Tuesday, July 28, 2020
How Entrepreneurs Are Connecting the World With IoT
As we enter a new decade, the number of IoT-connected devices is predicted to grow 3x from 2019 to 2020, totaling 21 billion devices. As competition increases, so does innovation, and companies across the world are coming up with new uses and applications for the ever-increasing number of devices that are turned on each day.
In this Entrepreneur.com article, you'll learn how companies and startups are finding new market niches to exploit the near unlimited potential of IoT technology, and how they're causing disruptive waves that ripple across different trades to nurture a near trillion-dollar industry.
Why aren't your customers listening to you?
"Why are my customers not listening to me?" is a question frequently asked by frustrated marketers and decision-makers. To address this question, author Carly Driscoll asks two crucial follow-ups: do you truly know who your customers are, and are you really delivering them an impactful message? At first glance it may seem intuitive or even simple, but successfully answering these questions requires a marketer to truly empathize with their audience—a task much easier said than done. Fortunately, there's a time-proven way to not only interest your customers, but also convert leads into revenue-generating relationships that will drive growth and brand prestige: great content. In this eye-opening article, you'll learn about the successful R.I.D.E. methodology for content creation, and how to effectively inform your customers with solid content marketing at each stage of the buying process.
5 Things to Avoid While Using a Team Messenger
Team messenger apps are a great addition to the workplace, especially in today's environment where working from home and flexible work schedules are the norm. However, it's easy to forget that just like unbulleted emails and leaving used Tupperware in the company fridge, there are some behaviors that are frowned upon when using office communication tools.
In this article, you'll review 5 basic rules that professionals must be mindful of when using a team messenger application in the office or remotely. Always keep them in mind to avoid awkward situations and the office blacklist.
Monday, July 27, 2020
Finding the right IoT solution for your business
It's no secret that IoT is revolutionizing business around the world. However, investing in IoT is not as simple as investing money in new platforms or applications. The real challenge lies in finding a model that works for your business and adjusts to your organization's focus and competitive advantage. In other words, it's the opposite of a one-size-fits-all approach, and making the wrong choice can have profound consequences that can take years to overcome.
In this infographic, we'll cover the distinctions between Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service models, as well as explain the main variables that can determine where your business stands when choosing one of these models.
Empower your entire organization with Microsoft Teams
You've just arrived at the office, booted up your computer or laptop, and filled your first cup of coffee. You sit back down, take a sip, and what do you see? Chances are it's a login screen. Hastily, you type in your username and password and get on with a productive day. At least that was the idea, until you remember you forgot to send Karen from HR your vacation request form. You try to reach her by email but to no avail, so you boot up the informal messenger that everyone in the office uses because the legacy messenger set up years ago crashes when you send so much as an emoji. But of course, you once again need to type in your login info, only to see that Janice is not online. So ultimately you end up making two trips to HR (on the first trip, you forgot to staple your vacation balance because the document is stored in a separate internal SharePoint) to finally get your vacation approved.
Ready to throw your computer out a window yet? We don't blame you. This scenario may seem comical, but it's a reality that thousands of employees must endure thanks to the lack of a single, unified digital workspace. Preferably one that can be implemented across your entire organization and serve as a hub for all documents and teams to collaborate, within and across projects.
After reading this infographic, you'll learn how each department within your business can utilize Microsoft Teams to become more efficient, store documents securely, and collaborate seamlessly with any peer or colleague.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Stay connected with Microsoft Azure IoT. Subscribe now.
IoT is easy to understand: it's about connecting devices over the Internet so they can communicate with us, with other applications, and with each other. But while IoT may be simple to explain, putting an effective IoT strategy into practice is vastly more complex.
Subscribe now to stay up to date on how Microsoft technologies deliver the flexibility and scalability you need to control, monitor, and manage your things, allowing you to capture real-time data that can be applied to uncover new business insights and revenue streams.
View: Stay connected with Microsoft Azure IoT. Subscribe now.
Transform your business from local to global with digital collaboration. Get started with Microsoft Teams.
