Microsoft has made a significant step in pushing its business in the Kenyan market and the larger continental Africa. Its latest stride in the region is tied to the first and one of a kind software testing centre that went live a few hours ago.
The launch program, which is said to cost KES 100 million, was attended by Kenya’s Deputy President Mr. William Ruto and ICT Cabinet Secretary Mr. Joe Mucheru.
The Nairobi-based centre will be situated at Techno Brain’s headquarters. Techno Brain, a technology company that operates in 20 states across with an impressive group of 1200 employees (1000 of them are Africa-based), has partnered with Microsoft’s Windows Device engineering team for quality assurance and testing of the Microsoft’s flagship products, as well as other complementing services before they are deployed to the masses.
It should be noted that the arrangement is more of an outsourcing process that has been done by the Redmond-based tech giant in other markets like Poland, China and India. This means that the team at Techno Brain will work collaboratively with the Windows Development Group (WDG) from Seattle, USA.
However, Techno Brain engineers (Kenya-based) will be tasked with testing internal builds of Windows OS and Microsoft Office, among other tools, before they are deemed stable for a public release. The complex testing process will make sure that bugs are weeded out and reported appropriately, in addition to making key recommendations based on suggested features, UI/UX revamps and design of concrete feedback for the MS engineering team.
Besides being the first groups of people to receive exclusive features of Windows software builds, the team and the partnership, in general, will create about 1000 high-skill jobs for the locals in engineering, quality assurance and testing outsourcing for the next couple of years. At the moment, the facility has 20 testing units and expects to install 80 more stations as soon as possible.
