Wednesday 30 September 2020
6 ways you're getting teamwork wrong
All it takes to put together a winning team is finding the most talented people possible, assigning them to the same project, telling them the requirements and deadline, and then letting them run wild...right? Not so, says Sharon Florentine--in fact, far from it. In her article for CIO magazine entitled "6 ways you're getting teamwork wrong," Ms. Florentine draws a clear distinction between assumption and reality when it comes to teamwork, outlining what it really takes to assemble a truly superb group for getting the job done. Check out the full article before you put together your next mission-critical team.
Making choices with data and AI
How do we, as human beings, make decisions? While most people would like to believe that they take a rational, calculated approach by considering all the variables, research shows that we go with our "gut feeling" instead about 95 percent of the time. In his Forbes article entitled "Making Choices With Data And AI," author Mark Robinson discusses the proper role of AI in human decision making. AI shouldn't be making decisions for us, he contends, but rather, guide us by interpreting the data at hand and presenting the facts and variables surrounding a given choice—effectively balancing out our "gut feeling" with rational objectivity. Read the full article to learn how AI-assisted decision making can help guide your business toward greater growth and success by mitigating human bias in choice.
Tuesday 29 September 2020
Thought Leadership: Teams Future Features
This article describes various new features in Microsoft Teams, including enabling calls in separate windows and pinning meeting controls to the top of your screen.
Just move it to the cloud
This blog outlines the different methods of data migration and use cases. Your method of migrating data to the cloud will depend on many factors. Migrating large amounts of data can be done with any of the methods explained in the blog, including Azure Data Box, File Shares, Site Recovery service, and more.
Spend a day in the life with financial pro Adira
Adira is a senior project manager at a bank who works seamlessly between her laptop at the office and her tablet at home, relying on Microsoft Teams, OneNote within Teams, and Power BI dashboards to collaborate and share with team members. View this infographic to follow Adira through a typical day and to see how Teams enables her to get through her day productively and efficiently.
7 ways AI can help improve decision making for marketers
No longer just science fiction, AI has the potential to radically change just about every aspect of modern life, especially business. From automating simple tasks to more complex feats like uncovering insights from massive volumes of unstructured data, AI is fast emerging as one of the centerpieces of digital transformation, not least of all for its ability to assist with critical business decisions. View the infographic to discover seven ways how AI can help drive better decisions for marketers, and for businesses in general.
View: 7 ways AI can help improve decision making for marketers
A company crazy about chocolate, serious about people, uses Microsoft Teams to build personal relationships
Dutch startup Tony's Chocolonely grew out of a journalist's exposé of child slave labor in the cocoa industry and his dream of making the chocolate trade slavery-free. The Amsterdam-based company grew quickly, but its original collaboration apps didn't support its international expansion or its work-life balance ideals. Teams enables Tony's Chocolonely workers to communicate on a personal level with their colleagues in Europe, America, and Africa. Adding telephony capabilities makes it even more powerful, with everything available in one single interface.
Monday 28 September 2020
Does Your Company Culture Lead to Happy Customers?
The correlation between employee experience and customer experience is clear: if the employee experience is mediocre or poor, employees will generally not care much about the company or the customers, states Phil Geldart in his Entrepreneur article, "Does Your Company Culture Lead to Happy Customers?" On the other hand, IBM found that if "employee experience is positive, and people feel valued and happy, they will care much more about the customer experience and be proud to work for the company," writes Geldart. Contributing factors for employee experience include physical environment, technological tools, and the organization's culture. Geldart shares that leaders have a responsibility to mirror how they expect their employees to treat customers. For example, if the "culture is one where employees embrace behaviors such as trust, collaboration, communication, respect, transparency and inclusion, they will, in turn, treat your customers in the same manner as they treat their colleagues," writes Geldart. Read the entire article for more examples of areas that greatly impact employee experience.
Wednesday 23 September 2020
Put your finger--and business--on the pulse of the modern workplace. Subscribe today and never miss a beat.
With today's increasingly global business environment comes the need for increasingly global collaboration tools. Microsoft 365, with Teams at the heart of communications, provides the tools and capabilities today's organizations and businesses need to not only collaborate with colleagues and peers across the world, but equally important, to also take that first critical step toward transforming their traditional workspaces into modern digital workplaces. Subscribe now to stay informed on how Teams at the center of Microsoft 365 can help elevate and transform communication, collaboration, and teamwork throughout your entire organization.
Subscribe today. Be future-ready tomorrow.