How do you increase the scale of your business without compromising your teams' work structure and methodologies? Truth be told, there is no single answer to this question, but there is one solution that has been proven to yield outstanding results for today's leading enterprises: digital collaboration. However, the real challenge lies in choosing the correct platform on which to build your modern workplace—one that provides the flexibility, efficiency, and customizability that complements your work methodologies and empowers your employees.
Thankfully, one such platform exists, and is currently being utilized by today's industry leaders to complete fascinating, intricate projects around the world. Subscribe now to learn how Microsoft Teams can become the best tool for your workforce to reach its full potential, and how your business can go from local to global with Microsoft cloud.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Building relationships in today's sales environment
The relationship between buyers and sellers grows more complex daily. Buyers have more information available to them than ever before and they use it to their advantage. TOPO research finds that most buyers are already 57 percent through the buying process before even talking to a supplier.
Yet when the time is right, buyers do still want personal attention from sellers. They are typically motivated to engage with sales reps only when it adds value to them. As a result, the sellers' job is complicated as they must provide useful interactions and seamless transactions. So how can they accomplish this?
In this powerful eBook, customers learn how the Microsoft Relationship Sales solution is a combination of three tools that provide sales teams with access to critical data points from disparate platforms in one central location. The sales solution uses AI to analyze data from sales, Office 365, LinkedIn, and information gleaned from a CRM to provide a single relationship health score. What's uniquely powerful about the solution is the unification of data available at seller's fingertips.
Use this eBook as an educational tool for customers to gain a strong understanding of why the Microsoft Relationship Sales solution is a superior choice over other applications.
Drive better relationships with Microsoft Dynamics 365. Subscribe to learn more.
Having data can either be a good thing or a disadvantage—it all depends on the accuracy of the data sources and your organization's ability to unify them to empower sales and customer service teams. Subscribe now to stay up to date on how your business can use Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure to enable innovation and sustain consistent growth with insight-rich data.
View: Drive better relationships with Microsoft Dynamics 365. Subscribe to learn more.
FINNING | Customer Value of Self-Service IoT Apps on the Azure Cloud
Finning, the second largest supplier of Caterpillar machinery in the world, was intent on delivering next-generation, experience-enhancing services to its clients. However, there was something standing in the way: siloed databases that were forcing users to use multiple logins for multiple platforms, resulting in a disjointed and ultimately convoluted practice. Watch this video to learn how Finning used Microsoft Azure Cloud to unify fragmented data sets and streamline its customer journey roadmap.
Helsanas goes digital and improves customer experiences with Microsoft technologies
When analyzing what steps to take with digital transformation, Helsana—one of the largest health insurance companies in Switzerland—decided to focus on rethinking its interactions with customers. However, siloed information and disjointed customer touchpoints were preventing the insurer from seeing the complete picture of its customers' journeys.
In this video, you'll learn how Helsana utilized Microsoft Dynamics 365 to empower its customer service and sales teams with on-point customer insights that enabled tailored offers and services. You'll also see how Microsoft Azure allowed for an increasingly secure and flexible environment that fostered innovation and improved Helsana's ability to dynamically react to new challenges.
J Walter Thompson Unlocking creativity with Microsoft Teams
Creativity is like a living organism. It requires the right conditions to appear, careful nurturing to become more capable, and a diverse ecosystem to thrive. However, just like any organism, it can disappear in an instant if its environment doesn't provide the conditions it needs to grow and reach its full potential.
Ironically, nothing generates the mass extinction of creative ideas faster than alienating cubicles. So organizations quickly began to change from the inside to create environments that foster innovation and dynamic work methodologies. With the advent of digital, they realized that not only did physical spaces need to change, but also their digital counterparts. Let's face it—when was the last time you read a company-wide email reply and thought it was a good thing?
In this video, you'll learn the inspiring example of how J. Walter Thompson—one of the largest communication agencies in the world—has mastered the art of digital collaboration thanks to Microsoft Teams. From collaborating with the world's leading experts in prosthetics to give a veteran the ability to once again swim with his family, to simply networking and having fun, you'll see how Teams is much more than a work tool—it's a hub for inspiration and creativity.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Improve Sales Productivity and Remote Selling with Sales Accelerator
As if managing the sales cycle wasn't already complex, the limitations of a world restricted by COVID-19 makes it all that more challenging! The truth is, the fundamentals and responsibilities of selling largely remain the same, and sales teams are expected to reach their goals to keep the business intact. Therefore, your customers are likely wondering, just how can I continue to meet my sales goals?
