Nikolai Pryanishnikov: “When I came to Microsoft ...”

The Vedomosti newspaper published an interesting interview with the Russian president of Microsoft, Nikolay Pryanishnikov, who in 2008 replaced the legendary Olga Dergunova in this post. Many say that the replacement turned out to be so-so: the new president has little knowledge of IT, some kind of frivolous and frivolous compared to its predecessor (Dergunova was overgrown with connections, went up and is already on the board of Vneshtorgbank, the second largest bank in the country). But from the interview it becomes clear for what particular qualities Pryanishnikov was invited to Microsoft.

It turns out that the Russian branch of MS at this stage is seeking to improve financial results to the maximum, and the former president for sales of VimpelCom has real talent in this area. It was he who led the MSS company to become the leader of the Russian cellular market, starting with a regular sales agent, and after switching to VimpelCom in 1999, he invented the “Bi Plus” boxes - sets from a SIM card with a phone for only $ 49, after which the company sales began to grow sharply.

“Microsoft in Russia quite recently was a relatively small company in terms of sales,” says Pryanishnikov. - But in recent years, sales in Russia have increased significantly. Now this is a serious business. ”

Microsoft has strengthened the service of large corporations, and the level of software piracy in Russia for three years has decreased from 80 to 68%. “In America, for example, the level of piracy is 24%, in Europe it is 35%. So we are on the right path, but there is still a lot of work to be done, ”notes Pryanishnikov.
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Here are a couple of quotes from the interview.

“Any new printer or scanner came out in the world, and everything is ready and working with us. A good Linux operating system, but sometimes it's impossible to print anything. In schools, I was told, it comes to jokes: the poor teacher writes something in free Linux, and then goes to a computer with a native Microsoft and prints a document from it. When we talk about Apple, you still need Windows to share all the files and download all the programs. Without Windows, nothing happens. ”

“At Microsoft, your share of the stock increases every year in the company, if you work well, of course. Therefore, every year the motivation to not leave the company increases. ”

“When I came to Microsoft, I was surprised by the existence of entire communities of people who either love or hate the company. Then I figured out what was wrong: a strong company that did something outstanding and achieved success in business always causes a polar attitude towards itself. In addition, there is a stereotype that every dollar for the purchase of a Microsoft product falls into the pocket of Bill Gates personally. Although he no longer works in the company, is engaged in charity and fundamentally distances himself from the operational management of the company. Even when he visits some countries on his charitable issues, he doesn’t go to the Microsoft offices, and the company’s employees will find out about his trip after the fact. But we still treat people who hate us tolerantly and think that in time we will calm them down. ”