If you're like most organizations, you've probably already invested in data technologies for the express purpose of uncovering actionable insights from your business data. But have you given any thought as to how these technologies can complement one another over time to create a truly agile and responsive data solution--one that not only provides insights today, but can accommodate changing business needs and conditions tomorrow? Subscribe now to learn how Microsoft Power Platform--comprising Power BI, Power Apps, and Microsoft Flow--can help you build the foundation for an end-to-end data analytics solution that's got you covered in the present and the future.
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.
Tuesday 22 September 2020
Airport security officer-turned-developer helps Heathrow book a faster journey to digital transformation
At Heathrow Airport, an airplane takes off every 45 seconds and nearly 80 million passengers are served annually, making it the busiest airport in Europe. As you might imagine, daily activities involved in running the airport--such as baggage handling, security, maintenance, and the like--add up to a staggering volume of paperwork that requires an equally staggering number of hours to complete. Amidst the bustle, one security officer identified a way that Heathrow could save both time and resources by digitizing certain security processes. He researched several Microsoft Power Platform blogs, taught himself how to code, and used Power BI, Power Apps, and Microsoft Flow to create a suite of apps that has not only saved 288 hours in data entry and eliminated 11,000 sheets of paper for security operations, but has also helped Heathrow Airport leap forward on its digital transformation journey. Watch the video to see how airport security officer Samit Saini helped transform Heathrow--and his own career--using Microsoft Power Platform.
Social Asset B: 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.
Microsoft Teams delivers healthy, real-time global collaboration for Heart Research Institute (HRI) in Australia
Cardiovascular disease is the world's leading cause of death, a statistic that Australia-based Heart Research Institute (HRI) is working diligently to change. Dedicated to saving lives and minimizing the impact of heart-related illnesses on patients globally, HRI is involved with over 150 international research projects each year which require frequent collaboration with other researchers from around the world--a necessity often hampered in the past by the institute's outdated, unsecure, and largely underused collaboration tools. All that changed when Microsoft partner Dimension Data deployed Microsoft 365 across HRI, with Teams at the heart of the organization's communications.
With Microsoft 365 and Teams, HRI can now compare results, share data, and collaborate on documents in real time with researchers in different countries and hemispheres, representing a critical first step for HRI toward realizing the promise of the modern workplace. Watch and share this short video to learn how Microsoft 365 and Teams are enabling cutting-edge communication for a cutting-edge research facility.
Solution overview video
This video highlights the many ways Microsoft Teams can help your business inspire collaboration, reduce costs and risks, and deepen engagement.
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.
Monday 21 September 2020
Council Post: The Era Of Evocative Marketing Has Arrived -- Are You Ready?
In an era of sensory overload—or, perhaps just 'overload'—we need to be extra-sensitive to the content and delivery of our marketing messages. We don't want to be the "one more thing" that's bombarding consumers; rather, we want to be fresh, unique and different.
Lora Kratchounova, founder of Scratch Marketing + Media, says that the best differentiator in this this "crowded, loud digital landscape" is "content aimed at making audience members feel." Yes, "feel"—you know, emotions. Kratchounova writes that evocative content—compelling stories, captivating images, and uplifting video—is what stands out in today's digital world, where research shows that consumers are exposed to thousands of ads in a day.
Read Kratchounova's fascinating look at ergonomics (also known as human-factors engineering) and its influence on today's marketing in a digital world. Read "The Era of Evocative Marketing Has Arrived—Are you Ready?"
Wednesday 16 September 2020
Secure Infographic
Companies choose Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server because of its unmatched security. Azure delivers multiple layers of security, including the secure foundation of physical datacenters, operational best practices, and engineering processes that follow industry-standard guidelines.
5 Ways to Inspire Creativity and Innovation in Your Employees
Scott Duffy, entrepreneur and author of the book "Breakthrough," let us in on how to foster creative teamwork by breaking your staff out of the office mindset. In this Entrepreneur Magazine article, he shares tips to help you build experimentation in your team and create comfort around risk. Read on to learn how to foster inspiration and innovation!
Digital transformation isn't what you think it is--so what is it?
When the same phrase is used so frequently and over an extended period of time, two things typically happen: first, it officially achieves buzzword status; and second, it begins to lose its meaning. Among the tech industry's pool of du jour buzzwords, perhaps none is more prominent and overhyped--if not misunderstood--than "digital transformation." In his insightful Forbes article entitled "Digital Transformation Is Not What You Think It Is," author Jamie Notter argues that it is culture, and not digital, that today's organizations should focus on when it comes to digitally transforming themselves. In other words, identify what cultural changes will help make your business successful, then adopt technology to support and advance those goals. Check out the full article to get Mr. Notter's unique take on what "digital transformation" really means for your business--and more important, what it really entails.