The answer to this is that virtual engagement and digital sales must become a priority. The companies that quickly learn to leverage their digital arsenal will come out on top. In this insightful blog, customers learn how Microsoft too, faced this challenge head-on and the steps they've taken to adapt.
Thanks to a full-fledged deployment of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Insights, Microsoft Digital Sales were able to scale to demand and continue supporting customers without disruptions. Learn more about these tools and how equipping teams with the power to leverage data and digital tools will drive improved customer experiences—now and into the future.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
The value of moving to Azure
Considering modernizing and moving your business to the cloud? You're not alone. You're also not the one thinking about security and compliance.
Microsoft Azure has advanced security features and more compliance certifications than any other public cloud provider. Full back up and recovery to the cloud and built-in security features across on-premises and cloud deployments. Single sign on (SSO) for each employee, extending local user identities and permissions to the cloud.
For the best in security and compliance, Microsoft Azure sits alone.
Why Microsoft Services for Modernization
Ready to move your applications to a modern cloud?
The Modernization Solution from Microsoft Services provides a thorough approach to move applications, data and infrastructure to an enterprise-ready cloud.
While migration requires commitment, Microsoft Services provides unparalleled guidance and support during the entire process.
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
The Future of Productivity: Teamwork and Collaboration
Long gone are the days when the bulk of office communication was made via lengthy, often incomprehensible email threads. Also going extinct—thankfully— are the colossal company-wide emails that were often responded to by recipients using the "reply all" button.
Today's corporate communication is evolving—not to the Orwellian, drone-like future portrayed in the movies, but toward a more multimedia-focused and casual approach. Nowadays, boring project management software is losing traction to intuitive digital tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams which enable communication and collaboration to happen from a single platform.
In this article, you'll learn about the major trends that are transforming office communications around the world. You'll also gain insight into how several industry leaders envision the future of collaboration, and what tools they're using within their organizations to push forward projects worldwide.
Modernize sales productivity
Are you exhausted at the end of your workday, trying to sort through of all of the information being thrown at you? In our modern age of distraction, there's no question that focusing on what's most important can be a challenge! There are so many systems to sort through and often expectations are unclear. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. According to TOPO, 60 percent of companies lack a well-defined sales process.
In this week's video, you'll learn how Dynamics 365 Sales Professional is a single, integrated platform that cuts through the complexity and gives you the power to focus on what's most important. Contextual, real-time dashboards show you which metrics to focus on, which puts you firmly in the driver's seat. Now you can take informed and specific action toward your business's goals and eliminate the guesswork once and for all!
FINNING digitally transforms its operations with IoT apps on Azure cloud
FINNING, the world's largest Caterpillar dealer, started its digital transformation journey with customers in mind, but soon realized that its own operations were seeing just as many benefits as its clients. Not willing to turn down an opportunity to improve, FINNING quickly learned that the data obtained from customer-facing solutions enabled it to gain insights into internal processes and become even more efficient. Watch this video to learn how Azure IoT can have game-changing solutions that push forward internal process optimization and enhance customer satisfaction.
GEICO turbocharges insurance innovation with Microsoft Cloud
Insurance customers want the ability to buy and be serviced from anywhere, at any time. To meet this desire, GEICO decided to focus on two key aspects: abandoning its legacy infrastructure and focusing on digital transformation from a customer engagement perspective.
Watch this video to learn how GEICO evolved from a traditional, silo-based infrastructure to an integrated, automated, and collaborative model. This transition allowed for increased flexibility and productivity thanks to a DevOps approach using Microsoft Azure.
The 7-step partner mini-guide to onboarding customers
Organizations don't make the jump to digital collaborations overnight. It takes months—or even years, depending on their size—of careful planning and strategy to come up with a transition plan that doesn't compromise operations while everybody gets onboarded.
It's our job, then, to guide our clients and partners as to the best way they can make their digital plans happen. Of course, this isn't always easy—some organizations have highly rigid and complex structures that can take a while to adapt and integrate new technologies, while others may have multiple stakeholders who need to be consulted during each stage of the process. Either way, a clear and well-established roadmap goes a long way toward ensuring the process goes as smoothly as possible.
