Business Integrity

The final pillar of Trustworthy Computing is business integrity, which asks the question: can you, as a government, company, or customer, trust Microsoft? Unlike the other pillars, business integrity does not lend itself to the xD+3 framework. Because customers and partners judge Microsoft’s integrity with every interaction they have with the company and its products, this pillar is driven by Microsoft’s mission and values, its standards for business conduct, and by employees who follow those guidelines.

What Is Microsoft Doing?

The framework for Microsoft’s business integrity pillar is based on communicating its mission and values, as well as its standards for business conduct, to its employees and the public.

Mission and values. As stated by CEO Steve Ballmer in a summer 2002 e-mail to all Microsoft employees, Microsoft’s mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. The company claims that its core values, such as ensuring a broad customer connection to understand customers needs, working globally, and hiring high-quality people who are bright, creative, honest, and have passion for software, are key to delivering on this mission, and says that it is taking these values into account during employee evaluations.