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The Microsoft.com Global
Operating Model:
Home Page Case Study
Jeff Litvak
Director, Site Operations, Microsoft.com

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Agenda
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• Organizational context
• Global operating model defined
• Microsoft Home Page case study

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Organizational Context

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Organization and Function
CORPORATE
MARKETING
MSCOM TEAM
TRAFFIC AND CONTENT
STRATEGY
BI/ANALYTICS DESIGN SERVICES SITE MANAGEMENTSITE OPERATIONS
• SEO
• Content strategy
and consulting
• Tagging specs
• Site reporting
• BI platform
evangelism
• Targeting segments
• Experimentation
• Design
• Specialized dev
• Accessibility
• UX alignment
• Pub, prod, dev
• Loc/globalization
• Targeting tagging
• Field engagement
• Center of
excellence
• Business
development
• Stakeholder
relations
• Project
planning/mgmt

MSCOM Vision
Our mission is to engage and convert visitors to Microsoft.com,
throughout the customer lifecycle, to heavier purchasing and usage
across the Microsoft ecosystem of devices and services.
most-visited site
in the world
Over 1 billion
visits/month
Referrals to
Microsoft store
14th

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Microsoft.com by the numbers (per month)
All Microsoft.com
(xxx.microsoft.com)
Home Page
(www.microsoft.com)
1.52Billion
VISITS
32.34%
CLICKTHROUGH RATE
1.09Billion
VISITORS
3.23Billion
PAGE VIEWS
26.57Million
VISITS
21.24%
CLICKTHROUGH RATE
21.06Million
VISITORS
37.61Million
PAGE VIEWS

Microsoft.com Site Operations Portfolio
Flagship
Events
Corporate
Stakeholder
Special Projects
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Global Operating Model and
Microsoft Home Page

Brazil
Israel
Home Page Overview
• 98 markets spanning about 65 languages
• 20 percent local content (one highlight
panel)
• Several content bands configurable by
market, campaign or content
• Content updates rarely go in lockstep;
more likely to have scheduled updates by
tier or market
• Not all products are available in all
markets
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United States
France
• 98 markets spanning about 65 languages
• 20 percent local content (one highlight
panel)
• Several content bands configurable by
market, campaign or content
• Content updates rarely go in lockstep;
more likely to have scheduled updates by
tier or market
• Not all products are available in all
markets
Home Page Overview
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Differing Subsidiary Operating Models
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*

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Global Operating Model and Microsoft Home Page
• Centralized cost structure: Corporate team has the budget to get the work done
• Corporate may reject a subsidiary request to run a local campaign
• Facilitate global adoption of services such as digital experience platform, BI, design, targeting.
Stakeholders using MSCOM services necessarily use our platforms and processes
• New campaigns are (usually) reviewed by local markets before publication
Initially met with skepticism by subs – perceived lack of control. Now endorsed because they don’t
have to deal with dev, localization and publishing logistics

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Global Operating Model and Microsoft Home Page
UX ALIGNMENT PROCESS GOVERNANCE
Two guiding principles
HOME PAGE DEV PRODUCTION PUBLISHING
Central marketing
80% Content
create/scheduled
100% Page dev, production,
localization/globalization and publishing
CORPORATE CENTRALLY

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Principle One:
UX Alignment
1. Alignment Experiences

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Aligned Experiences
Visitors to Microsoft.com should have a globally consistent, locally relevant experience

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1. Alignment Experiences
2. Process Governance
Principle Two:
Process Governance

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Process Governance
Global directives
• Standard URL structure
• Brand and UX/UI guidelines
• Geo-redirection and targeting rules
• Content strategy and editorial calendars
Alignment with local priorities
• High quality content localization
• Locally created offers, case studies, industry
news, etc.
• Ongoing optimization

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Select the most effective imagery
• Aligned with target audience
• Choice between lifestyle or illustration
• Culturally appropriate
Process Governance

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Process Governance
Playbooks, training modules and
ongoing reviews
• Brand guidelines for Microsoft and its products
• Style guide for colors, images and fonts
• Length and integration of text into page design
• Correlation between content and campaign goals
• Legal requirements for co-branding

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Process Governance
Review content to prevent
(unintentional) issues
• References to inappropriate content (violence, drug,
alcohol, etc.)
• Graphics considered offensive in certain cultures
• Cultural insensitivity

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Summing Up
• Unification of DX platform, governance, BI, localization/globalization, user
experience, targeting segments and optimization made the effort worthwhile for the
corporate team and subs
• Simplifies budgeting but doesn’t necessary reduce costs
• Subsidiaries will still try to go beyond parameters – and will often make a good case
for doing so – but the rules need to remain firm
• Need a single line of communication to the subs – everyone tries to game
the system
• At a company of our size with such strong businesses, cross-group adoption is
difficult – but worth the effort