That's why we've created this infographic—to provide you with 7 time-tested steps that can make your customers' Microsoft Teams adoption as seamless as possible. Use it as a handy cheat sheet for yourself or your sales teams, or bring it along to executive meetings for a visually impactful way of presenting a solid implementation strategy that's recommended by Microsoft.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Customer Story: SitePro Part 2
SitePro is a software company with a mission to enable the digital oil field. In this video, discover how Microsoft Azure helps SitePro harness the power of data to drive transformation for its oil and gas company customers.
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Shift your business into overdrive. Subscribe today.
More than ever before, organizations are augmenting human skills, ingenuity, and business acumen with data analytics, productivity, and enterprise solutions to gain a competitive edge. Subscribe today to stay informed on how solutions like Dynamics 365, Power BI, and other Microsoft services and solutions are enabling modern businesses to take the lead over competitors and finish first in the marketplace.
Bulk up your business. Subscribe now.
While there are multiple ways to distinguish yourself from your competitors, one sure way to set yourself apart is to create and deliver personalized experiences to both existing and prospective customers, tailored to their unique needs and preferences. One sure way to accomplish this is with Dynamics 365. Subscribe today, and stay informed on how Dynamics 365, along with other leading Microsoft solutions, can help elevate and transform your engagements with both current and future customers.
Dynamics 365 & Office 365 Working as One
Imagine your business has a new sales opportunity. Different teams need to work together to build a presentation to capitalize on the opportunity. If your business applications work in silos, it's up to individual employees to compare and consolidate feedback. Additionally, it can be very difficult to ensure everyone is working in the most up-to-date version.
Imagine how collaboration workspaces can totally change the game. Without leaving a workspace, your team members can access connected data and insights to create the presentation. They can easily bring together relevant customer or financial information. And, there are never any issues with version control. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Office 365 work together to make collaboration and sales processes painless and seamless.
In this eBook, customers learn how Microsoft Dynamics 365 works with Office 365 to unite people and processes. Learn from practical examples how to streamline sales processes, capitalize on digital selling and deliver an exceptional customer experience.
A single digital workspace that connects ideas, projects, and people. Subscribe to learn more about Microsoft Teams.
As the world becomes increasingly connected, continuous product innovation in the Modern Workplace provides growing opportunities for today's organizations to deliver customized business solutions to their customers.
In this digital landscape, the demand for unified solutions is stronger than ever, with 88 percent of Microsoft customers agreeing that having all their solutions together in one place saves them time. These same companies also estimate that they've saved nearly $5 million over three years from not having to switch back and forth between apps.
So how exactly are organizations adapting to these trends? Subscribe now to get the answer to this question and many others regarding Modern Workplace, digital collaboration, and Microsoft solutions.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
What's The Future Of Your Technology Capabilities?
Though the coronavirus situation forced a remote work model for many businesses, some have realized that it might be more ideal than returning to the traditional go-to-work model. Why? Cloud technology.
In his article, "What's the Future of Your Technology Capabilities?" Gilles Muys writes that the cloud has proven it's here to stay, due to withstanding various vulnerabilities. He adds that another reason the cloud is long-term is "its ability to stand alone from being infrastructure-dependent makes it cost-effective." He points out that now is the time to transition to cost-saving technology because all signs point to increase cloud use and associated benefits.
Have questions about Azure cloud migration? Contact us—we'd like to help.
Finishing first with Renault Sports Formula One and Dynamics 365
To monitor every aspect of performance, a Renault Sports Formula One race car is outfitted with over 200 sensors that generate more than 35 billion data points over a typical race weekend. Since two or more sensors can be matched to form around 20,000 different virtual channels, cars relay an enormous volume of data back to the Renault Sports team during races and tests. By pairing Azure-based Dynamics 365 for Operations with Microsoft Power BI, the Renault Sports team can bring up and track this data in real time, enabling them to make exact modifications and adjustments at lightning speed to squeeze more performance out of the car. Watch this short video to see how the Renault Sports Formula One team capitalizes on the features of Dynamics 365 for Operations and Microsoft Azure to make its cars faster than ever and reach the finish line first.
