View: Understand Your Customers and Strengthen Relationships Remotely
Friday 31 December 2021
Understand Your Customers and Strengthen Relationships Remotely
The world has changed, and the workplace continues to evolve post-pandemic. Understanding your customer is essential for personalizing sales—knowing your client wants and needs leads to effective engagements. With increased work happening in the cloud, products like LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Dynamics 365 Sales help you stay agile, meeting customers wherever they are.
Sign up to learn more about how to effectively engage with digital selling.
Thursday 30 December 2021
Transition to Cloud: A journey to Modern Work with Microsoft 365
The digital transformation of the business world has pushed businesses to address new challenges: remote work, cloud migration, and device security is the new normal. Today's decision makers need to create people connections, address burnout, and work toward consolidating apps.
With Microsoft 365, you get a platform boosted with industry-leading apps, intelligent cloud services, and world-class security. You can download and sync devices, detect threats before issues occur, simplify through vendor consolidation, and so much more.
This infographic explains the 6 ways Microsoft 365 apps and services can ease your organization's journey to modern work.
View: Transition to Cloud: A journey to Modern Work with Microsoft 365
Employ flexible, open hybridcloud solutions—transform customer engagement
Enable remote work, take advantage of cloud innovation, and maximize your existing on-premises investments by relying on an effective hybrid and multicloud approach. Sign up to stay connected so we can help you modernize your .NET apps on Microsoft Azure and stay up to date on the latest cloud computing trends.
View: Employ flexible, open hybridcloud solutions—transform customer engagement
Wednesday 29 December 2021
This LinkedIn Tool Could Boost Your Sales
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium subscription-based app specializing in prospecting and tracking sales prospects. Its advanced search engine helps identify ideal candidates by looking for leads or accounts—filtering search results based on geography, industry, company size, role, seniority level, and more.
With Sales Navigator, marketers can engage new leads and connections and discover new ones automatically. The Team version connects popular CRM applications and captures your Sales Navigator activity.
Modd.io brings open source game development to everyone
Modd.io is a Canadian startup that has created an innovative open source gaming platform written entirely in Node.js on the Azure platform. Using a proprietary visual scripting language, Modd.io allows individuals without an extensive background in coding to create and publish HTML5 multiplayer games. Its community of gamers can play user-generated games, even viewing and using shared source code in their own creations. Read on:
Tuesday 28 December 2021
Transformation by the numbers
DevOps is just the start. Top organizations know that transformation also depends on technology, talent, culture, and process. GitHub helps enterprises put them all to work—in one place. Check out these impact results by the numbers and see why GitHub is the best in open source.
Britax Römer Creates a Unified E-Commerce Solution with Dynamics 365
Child car seat and stroller engineer/manufacturer Britax Romer designs and delivers its safety products to retailers across Europe. To innovate and keep ahead of the competition, it needed to automate, digitize, and give savvy customers and retailers the information they needed in one place—as well as fulfill deliveries in record time. Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions enabled the retailer consumer guidance toward the best safety products for children.
Monday 27 December 2021
Helping customers across every industry prepare for the future
Seven of 10 board directors accelerated digital initiatives due to COVID-19, executing two years' worth of digital transformation in two months. Learn how Microsoft is helping customers across every industry prepare for the future.
Transition to Cloud Deployment checklist
Businesses rely on cloud transformation for the stability and agility it offers to their operations. Microsoft 365 enables this transformation by realizing modern work environments where users are productive and secure while working from anywhere. Review the infographic and get started today with this 5-step deployment checklist. Learn how you can rapidly deploy Teams, secure access, provide employees with adequate support, and more.
Thursday 23 December 2021
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Deliver fast, efficient product innovation on any platform using DevOps with GitHub. Support your developers by helping them build the right teams, with the right tools, for the right projects—a
Security and privacy with an integrated portfolio of cloud services
Businesses rely on cloud transformation for the stability and agility it offers to their operations. Microsoft 365 enables this transformation by realizing modern work environments where users are productive and secure while working from anywhere. Secure your business with technology you can trust, ensure only the right users have access without affecting productivity, and protect your data through security best practices and easy-to-use policies that prevent accidental data leaks.
Sign up to say connected—we'll help you learn more about making the transition to the cloud and into a more secure environment.
View: Security and privacy with an integrated portfolio of cloud services
Wednesday 22 December 2021
What's driving application modernization?
Digital transformation—the adoption of leading-edge technologies to improve business value and increase customer success—is seen by most organizations as more critical than ever and accelerated by the effects of the pandemic.
Application modernization is driven by the need for transformation, privacy, remote work, government regulation, risk assessment, worker productivity, data growth, and the need to stay competitive.
Sign up to stay connected so we can help you understand what's driving enterprises to modernize their .NET apps by migrating to the cloud with Microsoft Azure.
Kent Water Sports Pivots During COVID-19 with Dynamics 365
As people spent more time outdoors during COVID-19, Kent Water Sports experienced a huge spike in product demand for its outdoor water and snow activities equipment. Improving its e-commerce experience was essential to keep up with orders.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce and Microsoft Power BI allowed Kent to thrive during the pandemic. The solution enabled employees to access, manage, and share data with ease to fulfill customer needs. Kent had a record sales year and is going strong—just like its active clients.
Tuesday 21 December 2021
Get started with GitHub and Azure DevOps
Adopting the tools and mindset of DevOps in the right manner will facilitate development efficiency, boost productivity, and increase the rate at which products can be brought to market. These helpful tips will get you on your way to gaining powerful design capabilities, innovation, acceleration, and more with GitHub and Azure.
Top seven tips for faster application development with DevOps
DevOps can help teams of any size develop, fix, and deploy software faster. By having faster application development, faster updates, and faster shipments, development lifecycles are shortened. It's no wonder organizations across all vertical markets and global geographies have embraced DevOps. Along with collaboration, the ability to integrate DevOps efforts with the widest array of tools possible is a cornerstone to success. Read these 7 in-depth insights on faster application development with DevOps, then contact us to learn more about the flexibility of Microsoft DevOps with GitHub and Azure.
Monday 20 December 2021
Goodyear drives more remote collaboration to keep plants running with Microsoft Teams
As a company dedicated to keeping people moving, Goodyear tire company wasn't about to slow down because of global travel restrictions due to COVID-19.
When engineers could no longer travel to factories for equipment installation or troubleshooting, Goodyear turned to Microsoft Teams running on RealWear voice controlled, assisted-reality wearable computers to bring the engineering experts into the plants virtually—enabling instantaneous collaboration from remote locations, and saving money on travel costs.
The future of cloud in a post-pandemic world
COVID-19 dramatically changed the way people work. There were severe shifts in the cloud sector caused by changing work patterns, and this forced C-suite executives to fast-track their cloud migration plans. While the cloud was a lifeline for many of these organizations, they now must prepare to continue this transition. Companies must work towards cloud modernization in partnership with their CIOs and IT departments.
Saturday 18 December 2021
Savvy SMB Leader's ERP Buyers Guide
When everything is moving so fast, and you are constrained by time and resources, it can be difficult to stop and think about the business systems that your operations rely on. Business continuity and success depend on effective operations, productivity, quality, speed, and the customer experience that you deliver.
Connect your data across all lines of business in your organization—from financials to sales, services to projects, and even across warehousing, supply chain, and manufacturing. A modern solution can enable real-time data access, visibility, and insights across your entire company.
Sign up to stay in touch and download the e-book "Savvy SMB Leader's ERP Buyers Guide." When it's time to digitally reimagine your business and gain the competitive edge you need, we can help.
Thursday 16 December 2021
DevOps with GitHub Solution Overview Video
Developers are at the core of innovation. Stand out in a competitive market by leveraging open-source software and delivering fast, efficient product innovation. Learn how Microsoft can help.
Monday 13 December 2021
Identify and fix more errors with faster build times and quicker feedback for developers
Identify and fix more errors with faster build times and quicker feedback for developers
View: Identify and fix more errors with faster build times and quicker feedback for developers
Building a Resilient Organization through Integrated Cloud-based IT
The results of a double-blind, online survey of 500 IT decision makers responsible for device, productivity, collaboration, and endpoint management tools, showed an increase efficiency and drove business growth by harnessing organizational knowledge to provide rich insights.
Learn about the three general stages of Microsoft 365 adoption regarding your business's IT device management approach in this case study.
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View: Building a Resilient Organization through Integrated Cloud-based IT
Friday 10 December 2021
Fluid, Dynamic, and Cloud-Powered Solutions
Microsoft is uniquely positioned for partnership with any organization's modern digital transition journey. Solutions like Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 provide an end-to-end, integrated portfolio of cloud solutions. Built on a foundation of security and privacy, the Azure platform helps businesses in every industry build resilience and improve the bottom line. Communication is seamless, dynamic, and collaborative.
