates complimented India's software prowess as "impressive". "Software is magic and business is most exciting and I look forward to many other things we would be doing in the future."
Source: IANS