Collaborate with Microsoft Teams
This infographic lists the many ways you can use Microsoft Teams to drive workplace collaboration. It also provides statistics on the success and popularity of Microsoft Teams.
Tuesday 15 September 2020
Windows and SQL Server: The Best of Azure
Windows Server and SQL Server are best on Azure. This flyer highlights Azure's unmatched intelligent security, seamless hybrid capabilities, unparalleled innovation capabilities, and unique cost savings options.
Day in the life - IT project manager
Join Jamal, IT project manager, as he navigates his day with the help of Microsoft Teams. With the mobile app, he joins the daily stand up meeting and reviews the daily activity feed. He reviews status and trends in the dashboard and tasks by owner in the planner. With the cloud-based meeting app. he can review past meetings and he tracks finances in another tab. Check out how Microsoft Teams makes his planning so much smoother with a secure location that brings together everything teams needs to be productive.
Prioritize culture during digital transformation
For many organizations, digital transformation means integrating digital into every facet of the business, making digital the focus of every activity and process. But is that really the right approach? For a growing number of businesses, digital is increasingly being viewed as an enabler of broader business objectives rather than the end state or goal. In other words, many businesses are identifying what cultural changes need to take place to bring about success, and then adopting digital technologies to achieve that success. Like digital transformation itself, this shift in mindset is a journey--starting with recognizing the obstacles to digital transformation, the key attributes of a true digital culture, and how to overcome the former to become the latter. View the infographic to see what the journey's all about.
CWPS uses Microsoft Teams to reimagine sales project workflows
How can your organization benefit from Microsoft Teams? Learn from Frank Lusko, the EVP of Sales and Marketing at CWPS, to hear how his sales team has benefited from this collaboration tool through features such as notification alerts and planner scheduling.
Security with Azure SQL Database in Azure Government
This video highlights the types of security features customers have been asking for and how Azure SQL Database wraps these features into a unified package of intelligent security capabilities. You'll also learn about the three major pillars of this advanced data security: data classification, vulnerability assessments, and threat detection.
Monday 14 September 2020
A Grateful Culture Is A Healthy Culture. Here's How To Create It.
Many studies over the past decade show a correlation between gratitude and happiness—the more people feel and practice gratitude, the more contentment and joy they experience. We know this is true in our personal lives—and it's true in our professional lives as well. In his article, "A Grateful Culture is a Healthy Culture. Here's How to Create it," John Hall writes about gratitude in the workplace; specifically, how to create an appreciative company culture amongst team members. The first step, writes Hall, is to start with yourself: "Make time to reflect each day on the positive things that have happened to you, what you've already accomplished, and what you like about yourself." While it's nice to communicate your appreciation to others, it's not essential that you do so repeatedly. Just by making time to consider what you're your grateful for, you've stimulated your hypothalamus which regulates a lot and affects empathy, social cognition and emotional experiences. It's difficult to encourage gratitude in your team if you're not experiencing it yourself. And yes—they'll know. Read Hall's entire article for three other ways to create or increase a culture of gratitude.
Wednesday 9 September 2020
A day in the life - Marketing
Meet Pam, a marketer who's planning an event while running the rest of her marketing operation. She can check her activity feed at home before leaving for work to see the priorities for the day. She can join a status meeting remotely using Microsoft Teams and using OneDrive-lined documents she can share documents, co-edit files in PowerPoint, Excel and access outside apps like Adobe Creative Cloud, Hootsuite and much more.
Take a look and explore how Microsoft Teams can bring together everything a team needs to be productive!
Don't just see your data--visualize it with Power BI. Subscribe now and never overlook a post.
Anyone can see their data--very few can make sense of it. But with Microsoft Power BI, you'll be able to not only visualize your data, but also extract insights from it to help modernize and streamline your business. Power BI, alongside Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft tools, offers an unbeatable solution for performing real-time analytics, visualizing the results, and leveraging insights to improve business processes, increase productivity, and ultimately gain a competitive edge. Subscribe now to learn how Power BI can help you see your business in a whole new way.
View: Don't just see your data--visualize it with Power BI. Subscribe now and never overlook a post.
Tuesday 8 September 2020
Protect the Privacy of Your Microsoft Teams Meetings
With the increased usage of Microsoft Teams to conduct virtual meetings, the need for tactical best practices to protect your privacy from intruders is also on the rise. This thought leadership article explores how to protect the privacy of your Microsoft Teams Meetings with easy ways to mitigate the risk of such problems by updating your settings.
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.