Sign up to say connected—we'll help you learn more about making the transition to the cloud.
6 ways digitalization Is empowering women around the world
Digitalization is breaking the barriers for women across the globe. From rural education to entrepreneurship, digitalization is giving a voice to those who previously didn't have one—reducing the gap between men and women and empowering them to build communities, develop ideas, and strive for excellence in all areas.
Thursday 9 December 2021
Realizing results with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Financials, sales, services, supply chain, project management, analytics—they're all separate departments but they no longer need to be silos. Thanks to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can connect them through a single, unified application.
Today's marketplace is more competitive than ever. With every day bringing a new technological advancement, you'll need the best business solutions to keep pace. Review the infographic to explore your options and unlock the possibilities.
View: Realizing results with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
How To Get Your Cloud Migration Strategy Right
Industry leaders are working hard to compete with digital upstarts that develop their business exclusively in the cloud. Business infrastructure has become more complex, and to keep up to date, companies are digitizing their operations—looking for agility and insights from data and analytics.
IT business partners must demonstrate the ROI of switching from ""owning"" to "renting" infrastructure. It's now critical to monitor performance across different cloud frameworks with tools that collect and correlate data from every location. Leaders understand there is a before, during, and after migration strategy for making the switch successful.
Wednesday 8 December 2021
Host your .NET application and data on the most cost-effective cloud
Optimize costs so your resources are better spent on increasing operational efficiencies, supporting new business priorities, and improving customer experiences.
Sign up to stay informed on the latest cloud computing trends and learn more about migrating your apps and data to Microsoft Azure— the most cost-effective cloud.
View: Host your .NET application and data on the most cost-effective cloud
Your business survived the pandemic—now what?
Businesses are learning lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Operations have changed and things aren't going to go back to the way they were pre-pandemic anytime soon. However, opportunities exist for businesses to flourish—if they take certain steps.
Resizing operations, refocusing products, reducing risks, and reanalyzing capital are key moves to consider as the pandemic loses strength. Companies that best prepare themselves to adapt to changing scenarios should come out stronger in the end.
Tuesday 7 December 2021
Transformation journey
From nurturing creativity, to boosting productivity and advanced security, Microsoft Surface is the best place to deploy Microsoft 365.
Transformation journey
From nurturing creativity, to boosting productivity and advanced security, Microsoft Surface is the best place to deploy Microsoft 365.
Thursday 2 December 2021
3 Smart Ways to Exceed Your Customers' Digital Expectations
Customer experience (CX) is taking the forefront as businesses discover its strong correlation to revenue growth. The drive to become an experience-focused business doesn't just come from the C-suite. Anyone with a deep understanding of today's digital mandate and a strong vision for what digital experiences can do for customers and the business can lead the charge. Sign up now to stay connected to show you the three smart ways to exceed your customers' digital expectations, along with real-world success stories, to help unlock your organization's potential.
View: 3 Smart Ways to Exceed Your Customers' Digital Expectations
Empowering the assembly line
Toyota was already planning to deploy Microsoft Teams to connect its diverse lines of business and improve productivity, when the pandemic hit. A six-month launch plan was reduced to three weeks, connecting 40,000 people across the company and enabling a more efficient method for virtual troubleshooting of processes. Learn how Teams supports the company's culture and ideals.
Wednesday 1 December 2021
GE Aviation's Digital Group makes the skies safer with Microsoft
As an industry leader in airline systems, GE Aviation's Digital Group knows that safety and efficiency are paramount to its airline partners. That's why GE developed FlightPulse, an app that puts data and analytics in the hands of more than 3,000 Qantas pilots to help them improve safety and efficiency on every flight. A solution this complex would typically take years to develop, but using Microsoft developer tools, GitHub, and Microsoft Azure, GE was able to build and deploy FlightPulse in a matter of months.
Toyota Motor North America Migrates 40,000 to Microsoft Teams in Three Weeks
How does a company respond to the challenge of remote work when they are already managing a major digital transition? Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) made the decision to move their original Teams deployment schedule four months ahead, and as a result, thousands of TMNA employees migrated from Skype for Business to Teams over three weekends. Teams Only mode included a superior audio conferencing and calling experience, including Teams Phone for external calls. Employees appreciate the dynamic emergency calling feature. All meeting rooms are now Teams-ready.
Tuesday 30 November 2021
CTTI transforms the Generalitat de Catalunya with Microsoft Dynamics 365
The Center for Telecommunications and Information Technology (CTTI), a public company that brings together the computer and telecommunications services of the Generalitat de Catalunya, is using the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform to manage in a unified way all the information related to its customers. This enables personalization and omnichannel attention for better customer experiences and improved customer satisfaction and retention.
5 reasons happy developers build in better security
Good news for companies revamping DevOps: according to Forbes, "Happier developers work harder, collaborate more, and are better for business." Citing an Oxford study, Forbes said that survey respondents revealed strong ties between job satisfaction and well-established, cohesive DevOps practices. Microsoft DevOps with GitHub is built for greater collaboration, control, flexibility, and security—a recipe for happiness. Read the article here and learn how investing in DevOps is investing in your organization's future.
Monday 29 November 2021
Proactively prepare for and readily respond to disruption
The pandemic created havoc across nearly every industry. How will you continue to adapt as it continues to affect supply chains, how employees work, customer behaviors and demands, and various other aspects of the business landscape? Will you be ready for the next major disruption to your business? With the right tools, you can prepare and flex more efficiently as new challenges (and opportunities) emerge.
Sign up to stay connected—we can help you prepare for future change.
View: Proactively prepare for and readily respond to disruption
Friday 26 November 2021
Deliver fast, efficient product innovation with a best-in-class build for open source.
Thursday 25 November 2021
Engage employees, improve productivity, and build team cohesion
After so much turmoil and change, employees all want different things. Companies need to support a successful back-to-hybrid-office life—a situation that is here to stay. The capabilities for positive hybrid meetings is possible with modern Microsoft tooling like Teams, Endpoint Manager, and devices like Surface Hub. Immersive and custom engagements that highlight leading guidance and innovation help remote and on-site deployment assistance prepare teams for hybrid work—meeting the needs of employees and increasing productivity and satisfaction no matter where they work.
Sign up to stay connected—we'll help you better connect and create new experiences throughout your organization with Hybrid Meetings.
View: Engage employees, improve productivity, and build team cohesion
Azure App Service
Microsoft Azure App Service is a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling your web apps. Work with .NET, .NET Core, Node.js, Java, Python, and PHP—in containers or running on Windows or Linux. Subscribe to stay connected so we can help you build your app services on Azure—all while meeting rigorous, enterprise-grade performance, security, and compliance requirements.
Wednesday 24 November 2021
Digital transformation and the customer experience
Seamless communication, creativity, and immediacy are key factors in the digital transformation of the customer experience. As customers face pandemic-induced circumstances driving accelerated digital adoption, companies are finding they must develop a strategy for digital transformation catering to the needs of the modern-day user. That user demands authenticity, personalization, and empathy.
How SMEs can cure their fear of digital transformation
There's a perception that digital transformation is hard. Businesses resisting it are typically concerned about costs or lack of in-house knowledge. However, those who explore digital transformation quickly discover that these fears are unfounded.
To achieve the benefits of digital transformation, you need to set goals and think of costs as investments.
Tuesday 23 November 2021
Embracing digitalization
Strategy, structure, processes, people, technology—are you agile across all five of these dimensions? Explore guidance for digital transformation of enterprise resource planning (ERP), from tracking performance metrics to adopting a culture of change.
GEICO turbocharges insurance innovation in the cloud
By adopting a DevOps development strategy and transitioning development to Microsoft Azure, GEICO is working to engage customers more personally and dynamically. With the help of partner Applied Information Sciences, GEICO is moving to the cloud with a focus on increased efficiency, greater application availability, and lower costs.
Monday 22 November 2021
Nebraska Furniture Mart embraces Microsoft 365 to work smarter
The ability to work securely from anywhere already played a role in Nebraska Furniture Mart's (NFM) digital transformation vision, but COVID-19 pushed that goal to the forefront. Decision makers at NFM chose Microsoft 365 to advance a cloud-first strategy and standardize on a single solution. Consolidating communication on a single solution like Microsoft Teams helped drive efficiency and collaboration—all while saving costs. NFM implemented Teams Rooms systems at its Omaha headquarters, and the company will soon roll out the solution across all its stores, as well as integrate Teams Phone capabilities in the future.
Friday 19 November 2021
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Not long ago, the main way that major research institutes obtained the computing power they needed for new or ongoing projects was to invest in computing infrastructure, which required significant upfront investments and led to ongoing IT costs to keep the research going.
