Asia-Pacific Oil and Gas Pros Lead Industry in Workplace Adoption of Social Media, Reports Microsoft-Accenture Poll

Findings reveal Europe, Middle East and Africa on board mostly for finding resources; the Americas value knowledge transfer capabilities.

HOUSTON, March 10, 2010 - Oil and gas industry professionals in Asia Pacific lead the industry in
the use of social media and collaboration tools at work, reports recent
Microsoft Corp. and Accenture survey findings unveiled at CERAWeek 2010, with
three out of four respondents from that region saying social media tools
improve their work performance.

(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

The Microsoft and Accenture "Oil & Gas Collaboration Survey 2010," which
polled 275 professionals from the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and
Asia Pacific, found that industry workers in Asia Pacific significantly led
those in other regions in the business use of social media tools such as
instant messaging, videoconferencing, social networking sites, mobile phone
text messaging, video or photo sharing, and the use of blogs and microblogs,
sometimes surpassing their peers in other regions by margins of 10 to one. In
fact, 37 percent of respondents from Asia Pacific stated social media is
"very valuable" for work collaboration.

"Asia Pacific, with its rapidly growing demand for energy, will set the
oil agenda of the future, so driving increased productivity, enhanced
collaboration and more efficient operations is of top importance in this
region," said Albrecht "Ali" Ferling, Ph.D., Microsoft managing director,
Worldwide Oil and Gas Industries. "Oil and gas professionals in Asia Pacific
clearly have their sights set on adopting the newest technologies to help
them keep up with the growing demand for energy."

Drive to Locate Information in EMEA

Over one-third of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) respondents
reported they spend more time in collaboration this year than last. Sixty-two
percent of them, however, said that collaboration was often hindered by the
inability to find exact resources, including people and information. Three
out of four EMEA professionals said social media was valuable for business,
and over half reported using social media primarily as a search tool, with
many more in EMEA choosing to use wikis for business purposes than any other
region.

Americas Adjust to Changing Work Force

When asked where they see the most value in social media for
collaboration, the top answer of workers in the Americas was "documenting and
transferring knowledge." This response tracks with the 61 percent of all
respondents who said that "scarcity of skills/talent due to shrinking or
aging work force" is the global industry trend most often driving their need
to collaborate. However, 40 percent of respondents from the Americas said
they are not currently using any public or company social media tools in the
workplace. While half of respondents from all regions said their companies
were on board but not widely implementing social media at this time, one in
four from the Americas said their companies were not open to the adoption and
implementation of these tools, a higher response than from Asia Pacific (14
percent) and EMEA (17 percent).

James Arnott, Accenture senior executive in Energy industry group's
consulting practice said, "Companies slow to embrace collaboration
technologies are missing strategic opportunities to leverage tools to drive
work-force utilization and improved business and operational performance. The
high rate of usage in emerging markets reflects those companies' rapid
adoption of new technologies to provide differentiated levels of work force,
operations and business performance - this is creating new levels of
competitiveness. The key finding that individuals, work groups and teams
around the world are driving the use of collaboration tools within their
company is indicative of the widespread need for knowledge-sharing and
improved productivity through collaboration. It also highlights the
increasing use of technology to support a critical shortage of skills and
experience within the oil and gas industry."

Three out of four professionals in all regions cited complex projects as
the largest workplace factor driving collaboration, with 21 percent from the
Americas saying they use social media to manage capital projects. Beyond
that, geographic responses varied: Americas felt strong pressure to push for
innovation to stay competitive (35 percent), while Asia Pacific (43 percent)
and EMEA (34 percent) said the new tools help them meet the demand for
frequent or detailed reporting to management.

Overall survey results reveal that nearly 75 percent of oil and gas
professionals worldwide see value in using social media and collaboration
tools at work - an 83 percent jump from responses one year ago.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company, with more than 176,000 people serving clients in more
than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive
capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive
research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates
with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.
The company generated net revenues of US$21.58 billion for the fiscal year
ended Aug. 31, 2009. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.

For more information about Microsoft Manufacturing:

- Microsoft News Center:
www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/industries/manufacturing/Default.aspx

- Oil and Gas Industry home page: www.microsoft.com/oilandgas

Virginia Brooks of Brooks & Associates Public Relations, +1-903-532-9714, virginia at brooksandassociatespr.com, for Microsoft; or Wendy Grover of Microsoft, +1-425-705-7609, wegrover at microsoft.com; or Christine Fields of Accenture, +1-330-234-6406, christine.fields at accenture.com / NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx