Monday, December 27, 2021

Happy New Year

A New Year is the perfect time to reach out and say "thank you" for your business in 2021. The team at Inner-City Cubes wishes you and yours health, happiness, peace and success in 2022. Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

With the holiday season here, we find ourselves reflecting on the past year and the customers who've helped shape our business. In this spirit, we say thank you and send best wishes to you and yours for the holidays.

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Up-to-date infographic

Azure SQL databases are always up-to-date. When you migrate SQL Server databases to the Azure cloud, you can adopt Azure SQL Database managed instance for evergreen SQL that never needs to be patched or upgraded along. At the same time, you gain end-to-end SQL Server Engine compatibility for migration without code changes.

View: Up-to-date infographic

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

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Empower the workers who engage customers first

Learn more about Frontline Workers—those who engage customers first—and how they can drive transformation in your organization with the right solutions from Microsoft. Subscribe now.

View: Empower the workers who engage customers first

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.

View: What's driving application modernization?

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.

Reduce up to 80% in administration costs by offloading server/storage infrastructures

When you offload server/storage infrastructures to Azure, you can reduce up to 80% in administration costs.

View: Reduce up to 80% in administration costs by offloading server/storage infrastructures

Financial tech company gains SQL Server performance and scalability on Linux

The dv01 financial reporting and analytics platform offers institutional investors transparency and insight into consumer lending markets. Based initially on PostgreSQL and Redshift data warehouse, the dv01 applications began to run slower as complexity increased. After exploring multiple solutions, dv01 eventually moved to Microsoft SQL Server 2016 running on Azure Virtual Machines. This move provided the scalability it needed to handle rapid growth, reduce query response time from 30 seconds to 1-2 seconds, and cut management time by 90 percent.

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Monday, December 20, 2021

Solution overview video

Frontline Workers are frequently the first to engage customers, the first to represent your brand, and the first to see your products in action. It's crucial that this workforce has the modern tools and devices they need to increase productivity, streamline communication, and do their jobs successfully. This video provides an overview to the solutions Microsoft offers to empower your team.

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.

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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.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Cloud lessons learned: four companies that migrated their Windows Server and SQL Server workloads to Azure

Read the success stories of companies that increased workload performance and cut costs by moving Windows Server and SQL Server to Azure. Download this eBook to learn about the different cloud migration paths that Allscripts, Carlsberg Group, Epos Now, and TraXall France used. See how Azure helps to smoothly migrate legacy data and keep pace with innovation, among other features.

View: Cloud lessons learned: four companies that migrated their Windows Server and SQL Server workloads to Azure

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.

View: Fluid, Dynamic, and Cloud-Powered Solutions

Create unparalleled remote work experiences with Surface and partner devices

Cutting-edge Microsoft Surface devices enable unparalleled collaboration, innovation, and creativity from anywhere. Empower your team to do more - wherever they may be.

View: Create unparalleled remote work experiences with Surface and partner devices

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.

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Tuesday, December 7, 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.

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Carlsberg Group follows a recipe for success with Microsoft Azure, SAP, and a cloud-first strategy

Discover how the Carlsberg Group has successfully migrated SAP to Microsoft Azure. Migrating their environment to the cloud has helped them drive business performance and achieve digital transformation by streamlining their IT infrastructure.

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Empower IT

Retiring legacy devices makes your company more agile and productive. Replace the complex web of third-party collaboration, communication, security, and mobility technologies with the powerful, versatile, integrated Microsoft Surface family of devices.

View: Empower IT

Why Trust Windows Virtual Desktop?

Quickly deploy virtual desktops and apps to enable secure remote work. Microsoft continues to invest in cybersecurity research and development and makes changes to improve the overall Windows Virtual Desktop experience for employees. Learn how this program can be a tool to keep your workload safe.

View: Why Trust Windows Virtual Desktop?

Monday, December 6, 2021

Simplified SMB Hybrid Cloud - Simplified Hybrid IT for SMBs 

This video explains that HPE ProLiant Gen10 servers with Windows Server 2019 are cloud-ready to utilize a hybrid IT approach for controlling critical resources on-premises and moving less critical applications and data to the cloud. Please contact High Tech.2.0 for more information about leveraging HPE ProLiant Gen10 servers with Windows Server 2019.  

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Quantifying the Benefit of Intelligent Virtual Assistants to Improve Meeting Experiences

This report states that Cisco customers are most likely to use built-in virtual assistant features for virtual meetings. Moreover, compared with other solutions, only Cisco Webex provides a comprehensive selection of automated virtual assistant features. Please contact RetroFit Technologies for more information about Cisco Webex.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Reduce Costs Infographic

While innovation has supplanted cost savings as the primary driver of cloud migration for many businesses, moving to the cloud needs to make sense for your bottom line. Learn about the unbeatable costs offers and benefits of migration to Azure cloud.

View: Reduce Costs Infographic

Tuesday, November 30, 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.

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.

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10 reasons to use Azure SQL in your next project

There are many new features that developers don't know exist with Microsoft Azure SQL. Learn why Azure SQL is a post-relational, cloud-native database with these ten simple points, including complete storage control, complete monitorability, and full insights.

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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.

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Monday, November 29, 2021

Microsoft Surface and Fortum | Transforming the Modern Workplace

Along with an external change of headquarters, Finland-based energy provider Fortum had a vision for a workplace transformation led by seamless group-collaboration tools. The company deployed Microsoft Surface Hub and Skype for Business Online, which harmonized with its sleek new office, modern workspaces, and commitment to employees' futures. Now people launch meetings in seconds with one click, participate in video calls with coworkers around the globe, and design products in real time on digital whiteboards.

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

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Benefits of using Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure

This whitepaper highlights why Azure makes sense for applications that rely on SQL Server or Windows Server, based on four themes: security, innovation, hybridity, and cost.

View: Benefits of using Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure

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

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

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.

View: Azure App Service

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.

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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.

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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.

View: Embracing digitalization

Law firm runs better with server on Azure

Why run Windows Server on Azure? Ellen Kirby, senior manager of Technical Operations and senior enterprise architect at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, talks about the benefits of running the law firm's Windows Servers on Azure and about leveraging Windows Admin Center for better management and automation.

Monday, November 22, 2021

A modern blueprint for endpoint protection

With 64% of organizations experiencing one or more endpoint attacks that compromised data or IT infrastructure, security teams understand the urgent need to modernize endpoint security methods. Subscribe to explore the options of strengthening security at the device level.

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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.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Lightning-fast innovation, elastic scalability, cost savings, and better performance

As global conditions and customer expectations shift rapidly, innovation, efficiency, and resilience are more important than ever to business. With Microsoft Azure, you experience lightning-fast innovation, elastic scalability, cost savings, and better performance. Sign up to stay connected so we can help you modernize your .NET apps on Azure and support business priorities.

Productivity: Increasing productivity with Microsoft 365 + Microsoft Surface

Lower your total cost of ownership and make faster decisions with the combination of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Surface devices.

View: Productivity: Increasing productivity with Microsoft 365 + Microsoft Surface

Tuesday, November 16, 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.

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Systems Imagination uses SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters to deliver cutting-edge medical insights

Systems Imagination uses big data to discover new tiers of medical insights unobtainable through conventional means. In order to gain the distributed computing power it needed, the company adopted Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters. Now, it delivers results based on petabytes of data to its customers within hours while simultaneously keeping operating costs low.

Microsoft Surface - Productive, Powerful, Protected

With today's cyber-threat environment, cutting-edge security is critical. Surface was built to be a revolutionary on its performance and versatility, and Surface is one of the top devices in the security landscape. We know you need to empower your team to be their best without compromising security. Get to know Surface, and rest assured that your team's mobility and creativity are backed by best-in-class security.

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.

Monday, November 15, 2021

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.

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.

View: Hybrid Work: A Guide for Business Leaders

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

eBook: The ultimate guide to Windows Server 2019

Take full advantage of your on-premises investments with Windows Server 2019. Learn how to extend your on-premises environments to the cloud with the Windows Server 2019 advanced hybrid capabilities. Additionally, learn how to add additional security layers and update your applications and infrastructure when you connect to the cloud.

View: eBook: The ultimate guide to Windows Server 2019

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

Set your team up for success by providing a platform for collaboration

Cutting-edge Microsoft Surface devices enable unparalleled collaboration, innovation, and creativity. Securely connect your workforce in the office, from the classroom, or on the go. Subscribe now!

View: Set your team up for success by providing a platform for collaboration

How the Surface Hub transforms traditional communication at Carhartt

Whether it's working alongside a supplier or maintaining relationships with a national retailer, Carhartt continues to drive efficiency by making smarter decisions and building stronger partnerships using Surface Hub and Power BI. With Microsoft technology, the Carhartt leadership team streamlined its telecommunication expenses, forged new productivity solutions, and refined its analytics model.

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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.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

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.

View: Eight Finance Trends Every CFO Should Know

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.

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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.

View: Develop your own path on Microsoft Azure

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.

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Solution overview video

Learn about the features and benefits of migrating to Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure. This video discusses key aspects such as preventing the loss of valuable data and getting the lowest cost of ownership.

Monday, November 8, 2021

Microsoft Suffolk Construction Customer Story

Suffolk Construction delivers innovation at their construction sites with Microsoft technology. Users interact with Surface Hubs in ways that are most natural and intuitive to enable efficiency and collaboration.

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.

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Wednesday, November 3, 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

Tuesday, November 2, 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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Innovate Infographic

Moving Windows Server and SQL workloads to Azure provides flexible, scalable, and highly available cloud infrastructure. It also supports rapid innovation and digital transformation, freeing you to innovate. This infographic presents the benefits of running Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure.

View: Innovate Infographic

How Photobooth Supply Co. uses Microsoft Surface to inspire creativity and capture memories

Photobooth Supply Co. is using Microsoft Surface devices to enhance the capabilities and features of their photo booths and produce unique and memorable photography experiences for customers all over the world.

.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

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.

Monday, November 1, 2021

Itaú Unibanco boosts service availability and data processing with SQL Server 2019

As a banking leader in Latin America and one of the largest banks in the world, Itaú Unibanco handles thousands of transactions every second. Operating on an aging data infrastructure, the bank found it difficult to expand its digital services without breaking SLAs or putting its guarantee of continuous service availability at risk. Since it migrated database services to Microsoft SQL Server 2019 based on Intel datacenter technologies, Itaú Unibanco can confidently scale data collection and infrastructure maintenance while it delivers the high level of service its private and commercial banking customers rely on.

Maximizing your ROI from Microsoft 365 with Microsoft Surface

Maximize your ROI from Microsoft 365 with Microsoft Surface. Realize significant cost benefits from reduced security breaches and increased productivity with the device platform built from the ground up to help you get the most out of Microsoft 365.

View: Maximizing your ROI from Microsoft 365 with Microsoft Surface

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

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Wednesday, October 27, 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.

View: Common 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

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Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Employ flexible, open hybrid cloud solutions and transform customer engagement ​

Keep up to date on cloud solutions to transform customer engagement. Subscribe now.

View: Employ flexible, open hybrid cloud solutions and transform customer engagement ​

COVID shortages: Supply chains must become less efficient

The efficient leanness of supply chains before COVID-19 caused damage during the disruption. To counter this risk, Forbes advises adapting your supply chain to become flexibly risk-free. Efficiency does not always equal resiliency.

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Microsoft Whiteboard experience on Surface Hub 2S

Microsoft Whiteboard is an endless canvas for people to work together in person or remotely across multiple devices. Surface Hub lights up the Microsoft Whiteboard experience with a gorgeous screen display and advanced inking capabilities, and there are so many great features built into Whiteboard to help you create your content. Customize the background of your canvas, enjoy the seamless inking experience of the Surface Hub 2 Pen, draw a shape and Whiteboard will perfect it for you. And if you want to create a table, start by drawing a rectangle, add some grid lines, and Whiteboard will recognize your intent. Start to add content and the table will intelligently adjust to fit. You can invite your colleagues to contribute to the whiteboard and they can add to it anytime from anywhere on multiple devices, making this game-changing for teamwork.

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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.

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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.

View: Risk management best practices

Monday, October 25, 2021

Solution overview video

This video highlights the benefits and features of using the Modernize .NET Microsoft solution to find lightning fast innovation, elastic scalability, cost savings, and better performance.

Remotely deploy and configure devices in a zero-touch process

Remotely deploy and configure devices in a zero-touch process. Subscribe now!

View: Remotely deploy and configure devices in a zero-touch process

Copper State Bolt & Nut Co. lays a foundation for simple, seamless growth with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Discover the benefits of migrating from Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications that are housed on-premises to Dynamics 365 in the cloud. Copper State Bolt and Nut Co. sells over 125,000 fasteners, bolts, and nuts every month. By moving to the cloud-based application, Copper State Bolt and Nut Co. can keep up with the complexity and rapid growth of their data. Learn how migrating has helped them run their business more efficiently today and how it can help them to continue to scale in the future.

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

3 fundamentals for a successful hybrid cloud

Learn how to manage infrastructure more easily, innovate faster, and improve security using the hybrid cloud. Read this one-pager to get guidance on using three fundamentals to create your hybrid cloud strategy: networking, identity and access management, and security.

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Transformation journey

From nurturing creativity, to boosting productivity and advanced security, Microsoft Surface is the best place to deploy Microsoft 365.

View: Transformation journey

When inspiration strikes, bring it to the Surface

Watch floral artist Maurice Harris bring his ideas to full bloom with the new Surface. From processing power and brilliant touchscreen to all-day battery and stunning graphics, the new Surface family can make your imagination a reality.

How blockchain will transform the modern supply chain

Contemporary supply chains have opened up a world of connected commerce far beyond what previous generations imagined possible. Traditional methods for managing shared processes - such as manual inspections, after-the-fact audits, and record reconciliation - are expensive, time-consuming, and error-prone. Modern supply chains demand a better solution. Blockchain is a secure, shared, distributed ledger that allows for supply chain visibility. It is uniquely positioned to help create trust, transparency, and accountability between many parties in supply chain scenarios.

View: How blockchain will transform the modern supply chain

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

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

Pandora streamlines global operations using Microsoft technology

Pandora is disrupting and transforming the jewelry industry by making beautiful jewelry an affordable luxury. Experiencing explosive growth, the company turned to Microsoft to help it establish global processes, streamline operations, and gain business insights. With Microsoft cloud services—including Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and Microsoft Dynamics solutions—Pandora better connects and serves its retailers, wholesalers, franchisees, and consumers worldwide to further its competitive edge.

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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.

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Alaska Airlines makes shopping easier with faster flow of new e-commerce features

A great online shopping experience begins with great software. That's why Alaska Airlines uses Microsoft Azure and Windows Server Containers to launch new e-commerce features faster. Travelers get new offers sooner, which translates to happier customers and increased revenues. By running its e-commerce engine in Azure in hybrid fashion, Alaska can scale more easily and ensure its sites run at the optimum point of performance and cost.

Microsoft Surface devices drive digital innovation at Blue Frog Bar and Grill

Staff at the blue frog restaurant chain looked for help modernizing and transforming IT operations from the table to the boardroom. Microsoft delivered in the form of a powerful combination of Surface Go and Surface Pro devices, supported by a suite of business and productivity software built around Windows 10.

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Monday, October 18, 2021

Pivoting to an intelligent supply chain

Currently, enterprises suffer from latency in their production process. AI can intelligently predict and simulate scenarios, enabling a responsive system. Pivot from manual and paper-based processes to AI-augmented solutions.

View: Pivoting to an intelligent supply chain

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

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.

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Thursday, October 14, 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

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

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.

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Migrate Web Apps

This infographic details three simple ways to migrate web applications to Azure App Service. Bring your code, bring your container, or use the Migration Assistant tool.

View: Migrate Web Apps

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The future of supply chain: Taking a new approach

Future supply chains will be intelligent, enabled by a core cloud-based central platform that will integrate, orchestrate, and execute actions by working with each variable of the value chain. This creates a more holistic view of operations for enterprises, providing for new levels of agility, responsiveness, and risk mitigation.

View: The future of supply chain: Taking a new approach

Building Intelligent Cloud Applications

This eBook provides a step-by-step guide for building and deploying scalable deep learning and machine learning models using serverless architectures with Azure. Learn to code machine learning into your projects using Python and pre-trained models that include image and speech recognition and classification. Explore issues around deployment and continuous delivery, including scaling, security, and monitoring.

View: Building Intelligent Cloud Applications

Tuesday, October 12, 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.

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Tustin school district brings advanced, inclusive learning to high schools with Microsoft Surface Pro

After testing four different tablets in their schools, the Tustin Unified School District found Microsoft Surface Pro to be the best choice for their high school teachers and students. In this video, see how Surface was able to increase productivity across the board and empower students with different accessibility needs and learning styles.

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Top trends that will reshape supply chain and logistics in 2020

Efficient logistics are important for a growing supply chain. It's important to recognize what trends will impact logistics. This article explains several of the main trends in 2020, such as artificial intelligence, real-time visibility in the supply chain, a supply chain digital twin, 3PL collaboration, and green logistics.

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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.

View: GitHub Actions for Azure

Azure helps companies power their hybrid cloud migration

The hybrid capabilities from Microsoft Azure fuel innovation and delivers great business outcomes to companies such as, J.B. Hunt, KPMG, Allscripts, and Chevron. By meeting them where they are, Microsoft improves the cloud migration experience and helps companies reduce overall costs. Watch to learn how these Fortune 500 companies used Microsoft Azure to power their hybrid cloud strategies and move their businesses forward.

Monday, October 11, 2021

School district levels the playing field with Surface for every student

Forward-thinking Blue Springs School District in the Blue Springs area of Kansas City, Missouri, is preparing its students for a technology-rich world. The district wanted to give students the best possible education within the financial constraints that face most school districts. It also aimed to ensure equal access to technology for children of all economic backgrounds. By providing a Microsoft Surface Go device for each student, the district optimized its technology budget and leveled the academic playing field for all. Most important, its students are poised to soar.

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Finding magic in the mix of innovation, technology, and flavor

Consumer goods manufacturer Majans views technology as a key ingredient to create a new movement in snacking while simultaneously unlocking employee potential and scaling for growth. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and IoT Intelligence, Majans provides its frontline workers, management, and C-level decision makers with near-real-time data offering meaningful signals and insights to create a quality product in a competitive market.

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Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Microsoft Azure cloud migration: 3 success stories

Learn from three Microsoft customer success stories to understand how to make a valid business plan for your cloud migration. This article describes each way J.B. Hunt, H&R Block, and A.P. Moller - Maersk are using Microsoft to move their applications and systems to Azure.

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Deliver software faster and more securely with the world's leading developer platform

Microsoft Visual Studio, coupled with GitHub and Azure DevOps, helps you achieve your goals with the freedom and flexibility to build, manage, and deploy your applications anywhere—with speed and security. Use your preferred languages, frameworks, and infrastructure, even your own datacenter and other clouds, to solve challenges large and small. Sign up to say connected—we'll help you learn more about Azure DevOps with GitHub and Visual Studio from Microsoft to build your next great solution.

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Tuesday, October 5, 2021

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

Microsoft customer story for Sport Clips

Sport Clips delivers innovation to their customers with Microsoft Surface devices. See how users interact with Sport Clips in new, seamless ways to deliver efficiency and satisfaction.

6 ways to win back your post-pandemic customers

This post outlines six best practices for winning back your customers lost during the pandemic. Tips include sending out your safety "playbook," being the ambassador of encouragement, and organizing calls with your top customers.

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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.

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Descartes migrates to Azure SQL Database for growth and flexibility

Discover how Descartes, a global leader in logistics and supply chain solutions, helps keep goods flowing smoothly for businesses. Descartes wanted to move its MacroPoint solution to the public cloud to provide greater flexibility for customers and to focus internal resources on extending product value. After choosing Microsoft Azure as its preferred platform, the company successfully migrated the solution to Azure SQL Database.

Monday, October 4, 2021

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.

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Deliver intelligent supply chain | NRF 2020

At the NRF 2020 event, hear from Microsoft and partners to learn more about closing the gap between demand and fulfillment to delight your customers.

Surface Hub 2S: Teamwork without boundaries

More than 50% of work done today is accomplished through collaboration but 70% of professionals work somewhere other than the office at least one day week. This article shares how Microsoft Surface and partner devices are keeping modern professionals connected no matter where they are.

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Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Use popular frameworks like .NET, Java, Ruby, PHP, or Python to build and deploy with Microsoft App Service

With Modernize .NET, use popular frameworks like .NET, Java, Ruby, PHP, or Python to build and deploy with Microsoft App Service.

View: Use popular frameworks like .NET, Java, Ruby, PHP, or Python to build and deploy with Microsoft App Service

The best way to add value to your growing business? Invest in supply chain leadership

This article from Forbes discusses the importance of removing silos and focusing on cross-functional leadership. Key practices include thinking long-term, encouraging workforce development, and investing in technology.

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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.

View: The Empower Process

Migration strategies

This infographic outlines the 4 different strategies available to migrate your apps to Microsoft: rehost, refactor, rearchitect, or rebuild.

View: Migration strategies

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Solution overview video

Surface and partner devices allow your workforce to connect in the office, from the classroom, or on the go. This video highlights the features and benefits your organization can enjoy when you equip your team with Microsoft.

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.

View: 6 ways to kickstart DevSecOps

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.

Azure Migrate: The hub for cloud migration

In this video, you'll learn about Azure Migrate, Microsoft Azure's central hub for datacenter cloud migration. Azure Migrate helps you discover, assess, and migrate workloads to Azure with integrated first and third-party tools.

Welcome to Microsoft 365 and Surface Ebook

This eBook discusses the ways in which the modern workplace is evolving and how Microsoft Surface equips you to respond.

View: Welcome to Microsoft 365 and Surface Ebook

Monday, September 27, 2021

Modernize your supply chain with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

Automate and streamline your supply chain with advanced warehouse and inventory management to improve fulfillment, material sourcing, and logistics. Discover how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management can modernize business logistics, deliver proactive customer responses, and unify processes from sales to fulfillment.

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.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2021

How to avoid cloud migration pitfalls

While most businesses rely on the cloud for their storage and innovation needs, many are not using it to its full potential. Most businesses are only at the beginning of their cloud journey. This article from Forbes explains how to develop a full vision and plan for your future cloud migration and innovation.

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Adapt to supply chain disruptions and ensure business continuity during distress

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View: Adapt to supply chain disruptions and ensure business continuity during distress

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

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

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.

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ESNEFT Customer Success Story

See how East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) has transformed the way they engage with staff and patients using Microsoft Teams and Surface devices to deliver on their #TimeMatters digital program.

Transform your business with Azure migration

Learn why companies like Albertsons, H&R Block, and Carlsberg Group chose to migrate to Azure and how the move has helped them transform their businesses. Microsoft provides tools for successful migration that work flexibly within the company's chosen migration process. Microsoft data platforms provide scalability, high availability, and security to accelerate your journey.

Transforming the way we work

This infographic highlights the benefits that make Surface the top choice for today's organizations and employees.

View: Transforming the way we work

Monday, September 20, 2021

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates ensures business continuity with Dynamics 365

With Microsoft, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has been able to adapt easily to the disruption of COVID-19 and ensure business continuity. Dynamics 365 enabled them to completely change their distribution model to accommodate the increase in e-commerce and continue work seamlessly from home.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Find lightning fast innovation, elastic scalability, cost savings, and better performance​

Windows .NET has a wealth of resources addressing key security concepts and shared responsibility within the cloud. Subscribe to find more resources to help you write more secure codes and learn how workload responsibilities are divided.

View: Find lightning fast innovation, elastic scalability, cost savings, and better performance​

Enhance supply chain visibility

Harness data in the cloud to uncover the insights needed to increase the resiliency of your supply chain. This infographic outlines five benefits of improving supply chain visibility.

View: Enhance supply chain visibility

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Maximize the value of Microsoft Teams for your business. Get started today to adopt the latest features into your organization. Subscribe now!

View: Subscribe now!

Tuesday, September 14, 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.

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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.

View: Overcoming security challenges with DevSecOps

Chipotle builds new website with .NET Core, Visual Studio Code, and Azure

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. In this video, learn how Chipotle's ordering service is built in .NET to provide customers with a more efficient, coordinated service.

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What's New in MS Teams Platform

In May 2020, Microsoft Teams announced new meetings, calling, devices, chat, collaboration, platform, and industry features that are not to be missed. Read this article to stay up-to-date on the smart, simple, and flexible ways to stay connected, productive, and to further expand your workplace collaboration.

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Automate and streamline your supply chain

Modernize your supply chain with advanced warehouse and inventory management to improve fulfillment, material sourcing, and logistics. Discover how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management can modernize business logistics, deliver proactive customer responses, and unify processes from sales to fulfillment.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Reduce costs with unbeatable offers

While innovation has supplanted cost savings as the primary driver of cloud migration for many businesses, moving to the cloud needs to make sense for your bottom line. Microsoft Azure offers unique cost savings options.

View: Reduce costs with unbeatable offers

Putting the Team back in Teamwork

Microsoft Teams has quickly become the ultimate collaboration and teamwork application where users can easily add, customize, and find everything they need in one place. In this article, learn the basics around navigating Teams, discover new features for stronger collaboration, and examine business scenarios to understand the benefits as it integrates all the people, content, and tools your team needs to be more engaged and effective.

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Supply chain maturity: Harnessing the power of data and AI

Over the next seven years, AI and Machine Learning will spur the industry toward supply chain maturity. This infographic outlines the various digital technologies respondents plan to invest in in the next three years, including analytics, AR/VR, and cloud.

View: Supply chain maturity: Harnessing the power of data and AI

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.

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Stay productive while working remotely

Microsoft aims to keep teams connected while they work apart by making Microsoft Teams available to as many people as possible. In this article, learn how Teams allows you to chat, meet, call, learn, and collaborate all in one place. You will also find resources on getting started with teams for free, best practices on running virtual and inclusive meetings, and tips to foster community while working remotely.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Improve supply chain and cross-channel visibility as you enhance demand planning

With Microsoft, improve supply chain and cross-channel visibility as you enhance demand planning.

View: Improve supply chain and cross-channel visibility as you enhance demand planning

Five tips to help you save money and manage costs with Azure

Find out how you can take advantage of offers and tools to maximize your efficiency with Microsoft Azure. Watch this video to get 5 tips to help you save on costs and learn about the tools available to help you efficiently move to the cloud.

Low Code

Create at the speed of innovation with Power Apps low-code tools. This infographic shows how you can build custom apps in hours—not months—that connect to your existing data and systems to solve problems faster and drive efficiency.

View: Low Code

This expert says business will secure stronger supply chains post-pandemic

This article from Forbes details the effects of the pandemic on companies that did not use intelligent supply chains. Insufficient data makes it difficult to recognize areas of the organization that are now at risk. Forbes Technology Council member Amit Ojha predicts that more businesses will leverage data to better prepare for disruptions in the future.

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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, September 1, 2021

Cloud Migration Essentials: A guide to migrating servers and virtual machines

While migrating to the cloud offers your business greater scalability, cost-efficiency, and improved performance, it can require careful IT planning and strategy. Fortunately, there are resources and tools that can make your cloud migration less daunting and help simplify your path to the clou...

View: Cloud Migration Essentials: A guide to migrating servers and virtual machines

Emerging data trends in supply chain management

This infographic visually describes the findings from a 2019 report, "putting customers at the center of the OEM supply chain." Ninety-nine percent of OEMs believe that the digital transformation of their supply chain is important to meeting their organization's strategic objectives.

View: Emerging data trends in supply chain management

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.

View: Get started with GitHub and Azure DevOps

Alcoa puts Firstline Workers at the center of its digital transformation

Alcoa, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a global leader in bauxite, alumina, and aluminum production with locations in 10 countries. Alcoa deployed Microsoft 365 to improve communication and processes as part of the company's priority to reduce complexity. Employees at the company's Iceland facility embraced Microsoft Teams, using it to access business information from any location and on their own mobile devices. Alcoa uses Teams and Microsoft 365 to become more operator-centric with solutions that enable their employees in Iceland to manage schedules efficiently, streamline processes, and improve communication.

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Ullman Dynamics's migration to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Explore how Ullman Dynamics, the world leader in suspension seats, is transforming their business by migrating to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and the cloud.

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

The Art of Teamwork Guide

Team building is fundamentally important for your business to thrive. This article provides activities designed to enhance the interpersonal dynamics essential to a team's ability to bond together. Every core element has thought starters for those ready to dive in and a facilitator guide for those who want to take it to their team.

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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.

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Azure App Service

This infographic illustrates the world-class flexibility, security, integration, and reliability of Azure App Service - a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling your web apps.

View: Azure App Service

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Firstline Workers are often the first to engage with your customers, to represent your brand, and to see products in action. Empower your Firstline Workforce with @Microsoft Teams, which empowers your entire organization.

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Solution overview video

This video highlights how building a resilient supply chain with Microsoft can help your organization stay on track during a crisis, providing end-to-end visibility that allows for data-based decisions that improve response time.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Putting your customer at the center of supply chain

The supply chains of original equipment manufacturers have always been complex and often unpredictable, but in today's hyper-connected world, OEMs are encountering new levels of complexity. Research finds that ninety-nine percent of OEMs believe that the digital transformation of their supply chain is important to meeting their organizations' strategic objectives.

View: Putting your customer at the center of supply chain

Accelerate developer velocity using any platform, any language, and any cloud

Teams that adopt DevOps culture, practices, and tools become high-performing—building better products faster for greater customer satisfaction. This improved collaboration and productivity is essential to achieve business goals such as accelerating time to market, adapting to the market and competition, maintaining system stability and reliability, and improving the mean time to recovery. Sign up to say connected—we'll help you learn more about Azure DevOps with GitHub and Visual Studio from Microsoft.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

HRI uses Microsoft Teams to streamline research

Heart Research Institute (HRI) is conducting innovative, world-class research to prevent, detect and treat cardiovascular disease. See how Microsoft Teams has fundamentally changed the way HRI works. Teams helps researchers collaborate internationally, and as they streamline that process, it opens up their time so they can spend more energy on what they do best. The benefits include greater exploration of latest technology, as well as creating a faster path from making discoveries all the way through to positive patient outcomes.

GE powers its culture of curiosity with the Microsoft cloud

GE is transforming from an industrial leader to a digital industrial leader by using software and sensors to make its machines connected, responsive, and predictive. With Microsoft Office 365 and Windows 10, GE is digitally enabling its 300,000-person workforce to make sense of machine data, realize productivity gains, and collaborate securely, at a velocity never before experienced. With Teams forming dynamically, GE employees can now work together better to solve the world's toughest problems.

4 Trends Impacting Cloud Adoption in 2020

This analysis from Gartner studies 4 trends that will shape cloud adoption in 2020: cost efficiency, multi-cloud vendor flexibility, the impact of cloud IaaS skills on migrations, and advances in service availability made possible by distributed clouds.

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Integrate

This infographic shows how app integration lets you do more in Teams. Think about the tools, files, and dashboards you already use. Many of them can be added right into Teams and can be found by right in the Teams app store. Bring the apps and services you love into Teams to create your organization's hub for teamwork.

View: Integrate

Maersk safely transports goods around the globe with Azure and IoT

Using Azure and IoT, Maersk uses remote container management to track and monitor 380,000 refrigerated containers around the planet. By leveraging the cloud, they are able to build new solutions and move much faster on data delivered to customers. This ensures that customers always know where their shipments are and goods arrive in perfect shape.

Monday, August 23, 2021

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.

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Tuesday, August 17, 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.

View: What is DevSecOps?

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.

Cloud Migration Checklist: Simple steps to start your migration today

This migration checklist provides easy, step-by-step guidance on the tools, planning, and resources you'll need to migrate your apps, data, and infrastructure to the cloud with confidence—no matter where you currently are in the process.

View: Cloud Migration Checklist: Simple steps to start your migration today

How to fortify your supply chain in an era of escalating disruption

This article highlights the dangers of supply chain vulnerability and the importance of preparing for times of disruption. It offers three key approaches to protect and support your supply chain: diversify, invest in digitization, and develop a disruption mindset.

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Integrate

Integrate existing applications, build from scratch with low code tools, and develop custom solutions. Subscribe now!

View: Integrate

Monday, August 16, 2021

Power Platform

This infographic shows how to build custom Teams solutions with low code tools that can save money, install efficiency, and engineer innovation. Develop apps, automate workflows, and dashboards with Power Platform and use them in Microsoft Teams for businesses big and small.

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Why choose .NET?

Learn the basics of .NET with Microsoft's .NET Core 101. This eight-video series discusses what .NET is, what its benefits are, who builds it, and more. Learn how .NET helps you develop high-quality applications faster. You will also learn how to install, debug, and publish apps.

Deliver intelligent supply chain with Microsoft

In this video, learn how Microsoft is helping retailers anticipate and exceed customer expectations, avoid delays in production, and keep the business humming without interruptions. Microsoft empowers retailers of all categories and sizes to reimagine the way they bring together all aspects of their business, from the factory to the store floor, enabling intelligent retail experiences that customers love.

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Why use .NET on Azure?

When you use Microsoft .NET apps, you get Visual Studio tools and over 100 cloud services. You also benefit from faster, simpler development.

View: Why use .NET on Azure?

Improve decision making with data and replace manual business processes

Improve decision making with data and replace manual business processes with Microsoft. Subscribe now.

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Monday, August 9, 2021

Carlsberg Group successfully migrates SAP to Microsoft Azure

Discover how the Carlsberg Group has successfully migrated SAP to Microsoft Azure. Migrating their environment to the cloud has helped them drive business performance and achieve digital transformation by streamlining their IT infrastructure.

Schneider Electric How Microsoft Teams helped create a successful HR marketing campaign

How open communication created a successful HR marketing campaign: Schneider Electric had already established a culture of diversity and inclusivity, and Microsoft helped to put on a lens on that for their HR marketing campaign. Using Teams provided the backbone for the preproduction work of commination, deciding ideas for production, and having the tools needed to share ideas and keep it all running smoothly. Teams has been the key tool used for the company to keep those collaborations and contributions going.

5 Reasons to Start Using Teams

Since its launch, Microsoft Teams has become the fastest growing app in Microsoft history with more than 330,000 companies worldwide using it. Learn new ways to use the app on a daily basis. Here are 5 reasons why you should start using Teams today for enhanced workplace connection and collaboration. Don't wait, collaboration brings innovation and success.

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Dr. Martens "Joins the Revolution" with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Dr. Martens is an iconic British footwear brand loved the world over for its signature style that unapologetically represents freedom, self-expression, and authenticity. Formed in 1947, Dr. Martens made headway as a wholesale business. Now, they have more than 100 stores globally and ambitious plans for retail and e-commerce growth. Recognizing the need to evolve to suit the needs of the twenty-first century consumer, the brand embarked on "Project Reboot: Join the Revolution" to replace all its legacy applications with Microsoft Dynamics 365. See the full story here.

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Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Rapidly-growing UK restaurant chain migrates key business processes to Microsoft Dynamics 365

TGI Friday's popular and rapidly-growing restaurant franchise in the UK wanted a more scalable, flexible platform for core business processes. To support its ambitious growth, the franchise 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.

The Great IT Awakening

In the U.S. alone, 4.6 million IT workers supervise security, manage software, and process data to streamline information for organizations of all sizes. This current period has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and it has led to massive changes in the ways we live and work. In this in-depth article from the New York Times, look at how the IT industry is looking to cloud technology to modernize and revolutionize.

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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

Use your team's favorite O365 tools right within Teams

Use your team's favorite O365 tools right within Teams - including SharePoint, OneNote, Power BI, and Planner integration. Subscribe now!

View: Use your team's favorite O365 tools right within Teams

Microsoft Teams: How to link apps to your collaboration platform

This article provides helpful information on how to use Microsoft Teams tabs to link and host your apps or third-party programs. Teams gives you different ways to link applications to the platform -- from bots in a channel to tabs that link directly to online content or services. To see what you like best, try out tabs or create your own for both personal and channel options.

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Monday, August 2, 2021

The AI-enabled future

This article from Forbes explores Cognilytica's four-part AI enabled vision of the future. In that vision, there are four main areas in which AI will impact our future lives: the way we work, the way we live, the way we experience the world and our interactions with each other, and the relationship we have with data.

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Decision criteria for building apps in Teams

This infographic shows decision criteria for building apps in Teams using the Developer Toolkit. Before you build it, ask yourself: Does it solve a real problem? How often will it be used? How many people will use it? What ROI does it provide? And once you decide to move forward and create your app, see how to amplify its reach with AppSource.