By switching to cloud computing, research organizations have discovered that they can increase their computing performance without investing in new physical servers or on-site infrastructure. The benefits of the transition are obvious: faster publication times, substantially faster data analysis, significantly lower IT spending, and increased collaboration among researchers, all thanks to improved data sharing and security.
Subscribe now to learn more about how the cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and the off-premises data management capabilities of Microsoft Azure are empowering organizations—research and otherwise—across the world.
Lightning-fast innovation, elastic scalability, cost savings, and better performance
Thursday 18 November 2021
Perform better—continuous optimization and visibility drive performance
The world is moving faster than ever, and your organization cannot be left behind. Learn how you can adapt to these changes with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, which delivers new insights across your company and facilitates process optimization—all of which help your business grow .
Sign up to stay connected. We can help you get the most from your ERP.
View: Perform better—continuous optimization and visibility drive performance
To Make Hybrid Work, Solicit Employees' Input
Driven by the state of the world today, more companies are committing to hybrid work. But how do you build out the model in a way that's right for your business and those who are conducting it?
Simple: Talk to employees to tailor the program to their specific needs. Easier said than done? Learn what questions to ask and scenarios to consider, and then maintain flexibility so you can quickly pivot if necessary.
Wednesday 17 November 2021
ANU Large data sets and small budgets
Large upfront costs can severely limit the scope and scalability of important projects. With major research institutes that work on projects where substantial volumes of data need to be analyzed, the investment in computing infrastructure for data processing can be a major concern. They need a solution that can ensure the proper scalability of research projects and eliminate the inefficiencies of having to constantly update, upgrade, or downscale on-site servers to address the data needs of specific projects. Fortunately, cloud computing is having an enormous impact on how research is done across the globe.
Watch this video to learn how the elasticity and scalability of Microsoft Azure has allowed genome researchers at Australian National University to access only the computational resources they need while delivering results faster than ever before.
The future of frontline work and devices
Yesterday's tools are not enough to get today's job done. Microsoft Teams brings all the tools you and your workforce need into one app. Discover how to integrate the latest tools designed for today's frontline work and devices, tailored to your specific needs.
Tuesday 16 November 2021
Hybrid Work: A Guide for Business Leaders
The pandemic has fundamentally transformed the way we work, do business, and meet customer (and employee) needs. With data showing that all parties want flexibility, the shift to hybrid work is a strategic business opportunity for every organization—one that requires a new operating model.
The customers' objective is to lead this change within their business and embrace innovation and the hybrid work opportunity—the inevitable way of the future. Fortunately, Microsoft has been a trailblazer in this transition, and has a guide to share what they've learned at scale about people, places, and processes.
Subscribe to stay connected. We'll help you take an active role in shaping your organization's future.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 intelligent business applications
When facing disruptive change, a seeming hallmark of these times, agility and innovation are no longer "nice to haves." Microsoft Dynamics 365, boosted by intelligent business applications, is empowering countless businesses worldwide to thrive in this changing business landscape where resiliency is a necessity.
The connected, intelligent applications within Dynamics 365 offer businesses limitless possibilities to innovate, create impact, adapt faster, respond rapidly, and work smarter—all while unifying data to deliver more forward-thinking customer experiences.
Connect your workforce to real-time insights, so you can innovate everywhere. With Dynamics 365, your business will be ready for what's next.
Friday 12 November 2021
Reimagine the Flow of Work in the New Hybrid Work Reality
Flexibility is a must in the new post-pandemic work world. Hybrid work continues to evolve, and business leaders are looking for a new operating model. Technology is the binding factor to create inclusive meetings that keep employees engaged and inspired. Updates to Teams like PowerPoint Live, the Teams camera feed, Microsoft Whiteboard—and devices like Surface Hub—encourage digital collaboration.
Endpoint Manager combines services like Microsoft Intune, Configuration Manager, Desktop Analytics, co-management, and Windows Autopilot to help secure access, protect data, and respond and manage risk.
Sign up to say connected—we'll help you better connect and create new experiences throughout your organization with Hybrid Meetings.
View: Reimagine the Flow of Work in the New Hybrid Work Reality
Thursday 11 November 2021
Safer workplaces for frontline workers
The Pandemic has taken a toll on business but it's pushed us to find solutions to overcome obstacles. Learn how the Microsoft Power Platform Return-to-the-Workplace solution is helping customers safely prepare for the return to physical facilities.
Eight Finance Trends Every CFO Should Know
The CFO's role can be summarized with these two truths: 1) If something impacts the bottom line, it's the CFO's responsibility, and 2) Everything impacts the bottom line.
From unified data to intelligent technology powering finance operations, discover the eight key trends that are affecting the CFO's role.
Sign up to stay connected and access the "Eight trends" infographic. Review the highlights and then, if you like, access the full report.
Wednesday 10 November 2021
The AI Revolution Is Here - A Podcast And Interview With Nate Yohannes
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the catalyst for the fourth industrial revolution, the most significant technological advancement thus far. AI has the potential to solve incredible challenges for all of humanity, including climate change, education, design, customer experiences, governance, and food. That said, among the biggest concerns regarding AI is the potential for unexpected and unintended consequences in building and deploying AI products.
According to Nate Yohannes, Principal Program Manager for Mixed Reality and AI Engineering at Microsoft, having appropriate representation at decision-making tables when building AI products is critical to help prevent these unfortunate scenarios. From his perspective, representation will go a long way toward preventing the unexpected consequences of AI products, and it will also guarantee that the products that are created will have the widest consumer base possible: everyone.
Listen to this podcast for an inspiring conversation about how to make the possible a reality by approaching AI with a new mindset that takes into consideration its full potential for improving the lives of everyone.
Setting The Stage For Collaborative Hybrid Teams
Remote work is starting to feel mainstream, but many companies are still struggling to normalize their own personalized hybrid work models. Explore four things you should avoid in order to balance the needs of a diverse and divided workforce—from investing in the right tools and overcoming meeting fatigue to finding new ways for personal connections.
Tuesday 9 November 2021
The NFL Huddles with Microsoft Teams to Digitize Collaboration for Game Day
Everyone knows that teamwork is vital in the National Football League (NFL)—on the field and off. The arrival of COVID-19, however, pushed the league to reimagine how to collaborate behind the scenes. Executing hundreds of live events while preserving the gameday experience for online fans and business partners was a new challenge.
In exchange for the traditional high-touch, in-person communication culture at league offices, the organization adopted a virtual home field. Microsoft Teams helped the NFL stay connected and safely execute all 270 combined regular season and playoff games and Super Bowl LV—despite the collaboration challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Develop your own path on Microsoft Azure
Whether you're developing your apps on .NET or Java, Microsoft Azure offers great benefits for both. From Visual Studio tools, global compliance, and multiple hosting options, Azure is the go-to cloud service for faster, simpler development.
Sign up to stay connected so we can help you develop your own path on Azure and keep you up to date on the latest cloud computing advances.
Monday 8 November 2021
3 reasons to modernize your data estate
Organizations that modernize their data estate can reap major benefits, including enhanced security and compliance, significant cost savings, and the ability to empower employees via business insights and advanced analytics capabilities. Organizations that don't, on the other hand, risk putting themselves behind the curve by missing out on game-changing cost benefits, leaving their businesses open to potential vulnerabilities, and by not taking advantage of modern analytics capabilities.
Read this infographic to learn how businesses are taking advantage of the latest technologies by modernizing their datasets to create transformational benefits throughout their organizations, and discover how they're doing so by leveraging Microsoft Azure.
Three ways to take cloud-based ERP to the next level
In today's business environment, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are crucial—especially in a post-COVID world, where meetings are more often streamed, and work is conducted from home. By bringing together functions such as financial management, operations, manufacturing, reporting and analytics, and human resources, ERPs enable companies to be run remotely while maintaining security and driving cost efficiency.
Learn how to take your cloud-based ERP to the next level while expanding the flexibility and adaptability of your business.
Thursday 4 November 2021
Work smarter—unlock productivity and business insights
By connecting Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with Microsoft 365, you can work from almost anywhere using nearly any device. You can videoconference, chat, call, collaborate, and seamlessly share Dynamics 365 Business Central data directly within Microsoft Teams.
Collaborate and take care of multiple business processes in one place. For example, you can check your email and create a quote by surfacing contextual customer relationship information, sales records, and inventory data within Microsoft Outlook. Then, schedule and start a Teams meeting with your customer in a few clicks.
Sign up to stay connected. We can help you unlock new methods for productivity and fresh insights for your business.
View: Work smarter—unlock productivity and business insights
Wednesday 3 November 2021
RACQ transforms customer experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) in Australia replaced a 22-year-old legacy platform with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft 365. This new pipeline delivers streamlined processes and a digital feedback loop with a single source of insights for staff responding to member inquiries.
The result? More engaged workers and better service for its 1.7 million members, leading to improved satisfaction.