24 Hour Fitness personalizes member services using Dynamics 365
Just as every person's fitness goals are different, so too are the individual paths to achieving those goals. But when it comes to creating customized experiences for its 4+ million members across the U.S., 24 Hour Fitness realized there was only one sure path to success: Microsoft Dynamics 365. In the crowded wellness industry, 24 Hour Fitness distinguishes itself through both its innovative approach to fitness and its personalized approach to member service. Today, the company is applying data analytics to member marketing by connecting Dynamics 365 with Adobe Experience Cloud hosted on Microsoft Azure to personalize marketing messages to millions of members at its 400+ health clubs. Watch this video to see how 24 Hour Fitness is connecting marketing and sales data to reach people in exciting new ways, attract record numbers of members, and ultimately help more people attain their fitness goals.
HRI uses Microsoft Teams to streamline research
Medical researchers have one of the most critical jobs in the world. It's imperative, therefore, that every second of their workday is dedicated to discovering new ways to improve human health. Likewise, enabling researchers to effortlessly share their work with colleagues around the world can make a huge the difference.
Watch this video to learn how Health Research Institute (HRI) is using Microsoft Teams to enable its researchers to seamlessly communicate, collaborate, and help each other in over 150 international projects per year.
Azure Migration Program Customer
The buzz is constant: What are the pros and cons of migrating my business to the cloud? What will it cost? How do I join the Azure Migration Program (AMP)?
It's a big jump to get to the cloud, but once you take it we are confident you will not regret it. We offer step-by-step guidance, including foundational and role-specific courses to help ensure your migration readiness.
Have a look at this informational one-pager that shows how you will benefit from the AMP and answers many of your questions. There's even a "Next steps" link when you're ready for it.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
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Businesses are amassing enormous amounts of data, more than they know what to do with. Most are just using it to put together dense periodic reports explaining "what" happened too long after the fact to be of much use. Modernizing your digital workplace by moving to Azure and utilizing its AI technology can help you get a handle on your data and graduate from "what" happened to "how" it happened and, finally, to what "will" happen to inform what you should do all within a relevant period of time.
Making choices with data and AI
How do we, as human beings, make decisions? While most people would like to believe that they take a rational, calculated approach by considering all the variables, research shows that we go with our "gut feeling" instead about 95 percent of the time. In his Forbes article entitled "Making Choices With Data And AI," author Mark Robinson discusses the proper role of AI in human decision making. AI shouldn't be making decisions for us, he contends, but rather, guide us by interpreting the data at hand and presenting the facts and variables surrounding a given choice—effectively balancing out our "gut feeling" with rational objectivity. Read the full article to learn how AI-assisted decision making can help guide your business toward greater growth and success by mitigating human bias in choice.
Follow these 8 CRM implementation best practices
When it comes to choosing a customer relationship management (CRM) system for your business, your options have never been more abundant. Established vendors are releasing new features and functionality at an impressive pace, while new vendors are entering the market just as quickly.
Solutions range from systems designed for large enterprises and SMBs to decentralized mobile workforces, and everything in between. All of this choice is giving rise to two very important questions: how to you determine which CRM solution is right for your business, and more important, how do you get business users to make the most out of the system—and out of your investment? In her article for CIO magazine entitled "8 CRM implementation best practices," author Jennifer Lonoff Schiff addresses those questions and CRM in general, distilling feedback from CRM vendors, users, and experts into eight suggestions for maximizing the effectiveness of a customer relationship management system. Read the full article to learn what these experts and industry insiders had to say.
Why Remote Work Trumps Being in the Office
It's no secret that when implemented with the right vision and control mechanisms, remote collaboration provides outstanding benefits for both employees and organizations. Workers enjoy greater flexibility plus the satisfaction of better work-life balance, while organizations obtain unparalleled scalability and increased efficiency across projects.
In this article, we'll put you in the shoes of a passionate work-from-home advocate to discover the main reasons why this benefit is sought after by professionals in every industry. You'll also learn why, in these digital times, remote collaboration is not only an option, but THE best option for companies that wish to empower and motivate today's diverse and inclusive workforce.
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