View: Decision criteria for building apps in Teams

Customer Story of RLH Corporation, Dynamics 365, Teams

Discover how Red Lion Hotels Corporation uses Dynamics 365 and Teams to digitally transform their internal processes to drive higher guest satisfaction. With a vision to lead the hotel industry with technology, there's been a shift in RLH's reliance on IT. See how this top hotel chain is maximizing Microsoft solutions in this video story.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Our approach to responsible AI

This video highlights six important principles Microsoft considers before pushing their AI products to production.

Spotlight on Teams

Don't miss out on the latest technology news. This Forbes article outlines the latest announcements for the Teams Platform at Virtual Microsoft Build 2020. Key points include integration with Microsoft Power Platform and further opportunities with Power BI, Teams app development, and scheduling management improvements with the platform. Subscribe now.

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Adapt business processes to changing technologies and demand

Modernize, automate, and adapt with Microsoft tools. Discover how to update technologies to solve changes, cut costs, and save time—transforming your organization. Microsoft solutions and business applications make the process seamless. For all the latest insights into agile business processes, plus news and tips, subscribe now.

View: Adapt business processes to changing technologies and demand

Predictive Analytics

This infographic is an overview of how Azure Machine Learning is the best way to transform your business with the power of AI. This tool highlights the growing market opportunity and how Microsoft itself has leveraged AI into ongoing momentum for its own business.

View: Predictive Analytics

Monday, July 26, 2021

American Red Cross - Power Platform and Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Ignite 2019

The American Red Cross deploys a suite of Microsoft products to streamline operations, allowing them to focus on their core mission of alleviating human suffering. From sharing information and organizing work in Teams, to coordinating with other relief agencies through Microsoft Power BI during a disaster, watch this video for the full story.

The power of AI comes with a powerful responsibility

This blog article from Microsoft discusses how AI has the potential to transform the future of work, and it is critical that businesses foster a culture that includes everyone as they incorporate AI strategies.   The biggest potential that AI holds is its ability to help us work together to tackle our toughest problems and it requires the shared responsibility to think about not just what AI can do, but what it should do.

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Modernize sales productivity

Discover how to streamline your sales processes and get seamless Microsoft Office 365 integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales Professional. Focus on what's most important with complete customer interaction history, guidance toward optimal outcomes, and rich interactive dashboards. Streamline seller workflows with sales capabilities embedded in Office 365, mobile apps, and built-in collaboration. With Dynamics 365 for Sales Professional, modernizing seller productivity is the simpler way to build sales momentum and boost productivity.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Drive innovation with insights: engage customers, empower employees, and transform business solutions

Drive innovation with insights to engage customers, empower employees, and transform business solutions.

View: Drive innovation with insights: engage customers, empower employees, and transform business solutions

Breakthrough teamwork tools: 4 tips to identify what works for you

As a business leader, you need to make sure your organization provides collaboration tools that suit different personalities, skillsets, and needs. Individuality means that what works for one person or team may not work for another. You also need to accommodate the diverse workstyles of the multiple generations now in the workforce. This guide provides insights to succeed through communication, customization, integration and working in secure confidence. Subscribe here.

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Supply chain maturity

Read the data: the top digital technologies being invested in over the next 3 years include Analytics and Cloud. It took 30 years for the industry to get from Reactive Identification to Management by Exceptions. Since technology refresh cycles are becoming rapidly compressed, Frost and Sullivan estimates that continued investment in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will spur the industry to reach level 6—analytics driving self-loop optimization—within the next 7 years. Check out the infographic for details.

View: Supply chain maturity

Monday, July 19, 2021

Transblue modernizes their business with Microsoft Teams & Microsoft 365

In this video, Transblue shares their modernization process from outdated paper processes to working in the cloud with up to date customer data with Microsoft 365.

9 pro tips to get started with low code

Developing apps is often seen as complex, costly, and time-consuming. However, using an innovative approach known as low-code development, anyone can create powerful business apps without requiring traditional coding skills. The low-code approach is simple enough for beginners to build high-value apps—and sophisticated enough to meet the needs of professional developers tackling complex challenges. In both scenarios, it dramatically reduces the amount of work involved in getting an app up and running. Read here for more:

View: 9 pro tips to get started with low code

How the Atlantic is preserving published history with Azure AI

The Atlantic is using Azure AI to preserve 160 years of published history. Specifically, the Atlantic is using Azure Cognitive Search to transition from hard copy to a digital system where its archives can be perused by the public. Writers can use these services as a resource to build connections between stories and enrich their content.

Office 365 and Dynamics Relationship Analytics for Sales

See a demonstration of how Microsoft's Office 365, Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn are better together and give sales teams a unique advantage that drives more revenue. The video showcases how Microsoft business applications give sales teams an advantage to close sales, specifically for Office 365, Dynamics 365 App for Outlook, Dynamics 365, Power BI, Relationship Analytics, Relationship Health, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and Who Knows Whom.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Intelligent, Trusted, Flexible

This infographic offers an in-depth look at how Microsoft business analytics and AI is intelligent, trusted, and flexible. This service produces faster, more accurate insights and predictions. It also offers the most secure, compliant, and scalable system. Finally, it works with what you have.

View: Intelligent, Trusted, Flexible

Security and Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams follows all the security best practices and procedures, as part of the Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services. This article details how Teams handles common security threats through defense-in-depth, customer controls within the service, security hardening, and operational best practices. Teams is trustworthy by design and provides details of its security framework to keep users well-protected.

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