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Not so long ago, the drawbacks of storing databases in the cloud were so great that most businesses gave it little thought. Today, the benefits far outweigh the shortcomings, with an incredible array of additional services and solutions now available that provide organizations with unparalleled efficiency and growth potential. Not only is the price-to-performance ratio of cloud software much better than that of on-site servers, but an array of additional services and solutions can also now be integrated in cloud applications.
Subscribe now to learn more about how cloud migration can provide you organization with the scalability and flexibility it needs to support its digital transformation roadmap, as well as how you can reap the benefits of industry-leading capabilities by using Microsoft Azure.
Tuesday 2 November 2021
Microsoft Teams Innovations Designed for Hybrid Work
Microsoft Teams empowers employees to interact on the spot with people all over the world. New features like chat, live reactions, and Whiteboard make the Teams meetings experience uniquely modern. Intelligent in-office cameras designed to enhance the presence of people can produce multiple video streams and create unique experiences for both presenters and attendees.
The culture of hybrid work is here to stay, and the innovations Microsoft Teams is making offers employees choice and flexibility—including a new way in Outlook to organize and display your hybrid office hours or join a meeting using companion mode on your mobile device.
.NET Core invests in consistency to accelerate open-source innovation
Microsoft partnering with the open-source community to collaborate on .NET Core proved a valuable learning opportunity for large-scale retooling of its development processes. Consolidating 80 different repositories with more than 800 contributors from inconsistent implementations to a shared toolset required a fresh DevOps approach and the flexibility of Azure Pipelines and its support for GitHub.
The result: Developers can now move between repos without the need to learn a new CI system each time, and tests are more efficiently run which means iterations—and by extension, innovation—is quicker.
Subscribe to stay connected and download the full white paper detailing how the .NET Engineering Services team helped improve developer productivity at scale.
View: .NET Core invests in consistency to accelerate open-source innovation
Monday 1 November 2021
ANU: Collaborative research and data sharing
Data-sharing is an immense enabler of scientific advancements. When researchers choose to make their data publicly available, they are allowing their work to contribute far beyond the original findings. Making research data more accessible also fosters transparency and trust in their work, enables other researchers to reproduce and validate their findings, and ultimately, contributes to the pace of scientific discovery by allowing others to reuse and build on top of the data. Fortunately, cloud technology has made it easier than ever to share data across major research institutions. Empowered by tools that include Microsoft Azure, researchers are relying more and more on digital collaboration and open source software to drive scientific breakthroughs.
Watch this video to learn how researchers at Australian National University (ANU) are using Azure to build on each other's findings and avoid a siloed approach to data that leads to slower research pipelines.
Digitalization future-proofs business thanks to connectivity and the cloud
Schmitz Cargobull AG is Europe's market leader in manufacturing refrigerated vehicles. Management knew that to fulfill their customers' need to track vehicles and loads at all times required scaling up access to data from multiple databases to one location in the cloud—creating a "data lake."
With Microsoft Azure supported by Azure DevOps, these customers now have access to a portal where they can check the location and condition of each vehicle, regardless of where the underlying data lives. Such a solution would have been costly on-premises, but using Azure turnkey modules reduced time to market and the need for in-house tools
Wednesday 27 October 2021
Common myths (and facts) about open source
For some companies, the idea of adopting open-source software doesn't seem viable. There are many myths about open source, but the truth is that it can facilitate security, be easy to maintain and integrate, and scale to whatever heights you require.
Sign up to stay connected on using Microsoft Azure DevOps with GitHub and Visual Studio, and we can help you unravel the myths and facts about open source.
Why You Need an Open Source Software Strategy
Collaboration helps drive innovation, which is why open-source software is the future of digital technology. In 2020, there were more than 1.9 billion global open-source contributions. When facing a new technological challenge, open source can be the key to unlocking new opportunities—but it's critical to have a
Tuesday 26 October 2021
How AI is finding patterns and anomalies in your data
From autonomous vehicles, predictive analytics applications, and facial recognition, to chatbots, virtual assistants, cognitive automation, and fraud detection, the use cases for AI span dozens of industries. Regardless of the AI application, though, these use cases all have a common aspect. After implementing thousands of AI projects, experts have come to realize that despite all of the diversity in applications, AI use cases fall into one or more of seven common patterns. One of them—the pattern-matching pattern—has allowed machines to digest large amounts of data to identify patterns, anomalies, and outliers in the data, so organizations can unearth previously undiscovered insights in their datasets.
In this article, you'll learn how pattern-matching is being put to use in today's organizations to prevent fraud, find the best job candidates, manage inventories in times of crisis, and empower data scientists with new perspectives on how to improve critical processes.
What is digital transformation? A necessary disruption
Digital transformation, accelerated during the pandemic, is redefining the way companies use technology, people, and processes to apply new business models and discover new revenue streams—while striving to meet constant changes in customer expectations surrounding products and services.
The digital transformation consists of five basic steps, starting with the alignment of objectives with business goals.
Emerging technology and revamped processes are important for digital transformation—but nothing is more important than having staff with the right sets of skills. From software engineers to data scientists and UX designers, each plays a key role in the success of digital transformation within a company.
Review the five steps for digital transformation, find real-world examples, and see which pitfalls you'll need to avoid.
Monday 25 October 2021
Move and modernize your Microsoft workloads with Azure
Hand in hand with digital transformation, cloud technology has seen outstanding growth. Because of the rapid pace of adoption, it has overtaken traditional on-premises hardware. Given the cloud's huge potential across industries, verticals such as manufacturing, railways, banking, retail, education, and healthcare are switching to cloud services to optimize their reach and performance and increase their flexibility. But moving to the cloud is a strategic move, and it requires organizations to make careful internal analysis in choosing the features that will allow them to get the most out of their cloud migration.
By reading this infographic, you'll learn more about the most important benefits and features of Microsoft Azure. You'll also discover how the Microsoft cloud is helping businesses enjoy unparalleled cost savings, easily plan migrations, avoid the complexity of multivendor support, and modernize existing cloud applications.
View: Move and modernize your Microsoft workloads with Azure
Risk management best practices
Part of the natural landscape of every business is risk—some level of uncertainty that comes from not knowing how events will unfold as you and your team innovate. However, understanding risk management best practices can help anticipate potential issues and develop a plan.
From securing cloud-based options to identifying cyber threats and other financial crimes, risk management is crucial in building business agility.
Review our latest infographic to learn what you can do to minimize risks and reduce your exposure across key aspects of your business.
Wednesday 20 October 2021
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One of the main challenges that modern researchers encounter centers on the size of their datasets. As research projects become increasingly more digital, the vast volumes of data that research generates demands enormous raw computing power, for both storage and computational capacity, which most organizations simply didn't have access to. Cloud technology and artificial intelligence (AI) address this need, allowing researchers to free themselves from the constraints of their physical hardware. Cloud-based approaches can also boost the speed and efficiency of publishing, increasing the impact of research publications.
Subscribe now to learn more about the data management and automation capabilities of the Microsoft cloud and how they're enabling breakthrough research projects around the world.
Essential Key Performance Indicators for Small and Mid-Size Business
Industries, customers, and markets change. Even where and how we work is changing rapidly. As are, no doubt, your business strategies, goals, objectives, services, and products. The ability to quickly diversify, scale, and change your business models is a competitive advantage in any market.
Understanding your customers' opinions, attitudes, and emotional connections to your brand is called brand sentiment. This leading indicator can help inform how you're doing in terms of your customer experience, product quality, price competitiveness, and loyalty.
Sign up to stay in touch and download the e-book "Essential Key Performance Indicators for Small and Mid-Size Business." See how easily and accurately you can measure business outcomes from brand sentiment, and let us know when you're ready to make a change.
View: Essential Key Performance Indicators for Small and Mid-Size Business
Tuesday 19 October 2021
Bertrandt's HARRI is a self-driving success, thanks to Microsoft Azure
What drives a self-driving car? A tremendous flood of data. To make Bertrandt's Level 4 self-driving car project HARRI a reality, far too much data was needed than could be stored onboard the vehicle itself. It required Microsoft Azure Services to provide access to volumes of mapping data for an autonomous vehicle. Azure DevOps facilitated the efficient coordination of work between developers and ops —and the QA needed to develop such exacting software.
ANU: Storing the human genome
Thanks to cloud technology, researchers can take advantage of faster, more advanced and more scalable resources that enable them to perform tasks that they can't manage using in-house resources. The cloud also enables scientists to quickly run tests across a variety of platforms and virtual machines with different specifications, which can aid rapid prototyping, interoperability testing, and performance testing. A cloud solution can also provide researchers with ways to augment their existing resources by handling peaks in demand and reducing competition for local resources, when multiple teams are working toward an upcoming deadline. By reducing dependence on on-site computing, research projects can increase efficiency and scalability, and deliver greater results faster.
Watch this video to learn how Australian National University (ANU) is using Microsoft Azure to help decode more than 7 billion base pairs of DNA in the human genome and take its research further than ever before.
Monday 18 October 2021
Kenyan company improves food quality from farm to fork with Microsoft cloud solutions
Farmer's Choice has been delivering quality meat products to Kenyan tables for the last 40 years. The customer-oriented company uses advanced technologies with the existing agriculture ecosystem to enhance productivity, ensure food safety and quality, and reduce waste. Its commitment to sustainable farming practices began with the adoption of collaborative Microsoft 365 solutions. Next, the organization extended its cloud portfolio to include Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Dynamics 365 and is now stepping up its services with Microsoft Power Apps.
Automate code-to-cloud workflows with a seamlessly integrated DevOps platform
With the ability to commit changes and quickly deploy them to the cloud using tools such as GitHub Actions and Microsoft Azure Pipelines for CI/CD, developer teams gain agility in deploying and maintaining their apps.
Cloud adoption has transformed the way teams are building, deploying, and operating applications. Together with the use of DevOps ideals and tools, they now have a greater opportunity to improve their practices and better serve their customers.
Sign up to say connected—we can help you learn more about how to use Azure DevOps with GitHub and Visual Studio to build your next great solution
View: Automate code-to-cloud workflows with a seamlessly integrated DevOps platform
Wednesday 13 October 2021
Connect your business to drive productivity and profits
Many businesses fall into common traps:
• siloed data
• poor pricing decisions
• unsecured data
• inability to pivot or keep up with faster-moving competitors
With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can connect operations across your business and supercharge your growth.
Legacy systems can't always manage the complexity of a growing business. Incomplete data and tedious reporting can create blind spots that lead to faulty decision-making. With Dynamics 365, you can create a single source of truth by seamlessly sharing data across every line of business, helping your employees work faster and smarter.
See some of the reasons 92% of ERP adopters report success, and some of the risks for lagging behind, in this detailed infographic.
View: Connect your business to drive productivity and profits
Why your business should be based on the recurring revenue model
It's possible to build a successful business on one-off sales, but it's difficult and not always sustainable. If you're thinking about starting your own business or taking the one you currently have to a new level, then you really need to consider the recurring revenue model.
Whether you're in the business of software, content creation, physical products, or productized services, the recurring revenue model is based on predictable revenues occurring at regular intervals—and that might just be the secret to success.
Tuesday 12 October 2021
Microsoft Aims To Simplify Cloud Native Development With The Dapr Project
Distributed Application Runtime (Dapr) enables developers to build portable microservices applications, whether writing new code or migrating existing code. It's an open-source project that simplifies building cloud-native applications using all programming languages and developer frameworks. Dapr is based on containers, integrates well with Kubernetes, and does the plumbing and heavy lifting involved in developing a modern, highly distributed-application— so developers can focus on what they really want to: business logic and migrating legacy code. They can lean on Dapr to provide their applications with the required scale, resiliency, and elasticity of cloud-native architectures.
How AI will change the way we work in 2020
Thanks to AI, business applications will soon be able to answer complex questions, help users navigate interfaces, and enable cloud vendors to reduce support from personnel to manage their loads. AI is also being used in various software applications to help decision-makers identify and automate repetitive tasks, improving employee productivity. Increased understanding of how to better implement AI in business applications likely will lead to the emergence of new features, such as natural-language processing (NLP), that can help managers interact in more-intuitive ways with AI-powered apps.
In this article, you'll learn about the innovative features powered by AI and machine learning (ML) that you can expect to see in business applications in the next five years.
Monday 11 October 2021
GitHub Actions for Azure
With GitHub you can deliver software faster and more securely by combining the practices and tools that support the largest developer community in the world with seamlessly integrated Microsoft Azure products and services.
From automating code-to-cloud workflows to accelerating developer velocity, GitHub and Azure combine the best tools to create your next great solution.
Sign up to stay connected—we'll help you learn more about using Azure DevOps with GitHub and Visual Studio from Microsoft.
Cloud migration essentials
In recent years, the global business landscape has witnessed a significant increase in cloud adoption. This has created significant value over traditional datacenters via greater scalability, cost-efficiency, and other performance improvements. Yet cloud migration requires careful planning. For a migration to be successful, it's important for the business to come up with a strategy that also covers the end cloud environment, training, and—most importantly—the readiness of workloads and applications.
In this eBook, you'll discover the key preliminary steps to consider in evaluating a cloud migration, as well as the various approaches for rehosting, refactoring, rearchitecting, and rebuilding your workloads for the cloud. You'll also learn about some useful tools that you can use to accelerate your migration project and get tips to help you ensure post-migration success by using Microsoft Azure.
Wednesday 6 October 2021
Deliver software faster and more securely with the world's leading developer platform
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For modern organizations to truly take advantage of digital transformation, they need to be able to obtain, process, and extract insights from as much data as possible. This often puts a strain on businesses' IT departments as they struggle to update legacy software and equipment to better handle the massive amounts of information available. Fortunately, the cloud has allowed businesses to move away from outdated technology and opened new opportunities for innovation.
Subscribe now to learn how the cloud, AI, and the data management capabilities of Microsoft Azure are driving increased efficiency at today's leading businesses and organizations.
Tuesday 5 October 2021
How Microsoft helped HB Concepts automate and streamline its operations
HB Concepts is a female-led distribution company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that has sole distribution rights of LPG endermologie, the global brand fighting for natural beauty. The company supplies more than 200 clients with a full range of equipment, offering popular European treatments and cosmetics for spas, hospitals, hotels, and wellness centers. To manage inventory and deliver quality customer service, the company implemented an ERP solution using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Adapt faster—gain flexibility to create adjustable financial and operating models
The world today moves fast, and you need the flexibility to adapt quickly to disruption, the competition, and daily challenges. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central connects teams across finance, sales, service, and operations so you can monitor insights and pivot when needed.
Sign up to stay connected. We can help you get the most from your ERP.
View: Adapt faster—gain flexibility to create adjustable financial and operating models
Monday 4 October 2021
Australian National University: The DNA of data and AI
Data is vital to scientific research. Without the ability to quickly process and analyze large amounts of data, breakthroughs and publications take longer. This increases administrative tasks and can even lead to projects going over budget. To avoid these pitfalls, modern researchers have begun turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based technology, which enable the researchers to avoid the time and expense of setting up and configuring servers, leaving them to focus on their scientific goals.
In this video, you'll see how researchers at Australian National University (ANU) conduct cutting-edge genome research by using Microsoft Azure to commission a data science virtual machine that allows them to instantly process large amounts of data. You'll also learn how, thanks to the data management capabilities of Azure, ANU is now able to use unprecedented volumes of data and new analytical frameworks to decrease admin time and maximize the university's research capabilities.
thyssenkrupp Steel Europe forges a modern way of working with Microsoft 365
GitHub can be a great resource for quickly building a templated solution. Case in point: thyssenkrupp Steel Europe developed their Company Communicator app for Microsoft Teams using an open-source Teams app template from GitHub.
Now executives can share company information and other news with employees and even host virtual town hall events—which proved invaluable in keeping hundreds of workers connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wednesday 29 September 2021
The Empower Process
Modern ERP systems offer built-in intelligence to help guide users to optimal outcomes. However, selecting the best business management solution isn't always a straightforward task—factors like digital transformation, partners, and mapping should be considered.
Learn the 7 steps to help select the right business management solution.
Tuesday 28 September 2021
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central overview
The business landscape is changing, and you need a system that allows for change. To stay on top in your industry, it's essential to be prepared to take on anything that comes your way, including meeting customers' needs.
Successful SMBs are embracing digitalization with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Powered by the cloud, data, and business intelligence, it lets you unify assets in a single location to help you adapt faster, work smarter, and perform better. Business Central gives you flexible deployment options and innovative solutions that grow with your business for limitless possibilities and potential.
6 ways to kickstart DevSecOps
DevOps methodologies provide businesses with a faster and more efficient way to create and deliver code—and organizations are turning to DevSecOps as the solution to harden security and address compliance at the same time.
Sign up to stay connected. We'll show you 6 ways to kickstart DevSecOps and integrate security into your practices.
Monday 27 September 2021
Australian National University (ANU) addresses the computing demands of genome research
As scientific research becomes more and more complex, scientists need new, scalable ways to store and analyze ever-larger troves of data. They also need unprecedented amounts of raw computing power to process the data they obtain and deliver timely results that enable projects to stay on track and within budget. To ensure that their research adheres to these restraints, modern-day scientists need to increase efficiency via automation and other approaches whenever they can, wherever they can. Artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technology give scientists the tools they need to advance research faster than ever before, get results quicker, and achieve scientific breakthroughs like never before.
In this video, you'll learn how researchers at Australian National University (ANU) are using Microsoft Azure to dramatically shorten the amount of time they spend on data analysis, enabling faster publication of their cutting-edge genome research.
Low code vs. no code and the future of application development
Low code and no code platforms make app and software development accessible to non-developers. With pre-built templates and boilerplate code, businesses save time and money. Low code or no code platforms can help organizations build and deploy apps without always relying on an engineering team.
Wednesday 22 September 2021
Create a more-productive, self-sustaining farm. Get started with Microsoft Azure AI.
As the world's population increases, farmers need to keep up with rising demand for their crops and livestock. But with climate conditions changing and resources becoming more precious, it's critical for modern farms to seek innovative solutions that allow them to upscale their production without increasing their impact on the environment.
Subscribe now to learn how digital solutions powered by Microsoft Azure can be leveraged across both large-scale and small independent farming operations to increase yields and create a more-sustainable industry.
View: Create a more-productive, self-sustaining farm. Get started with Microsoft Azure AI.
Improve observability, strengthen security, and proactively remediate vulnerabilities
There are DevOps tools for every phase of the app lifecycle. Use Azure to implement DevOps practices throughout application planning, development, delivery, and operations. By applying the right combination of DevOps technologies, culture, and processes, you can achieve continual software delivery and offer better value for your customers.
Sign up to stay connected. We'll help you learn more about using Azure DevOps with GitHub and Visual Studio from Microsoft.
View: Improve observability, strengthen security, and proactively remediate vulnerabilities
Tuesday 21 September 2021
Cultivating successful farming for future generations
In many regions of Africa, climate change has had a profound impact on independent farmers, especially those in isolated areas who lack proper access to running water. Dry seasons are increasingly longer and rains scarcer, making maintaining crops a bigger and bigger challenge with each passing year. For these farmers, traditional methods that were handed down for generations no longer yield the results they need to feed their families, leaving them in a desperate situation. Fortunately, modern technology and digital transformation are now able to provide these farmers with the tools they need to sustain their way of life during these challenging times.
In this video, you'll learn how Monica, an independent farmer in Kenya, managed to overcome hardships brought on by climate change by using sustainable energy, accurate weather data, and Microsoft Azure.
Dow uses vision AI at the edge to boost employee safety and security with Azure
Dow is a leader in materials science, focused on delivering innovative and sustainable customer-centric solutions. An important priority for the chemical company is safety, and Microsoft Azure played a crucial role in enabling preventative leak detection with the goal of zero safety-related events at its facilities. The initial solution leverages Azure AI to analyze live video and uses an app to trigger notifications to the operator if it detects a possible leak. Azure Video Analyzer, coupled with Azure DevOps, provided a quick, low-latency, low-resource, and easily scalable solution. Machine learning ensures the model is continually refined, so it gets better with each interaction. Best of all, this model can be leveraged for other applications, such as detecting when employees aren't wearing proper PPE in industrial locations, and security monitoring.
Thursday 16 September 2021
10 reasons why every enterprise needs a DevOps strategy for 2021
The world is changing fast, and enterprise needs to keep up with new digital business models. With a DevOps strategy, development and operations teams are committed to a collaborative approach—delivering faster results to threats and opportunities. DevOps delivers strength to any organization willing to make it a core part of its DNA.
12 things pop culture gets wrong about artificial intelligence
As societies and workplaces become more digitized, our culture does, too. This daily interaction with technology engenders fascination and speculation about the role devices and technological advancements will play in our societies' future. Some—if not most— of these assumptions are based on artistic portrayals of the future of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), and they are often far from providing an accurate representation of what actually awaits us in the realm of AI and machine learning.
Read this article to uncover the truth behind 12 misconceptions about AI and get a more accurate view of the present and future capabilities of this technology.
Wednesday 15 September 2021
Custom Air Products & Services manage HVAC manufacturing process using the Power Platform
Custom Air Products and Services is an HVAC company that needed a customized solution to track the entire lifecycle of units from "cradle-to-crate." Microsoft Power Platform had the tools they needed to fully digitize without expensive custom software. Read here to learn how the Power Platform transformed their business across 30+ usage needs.
Overcoming security challenges with DevSecOps
Throughout the years, software development practices have evolved to serve the needs and the speed of business. However, digital leaders are still facing challenges with security and development.
The solutions to these challenges are collaboration, tooling, and DevSecOps best practices.
Sign up to stay connected. We'll help you navigate the world of DevSecOps and understand how to successfully adopt it.
Tuesday 14 September 2021
Powerful alone, better together
Together the Microsoft Power Platform empowers you to create solutions that accelerate business. The platform connects powerful tools to analyze data, automate processes, create virtual agents, and more. Find out here how your team can benefit from this powerful platform and build end-to-end business solutions.
The main challenges of advanced analytics
Digital transformation has enabled businesses to reduce costs, streamline operations, embrace entirely new business models, and discover untapped revenue channels. Many of these benefits come from implementing data-driven technologies, including machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), that transform the increasing amounts of data produced by today's organizations into useful insights that can foster new strategies. Despite the massive potential of these technologies, only 37 percent of businesses that adopt them report successful initiatives.
In this infographic, you'll learn about the main challenges that modern organizations face in implementing AI and ML, and how you can overcome them by using Microsoft Azure AI.
Thursday 9 September 2021
Save energy and resources with smart farming operations. Learn more about Microsoft Azure AI.
Growing populations require increasing amounts of food, so farmers must become as efficient as possible with the resources they have. This means leveraging every tool available to avoid fluctuations in yield output by powering farms with smart technologies that give farmers instant access to accurate data about their operations. From soil-measuring IoT devices to solar-powered irrigation, digital transformation technologies provide the modern farming industry with tools to power growth and increase sustainability worldwide.
Subscribe now to learn how smart farming can lead to higher-yield, environmentally friendly operations and how you can get started with Microsoft Azure AI.
View: Save energy and resources with smart farming operations. Learn more about Microsoft Azure AI.
Wednesday 8 September 2021
Remote developer productivity
The way people work and live changed drastically during 2020. As companies had to quickly transition to remote work, the challenges became clear. From adopting a new culture to overcoming collaboration and remote shipping challenges, there had to be an integral solution for these types of issues.
The customers' objective is to enable a remote Development paradigm that allows their developers to invent with purpose as effectively (if not more so) as before this situation. They expect any investments they make in the cloud now to accrue benefits to the way they'll continue to operate after the world has transitioned to the new normal. Fortunately, Microsoft offers a wide variety of tools and platforms, from Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, GitHub, and Visual Studio—helping companies build business resilience.
Subscribe to stay connected—we´ll help your development teams code, collaborate, and ship their internal and customer-facing apps even while working as a remotely distributed team.
Manage apps in Power Apps
Make the most of your Microsoft Power Apps and learn how to manage and share your apps easily. Looking to view or restore an old version? Need to update permissions? This learning module will show you how. Check it out and learn how to manage your customer applications and create environments in Power Apps.
Tuesday 7 September 2021
Join the community
Microsoft Power Apps is more than an award-winning platform—it is a powerful community filled with rich resources. Connect with peers, share creativity, and learn from professionals. Meet like-minded business leaders to discover valuable insights, plus access hundreds of videos and blogs. Join the discussion today!
Keeping the Farmer and Farm Working
Without proper access to running water, farming can be a daunting task. Yet this is the reality that farmers must confront in some parts of Kenya. Such conditions severely limit their ability to increase their yields and secure a stable income for themselves and their family. To make matters more difficult, they also face the problem of a very short rainy season. This alone makes sustaining adequate water levels challenging, but it's compounded by reliance on wells for irrigation.
In this video, you'll see how Monica, an independent farmer in East Africa, has leveraged digital transformation to overcome these challenges. You'll learn how IoT devices, solar energy, and Microsoft Azure can combine to sustain profitable farming operations, even in some of the harshest conditions on the planet.
Monday 6 September 2021
Get the most out of Microsoft Azure with Visual Studio
If you have a Microsoft Visual Studio subscription, make sure you explore the benefits that come with it—or you may be leaving value on the table. Use your monthly Microsoft Azure credits and Azure training, DevTest pricing, Azure DevOps, support, and more. Get an overview of all your benefits and even project ideas for how to use your credits.
Wednesday 1 September 2021
Get started with GitHub and Azure DevOps
Adopting the tools and mindset of DevOps in the right manner can facilitate development efficiency, boost productivity, and increase the rate at which products can be brought to market.
Sign up to stay connected. We'll help you navigate the world of GitHub and Azure DevOps and share helpful tips to get started.
Five soon-to-be trends in artificial intelligence and deep learning
To truly become a game-changer, artificial intelligence (AI) can't be limited to a one-time effort. It requires a constant influx of data and the right expertise to teach machines how to analyze and react to user behaviors. This means that while immediate or short-term ROI from AI initiatives is a rare occurrence, when it does begin to pay off, the resulting innovations and efficiencies can drive an organization's growth for years to come. Taking the time to analyze trends and establish the right vision for your organization's AI roadmap is a critical but frequently overlooked step toward adopting this technology.
In this article, you'll learn about five soon-to-be AI trends that are expected to influence this technology in a major way.
Tuesday 31 August 2021
Azure DevOps vs. GitHub: Comparing the Microsoft DevOps tools
When diving into the world of DevOps tools, it's important to remember that Microsoft Azure DevOps and GitHub each offer unique value and overlapping capabilities. They can be used separately or together, so there's even a "why not both?" scenario. Learn the history of these two DevOps tools, the specific advantages of each, and how to get started using them.
10 innovation areas that are reshaping app development
Thousands of organizations around the globe are using Microsoft Power Apps to solve challenges and boost their businesses. As these numbers grow, Microsoft has identified 10 new areas that a shaping app development. From #LessCodeMorePower to thousand app scale, see why Power Apps is changing the app world.
View: 10 innovation areas that are reshaping app development
Monday 30 August 2021
Microsoft's four guiding principles for artificial intelligence
Digital transformation and the Internet of Things (IoT) together have enabled businesses worldwide to gain deeper understanding of their customers. They've also allowed organizations to obtain data from previously untapped sources to better understand how processes can be optimized, but obtaining this data is only part of the equation. To transform massive amounts of raw information into meaningful insights, businesses must leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that offer the flexibility and power they need.
In this infographic, you'll learn about the four Microsoft guiding principles for AI that make Azure AI a top choice among today's leading enterprises.
View: Microsoft's four guiding principles for artificial intelligence
Scale as you grow with Power Apps
This brief video shows you how Microsoft Power Apps helps your business, developing at scale with quality and security. Whether your business needs a thousand apps or just a few, Power Apps capabilities enable you with agility and speed. Learn more here:
Wednesday 25 August 2021
Increase oversight and control of farming operations. Get started with Microsoft Azure IoT.
No one can control the weather, but thanks to increased adoption of IoT devices, farmers can now measure and control nearly every aspect of their holdings. Further, by using advanced platforms like Microsoft Azure IoT, farmers can use their mobile devices to get information and to control their operations from virtually anywhere in the world.
Subscribe now to learn more about how devices can leverage the power of Microsoft Azure IoT to enable smart farming and ensure productive oversight.
View: Increase oversight and control of farming operations. Get started with Microsoft Azure IoT.
Accelerate developer velocity using any platform, any language, and any cloud
Tuesday 24 August 2021
Producing a high yield and better quality of life
Sustainable energy and digital transformation can combine to provide new avenues to success and increase convenience for people in isolated areas. This is especially true in places without a modern electrical infrastructure where residents rely on labor-intensive tasks. Innovative solutions can help them automate simple tasks, often making the difference between mere survival and prosperity. In many parts of Africa, for example, farmers lack access to running water. Instead they rely on wells to sustain their families, water their crops, and support their livestock.
In this video, you'll see how Monica, an independent farmer in Kenya, increased her yields and quality of life by implementing a solar-powered irrigation system based on Microsoft Azure IoT.
Introduction to Power Apps - Learn
Discover Microsoft Power Apps and what the platform can do for you. Explore the different type of apps you can develop for different business needs and learn which one is right for you. Read a customer success story and watch a video to get started. Check out the manual here:
Monday 23 August 2021
Kelly Roofing uses PowerApps to capture photos at work sites
A roofing contractor needed a task-focused mobile solution to file project status updates quickly. Low connectivity areas, plus 100 work orders-a-week slowed down the process and added a hefty after-hours workload. Kelly Roofing needed a cost-effective solution that worked with their existing system. Enter Microsoft Power Apps. Within a few weeks their custom app transformed their business. Read their success story to learn how Power Apps decreased their processing time by 91% and boosted customer satisfaction.
MPAA relies on Azure and Visual Studio to innovate and increase efficiencies
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences maxxed-out its on-premises infrastructure, it turned to Microsoft Azure to expand its capacity into the cloud. It also leaned into Azure DevOps to improve collaboration between development and infrastructure teams and used Visual Studio to develop new streaming apps across Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and tvOS—delivering rich, responsive online experiences to its members across different devices and platforms.
Thursday 19 August 2021
What is DevSecOps?
DevSecOps is the evolution of DevOps, where developer, security, and operations teams are united around the culture of security as a shared responsibility.
Sign up to stay connected. We'll help you navigate the world of DevSecOps and understand how to successfully adopt it.
What is DevOps?
DevOps as an ideal is revolutionizing the way organizations communicate and how they handle their daily work. Learn how this process brings together development and operations teams—who have traditionally been pitted against each other—and allows them to align on value and work toward a common goal.
Wednesday 18 August 2021
Where Artificial Intelligence Will Disrupt Next
With so many possible artificial intelligence (AI) applications, predicting trends can be challenging, especially in an age when innovation reigns supreme and new breakthroughs occur every day. So, in an effort to gain further insights into the future of AI, researchers from Stanford University and the Brookings Institution analyzed keywords in patents to identify where the technology will have its greatest impact on jobs and companies in the years ahead.
Read this article to learn about their predictions about the future of AI and gain insights into what industries will be most impacted by artificial intelligence and its applications.
Implementing Role Based Security In Your PowerApps App
This tutorial gives an overview of how to implement active directory group membership-based permissions in an app. Follow the steps to get a blueprint for implementing any custom connector in the Power Apps environment. Start here:
Tuesday 17 August 2021
Administering a Power Apps and Power Automate enterprise deployment whitepaper
Strategize how to launch and manage an enterprise Power Apps deployment with this whitepaper on Microsoft Power Apps and Microsoft Power Automate. Written for business decision makers responsible for planning, securing, deploying, and supporting applications, it provides a high-level overview of the Power Platform before diving deeper into specific areas such as architecture, security, analytics, and deployment using Azure DevOps.
View: Administering a Power Apps and Power Automate enterprise deployment whitepaper
A step forward in the age of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way, especially in recent times. In the past five years, adoption of AI-driven technology has significantly increased among the world's enterprises, leading to smarter machines and a validation of AI's role in these organizations. As more businesses adopt AI, it becomes more important as a potentiator of human talent. Businesses also gain increasing access to unparalleled levels of innovation.
In this infographic, you'll get a glimpse into how Microsoft-powered AI features have been making businesses around the world smarter and more efficient.
Tuesday 10 August 2021
Increase yields with smart, solar-powered farming solutions. Learn more about Microsoft Azure AI.
Optimizing resources is a top priority in the farming industry. As farmable land gets more utilized and population increases, the need to do more with less becomes a crucial competitive advantage. Luckily, today's farmers have various digital tools at their disposal such as automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence that allow them to increase yields while lowering their water and electricity consumptions levels.
Subscribe now to learn how independent farmers around the world are leveraging Microsoft technology powered by solar energy to increase and stabilize their income, and how you, too, can get started with Azure AI.
Three ways to make an app
Launch apps right away with Microsoft Power Apps. Pre-built templates and drag-and-drop simplicity give you the power to build apps now. When your business needs quick app deployment to keep ahead of the curve, Power Apps offers three easy ways to make your ideas a reality—using a blank slate, a data-driven model, or a template. See how you can get started:
Monday 9 August 2021
Empowering independence for farmers
Modern technology has enabled farmers to obtain impressive yields that sustain entire populations while allowing them to become as efficient as possible with their available resources. However, most of this technology is dependent upon stable electrical grids, large-scale aqueducts, and a steady fuel supply, all of which are not readily available to millions of farmers around the world.
One of these farmers is Monica, who depended on a water well located on her property as her only water source to sustain both her farm and her family. To make matters worse, climate change made rain increasingly scarce in her region of Kenya, Africa, which further decreased her available water supply and forced her to work harder just to maintain her current yields. Thankfully, just as things seemed impossible, digital transformation provided her with the solution she needed to secure a better future.
In this video, you'll learn about Monica's story and how, thanks to solar-powered Microsoft technology, she was able to automate her entire irrigation system, gain access to accurate weather forecasts, and obtain more income year round.
Speed up the process: develop an app in hours
This brief video shows how Microsoft Power Apps accelerates the process for building custom applications. Learn how to turn your creative ideas into a mobile or web application quickly. Instead of months, Power Apps can help you get your app up and running in a few hours. The simple drag-and-drop elements and pre-built templates accelerate app development. Learn how to build and deploy apps fast to extend value and agility for your business.
