More Than Cosmetic Changes

by Steve LeSueur, EditorMicrosoft is reorganizing its government business unit, and the changes appear to be more than rearranging desks and putting new titles on business cards.The three top officials for newly created Microsoft Government stopped by Washington Technology and briefed Staff Writer Nick Wakeman on their plans. The company has gathered all of its state and local government business under the new government unit in order to magnify its focus on the state and local market, which Microsoft officials say will soon outpace their federal business.Probably most important, Microsoft is trying to shed the image ? which officials say their competitors have helped to perpetuate ? that it's primarily a desktop software company. Microsoft Government intends to take on Oracle and Sun Microsystems in the government market for high-end, server-based applications. "You're going to see a lot more of Microsoft in there than you have in the past," Microsoft Government chief executive Pete Hayes said.Nick's front-page story has all the details.And if the cartoon below catches your eye, check out Staff Writer Gail Repsher's article in our Workplace section. The California Department of Corrections and a number of other states are training prisoners to refurbish old computers. Under these training programs, prisoners learn an employable skill while public schools receive the computers for free. So far, more than 70,000 refurbished computers have been given to California public schools.XXXSPLITXXX-