MSDN - Question for Andy

Author

Question for Andy

Mel Johnson

2005-10-26, 6:56 pm

Hi Andy,
I have a non-technical question related to Microsoft's MSDN "business". It
is simply out of curiousity, but you don't have to answer it if the
information is privileged.

I was just wondering if Microsoft considers MSDN a profit center. In other
words, are they considering MSDN subscriptions a source of revenue, or are
they just enough to "break even" the costs of bandwidth, DVD burning etc.

I wondered because it seems like a very nicely run operation and the
logistics seem quiet mind boggling. I can imagine it must be very expensive
to burn and ship DVD binders around the world every month in addition to
provide the bandwidth to download gigs of data every hour.

So bottomline, do Visual Studio sales subsidize MSDN or does MSDN add to
Visual Studio's profits? This is purely out of curiousity, and I imagine
this info is probably out there on MS's public financial statements
somewhere but I thought I'd ask you.

Thanks and keep up the great work.
-Mel

Andy Boyd \(MS\)

2005-10-26, 6:56 pm

Your best bet will probably be to check the MS financials - I believe P&L
for MSDN may be listed there. I'm a bit reluctant to comment on the
business of MSDN and how it contributes to the MS business, because quite
frankly I run the online operational side rather than the profit and loss.

--

Andy Boyd
Program Manager
MSDN Subscriber Downloads

"Mel Johnson" <test@test.com> wrote in message
news:ePuBKll2FHA.3420@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Hi Andy,
> I have a non-technical question related to Microsoft's MSDN "business". It
> is simply out of curiousity, but you don't have to answer it if the
> information is privileged.
>
> I was just wondering if Microsoft considers MSDN a profit center. In other
> words, are they considering MSDN subscriptions a source of revenue, or are
> they just enough to "break even" the costs of bandwidth, DVD burning etc.
>
> I wondered because it seems like a very nicely run operation and the
> logistics seem quiet mind boggling. I can imagine it must be very
> expensive to burn and ship DVD binders around the world every month in
> addition to provide the bandwidth to download gigs of data every hour.
>
> So bottomline, do Visual Studio sales subsidize MSDN or does MSDN add to
> Visual Studio's profits? This is purely out of curiousity, and I imagine
> this info is probably out there on MS's public financial statements
> somewhere but I thought I'd ask you.
>
> Thanks and keep up the great work.
> -Mel
>

Garth H

2005-10-26, 6:56 pm

Without going to the P&L, I'd guess that it's brake even at best.
Consider that creating the tools that we use to write applications that
are used to write applications is in itself a benefit for MS. Give us
good tools, we write good apps, and people continue to buy MS Operating
systems, and applications that are the foundation of our work.

You'll excuse me, but I need to go hit the refresh button my my msdn
subscribers page... :p

--
Garth H
webdev511@spamcop.net
Microsoft Certified Professional
Macromedia Certified Developer

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