Wednesday 4 August 2021
Forget the ROI: With artificial intelligence, decision-making will never be the same
The benefits of AI are undeniable, yet the technology itself is still not widely seen as a surefire investment by a large percentage of today's decision makers. As a matter of fact, a recent study revealed that only 40 percent out of 1,500 executives have stated that they're currently executing one AI initiative, or are in the process of doing so. There are multiple reasons for this— among them, a shortage of AI professionals, plus challenges when calculating profitability —but the real silver lining is that the fight for greater inclusion of AI-driven projects starts by bringing solid arguments to the boardroom.
In this article, you'll read about four evidence-based and time-proven cases you can use to push forward the execution of your artificial intelligence initiatives.
Grocery chain in northern California and southern Oregon boosts customers relationships with custom app
A grocery chain needed a faster, more robust system for managing new product requests. Microsoft Power Apps was the solution. Quickly and easily developed in ten days, the new app not only saved time, but it also boosted revenue through streamlined, product-ordering flow. Find out why it's also popular with customers, and read their success story here:
Tuesday 3 August 2021
Begin your artificial intelligence journey with Microsoft
Today, artificial intelligence is becoming essential to the daily operations of the world's leading enterprises. This integration has allowed subsequent breakthroughs in AI to trickle down into other industries and smaller-sized businesses, allowing them to reap the benefits of technological advancement and automation. Thanks to this snowball effect, artificial intelligence is no longer the work of science fiction, but a relevant and necessary tool that can help you achieve previously unattainable business opportunities and increase efficiency like never before.
In this infographic, you'll learn more about the history of Microsoft's AI breakthroughs to gain a better perspective on how your current initiatives can be complemented or enhanced by Azure AI.
View: Begin your artificial intelligence journey with Microsoft
Build applications without breaking the bank
This brief video shows how Microsoft Power Apps can engage employees, improve efficiencies, and solve unique business challenges, all while saving money. Cut down on maintenance costs with the fully managed platform and discover the impressive ROI numbers for further savings.
Wednesday 28 July 2021
Create a smarter farm powered by sustainable energy and artificial intelligence. Learn more about Microsoft Azure AI.
When it comes to digital transformation, becoming more efficient has always been a top priority, especially with regard to natural resources. Here, smart farming has allowed the industry to evolve in an exponentially more sustainable way while also delivering innovative solutions to issues such as population growth, climate change, and livestock nurturing.
Subscribe now to get the latest news on how you can start creating a smarter farm, fueled by sustainable energy sources and powered by the intelligence of Microsoft Azure AI.
Leonard Cheshire supports people to live, learn, and work independently with the help of Power Apps and Dynamics 365
Leonard Cheshire is a major nonprofit that is removing barriers to independent living, learning, and working for people with disabilities. Using Microsoft Power Apps, the organization is building a complete, cohesive platform for modern, streamlined operations. After many years of disparate technologies, Leonard Cheshire staff now work on a common platform with a single view of the information they need. See their success story here:
Tuesday 27 July 2021
Innovation for everyone
Overcome obstacles to innovation and see how Microsoft Power Apps modernizes the app creation process. Accelerate development to build apps without risk, deploy quickly, integrate data, and infuse AI. As IT moves towards low-code solutions, you can become an agile, data-first company with Power Apps. Learn how:
SunCulture: Helping to weather the dry seasons
Sometimes, having access to the right data at the right time can enable life-saving decisions. If you don't believe so, just ask Monica, a Kenyan farmer who has to leverage water from a well in her back yard to irrigate her crops as well as provide her family with drinkable water. Due to climate change, rainy seasons have become more and more scarce, forcing her to carefully manage her water output depending on the weather patterns in her region.
Watch this video to learn how solar-powered digital transformation and Microsoft Azure are empowering farmers like Monica with easily accessible, accurate data that allows them to effectively predict rainfall, control their irrigation systems, and increase yields.
Wednesday 21 July 2021
When it comes to artificial intelligence, throw away that tired old tech rulebook
Emerging technologies always demand new approaches to risks and opportunities. They often force us to rethink and modify our existing methodologies in favor of more integrated and interconnected processes.
In this regard, artificial intelligence is definitely no exception. However, there's still a lot of mysticism around what implications AI might have for today's businesses and what measures organizations must take to ensure the successful execution of their AI initiatives.
In this article, you'll learn about four ways in which ways AI is poised to turn the enterprise landscape on its head and how your business can better prepare for its ventures into artificial intelligence.
Tuesday 20 July 2021
Faster together: How citizens plus pros are reshaping app dev with low code
In this digital briefing, learn how IT teams are embracing citizen development within their organizations. Join the excitement surrounding low-code solutions among IT staff and explore best practices for creating teams that encourage collaboration between citizen and professional developers. Start your app journey here.
Reliable Electric: Power platform customer story
This case study tells the success story of Lars Peterson, a citizen developer and general manager at Reliable Electric in Canada. Teaching himself Power Apps, Microsoft Flow, and SQL, Lars built a simple but powerful app that accelerates the bidding process for electricians. Ultimately, his company replaced proprietary bidding software that cost $2,000 per seat, transforming the business and improving the bottom line. Learn how you can start saving, too.
Monday 19 July 2021
3 reasons to invest in Microsoft Azure AI
Digital transformation enabled businesses to obtain data from places they never thought possible and to monitor every aspect of customer interactions to gain a holistic view of their customers. Companies soon realized, though, that an overabundance of unstructured data was not only wasteful, but could also become counter-productive, and that some automation was needed to identify the data that could be acted upon to generate real value. However, as the influx of data grew more and more massive, it became clear that more advanced methods of automation were needed to keep up with the scale of commercial IoT and digital operations. Enter artificial intelligence.
In this infographic, you'll learn why capitalizing on AI has become crucial for today's leading enterprises, and how investing in Microsoft Azure AI can help you create a smarter, faster-growing business.
Leverage existing talent: empower your team to develop apps
This video shows how you can enable your current team to build application solutions with advanced functionality using Microsoft Power Apps. Its visual approach is intuitive and simple, yet flexible and powerful. This low-code platform has capabilities for both citizen and pro developers. Unleash your IT team to collaborate with fully supported end-to-end, low-code development. Learn more here:
Tuesday 13 July 2021
Meet the Power Apps Champions
Microsoft Power Apps empowers citizen developers to build and share custom, professional applications that solve their business challenges. In this blog, you'll see the stories of citizen developers who built apps and became Power Apps Champions.
Harness the power of affordable, clean, and sustainable energy. Learn more about Microsoft Azure.
Digital hasn't only made things more comfortable for us, it's also made them better for those without access to basic health or basic services around the world. One example of this is, by creating an interconnected world, we gain a better understanding of how technology can be used to control our natural resources more efficiently and accessibly. While these use cases may be employed in the First World to make existing services self-sustainable and cleaner, in more remote parts of the globe they can be used to create new services that make life better for everyone.
Subscribe now to learn more about how you can utilize Microsoft Azure to make your clean energy solutions a reality.
Monday 12 July 2021
SunCulture success story: Remove labor to let water flow
"Work smarter, not harder" has become the motto of the digital age. Yet in some parts of the world where modern technology is not accessible, hard, manual labor is the only choice people have to get things done.
For example, in parts of Africa where running water is not available, farmers like Monica must manually extract water from a well and distribute it amongst her family, crops, and animals. This isn't just exhausting but also extremely inefficient, and can lead to small yields for such an extensive level of effort. To make matters worse, seasonal changes greatly impact the amount of water available, making life for people like Monica that much harder.
So, how can you leverage the power of modern technology to help these farmers produce more food and secure a better future? Watch this video to learn how SunCulture is using solar energy to bring hope and prosperity to Monica and more farmers like her in Kenya.
Samit Saini's Power Apps journey at Heathrow
This video captures the journey of Samit Saini, a security officer at London Heathrow Airport and who discovered Microsoft Power Apps. As a novice, he easily created useful, time-saving applications. Now, as a member of the IT team, he teaches others to do the same. See how Samit and Power Apps led digital transformation.
Thursday 8 July 2021
Rapidly-growing UK restaurant chain migrates key business processes to Microsoft Dynamics 365
TGI Friday's wanted a more scalable, flexible platform for core business processes. To support its ambitious growth, the company is consolidating business operations starting with financial management on Microsoft Dynamics 365. Built-in functionality and ease-of-use mean that TGI Friday's can continue to onboard more business processes while expanding its franchise. Benefits of their innovative growth strategy include lower costs, easier access to data, and better insight.
eBook: Intelligent Economies: AI's transformation of industries and society
Discover what hundreds of senior executive survey respondents from around the world think about artificial intelligence and how its use transforms industries. Read the Microsoft-sponsored report from The Economist Intelligence Unit to learn how people are using AI to make the production and distribution of goods and services more intelligent.
You'll also see how optimistic industry leaders are about AI and how it:
•Contributes to financial benefits.
•Transforms economies and jobs.
•Encourages growth and productivity.
View: eBook: Intelligent Economies: AI's transformation of industries and society
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