When Microsoft meets China's 'Internet Plus' initiative

Earlier this month, China announced its "Made in China 2025" strategy and its intention to develop the "Internet Plus" action plan to seek innovation driven development, apply smart technologies, integrate the mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things with modern manufacturing, and to upgrade China from a manufacturer of quantity to one of quality.

Smelling the business opportunities in these new policies, enterprises that utilize cloud computing distribution models, SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), PaaS (Plartform-as-a-Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), are all eager to grab a piece of the market.

"The 'Internet Plus' is really addressing opportunities fpr the Cloud sector," said Ralph Haupter, corporate vice-president, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Greater China Region.

Haupter is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of Microsoft's business and investment in GCR and reports directly to the President of Microsoft International, Jean-Philippe Courtois. He is a 10-year veteran at Microsoft and previously served as area vice president (AVP) of Microsoft Germany.

Here we present an exclusive interview with Haupter, to elaborate on the multinational's ambitious expansion plan in the cloud computing sector in China.

Wang Yuxi contributed to the video interview.