The People-Ready Business vision Microsoft began discussing earlier this year rests on this basic premise: When given the right software, a company’s people become an even more strategic asset in driving business success.

The premise is no mere hypothesis or marketing bromide. It is supported by recent research on the impact of IT on business by consulting firm Keystone Strategy, Inc., under the direction of Professor Marco Iansiti of Harvard Business School, with sponsorship by Microsoft: “Information Technology Drives Growth”.

The findings are front and center at the Microsoft Tech•Ed 2006 conference in Boston this week. The conference features much discussion about the investments Microsoft is making to help customers implement the infrastructure that will help enable the People-Ready Business. This is manifested in specific commitments Microsoft is making to IT professionals and developers to deliver the products and services necessary to harness the power of IT to create competitive advantage and fuel business growth within their organizations.

More than 11,000 are expected to attend this year’s Tech•Ed. The conference features over 1,000 sessions that will provide IT professionals, developers and technical decision makers with training, information and resources to build, deploy and manage solutions, using currently shipping and near-term Microsoft technologies.

To learn more about the research, its key findings and how they relate to the People-Ready Business vision, PressPass spoke with Professor Marco Iansiti, director of research at Harvard Business School; George Favaloro, principal at Keystone Strategy; and Andy Lees, corporate vice president of Server and Tools Marketing at Microsoft.