"It's no exaggeration to say that the kind of innovation going on in Israel is critical to the future of the technology business . . . For Microsoft, having an R&D center in Israel has been a great experience . . . The quality of people here is fantastic."  - Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software architect of Microsoft (2005)

Microsoft Israel is one of Microsoft's four strategic regional development centers, and home to some of the company's most exciting and innovative technologies.

Highlights

·        1989-Microsoft opened its 1^st foreign branch in Israel with 3 employees.

·        The Israel Research and Development Center, opened in 1991, is one of Microsoft’s 4 strategic regional development centers and home to some of the company’s most exciting and innovative technologies.

·        The Israel R&D Center is strategically situated in two main locations—in Herzliya, and in Haifa, home to many graduates of the Technion, Israel’s leading technology institute.

·        Along with its core R&D and incubation activities, Microsoft Israel is engaged in outreach activities to local communities through its Unlimited Potential Program.

·        2005- Bill Gates visited to Israel for the first time and signed a cooperation agreement with the Government of Israel, establishing a program to support Israeli start-ups in developing innovative technologies and bringing them to the global market.

·        2006- Microsoft Israel and SAP Labs Israel initiated “Mendocino,” a joint-product, which enables access to SAP business processes and data via Microsoft

·        Hebrew is 1 of 7 Microsoft core languages.

·        2008- Microsoft Israel is headquartered in Ra'anana and employs over 500 people.

Accomplishments 

• Microsoft Israel has significantly contributed to the development of Windows  NT software as well as other globally recognized  IT security and  telecommunications technologies.
• Microsoft Israel has developed the world's largest document management system for the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
• The Microsoft Corporation credits Microsoft Israel for developing the largest active directory in the world. This system, which helps manage identities and relationships that make up network environments, was created for an Israeli health fund that has 3.7 million users.

 Investments and Returns

• 1996-Microsoft acquired Panorama, an innovator of business intelligence solutions.
• 1998-Microsoft makes its first venture capital activity in Israel by investing in the Orion Israel Fund l – part of the international AIG Global Investment Group
• 2000-Microsoft acquired WebAppoint for $10 million.  
• 2001-Microsoft acquired Peach Networks Ltd., a provider of technology for enhanced TV services for digital television for $72 million.
• 2002-Microsoft acquired Maximal Innovative Intelligence, a developer of information management software for $20 million.
• 2003-Microsoft acquired Pelican Security, a security software start-up for $300 million.
• 2006-Microsoft acquired Gteko, a provider of automated technical support for personal computers and electronic end-user devices for $120 million.
• 2006-Microsoft acquired Whale Communications, a developer of secure sockets layer (SSL) and virtual private networks (VPN) vendor for $76 million and turned the company into its 2^nd R&D Center in Israel.
• 2007-Microsoft acquired Israeli start-up, Secured Dimensions, with its technology for the protection of applications
• Turnover from Microsoft's total activities in Israel reached, on average, $1 billion per year.
• 2007-Total  local sales of Microsoft's XP and Vista operating systems amount to 450,000, of which 180,000 were Vista systems - about 40% of total sales.
• 2008-Microsoft acquired ad agency Yadata  and Kidaro, an innovative visualization solution company