Create and use private channels in Microsoft Teams
With Microsoft Teams private channels, you can have focused, private conversations with specific people on your team. This Microsoft Teams tutorial video will show you how to create private channels as you're working remotely.
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.
Lowe's moves to the cloud to empower employees and personalize customer service
Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement company in the world and is headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina. With a purpose of "helping people love where they live," the company wanted to create a modern workplace for employees and provide cloud-based productivity tools. Lowe's decided to deploy Microsoft Office 365, giving employees anytime access to productivity tools from any device. Now employees can find the information they need faster, work together more easily, and develop more attentive, personalized customer relationships.
Monday 7 September 2020
Data analyst and "oldest nerd in Guatemala" with ALS types with his eyes to modernize his clients' businesses
Can you teach an old nerd new tricks? For Otto Knoke, the self-proclaimed "oldest nerd in Guatemala" who has suffered from ALS for 20 years, the answer is a resounding yes. An admitted (and proud) workaholic, the 60-year-old data analyst is a well known fixture of the Guatemalan business community, having helped modernize the banking industry by introducing ATMs into the country 20 years ago. Sadly, right around that same time, Knoke was diagnosed with ALS (better known as Lou Gehrig's disease), and was told he only had two years to live. But rather than give in to the disease, Knoke relentlessly researched ways in which technology could help him overcome his condition and thrive--a determination and drive which has paid off. Today, some two decades later, Knoke has become the first person in Guatemala to use Microsoft's new eye-tracking software for Windows 10, called Eye Control, enabling him to literally type with his eyes and use Microsoft Power BI to analyze his clients' business data. For Knoke, who has always been a tech early adopter, this revolutionary Microsoft technology has not only helped his business continue to boom, but more important, it's enabled him to communicate more meaningfully with his loved ones and strengthen those relationships. Watch this truly fascinating and inspiring video to learn Otto Knoke's full story.
Wednesday 2 September 2020
Social Asset A: Expand Collaboration
Customize and expand your remote collaboration with @Microsoft Teams, keeping your team engaged, connected, and secure. Subscribe now!
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.
Stitch Fix's radical data-driven way to sell clothes is reinventing retail
When you think of AI powerhouses, a fashion house may not be what first comes to mind. But capsule wardrobe company Stitch Fix is perfecting the art. In this article in Fast Company, learn how Stitch Fix relies on algorithms to drive all aspects of the business from selecting clothes for clients to running the warehouse. Their innovative Style Shuffle allows clients to rate clothing images each day, feeding the algorithm and refining the clothes offered to that customer. Customer comments after they've received a Fix give valuable feedback to clothing manufacturers on the minutiae of fit as well as style--a level of feedback they never get from retail.
This is the kind of pooling of data you get with the modern business intelligence of Power Bi and Azure. You can build and innovate with choice and flexibility. And you have visual drag and drop data exploration and interactive reporting right at your fingertips.
Tuesday 1 September 2020
Improve Your Brand's Online Reputation with SEO
In today's digital world, a positive online reputation relates to much of a business's success. Good reviews and high scores along with relevant content help consumers find your website. That's why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should be a main part of your online reputation management. SEO involves tailoring your website's content to rank high in search engines' criteria—and put you at the top in buyer searches for products and services. It includes identifying and using key words, content optimization, link building, and blog and social media presence. In her article, "Improve Your Brand's Online Reputation with SEO," Jessica Wong explains that the "right blog can contribute to your SEO ranking, generate more clicks from the search engine results page and help turn those clicks into sales." A blog post should have a good mix of search keywords, relevant videos and pictures, and links to and from your page, she explains. Read Wong's entire article for an overview of the four stages to SEO implementation and the six areas to focus on for improving your brand's online reputation related to SEO.
Creating World-Class Collaboration In A Global Team
Teams in today's modern workplace are often multi-office or even multi-continent affairs. As a result, team cohesion can challenge the best managers. In this Forbes article, "Creating world-class collaboration in a global team," learn how Kim DeLine, the COO for Elevate K-12, engages a distributed workforce in her role at the leading live streaming company in the education field.
With Microsoft Teams, you can connect across geographical and organization boundaries, run status updates and team building with remote workers via a cloud-based meeting solution, and foster a culture of knowledge sharing.
See how important it is to explain the "why" with a multi-cultural office and encourage an understanding of purpose during times of change.
Microsoft Teams at 3: Everything you need to connect with your teammates and be more productive
Microsoft Teams continues to invest in experiences that will make it easier for teams to communicate and collaborate. This article by Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, informs how new capabilities reflect commitment to two things: building the very best online meeting experience for customers and bringing technological solutions to traditionally underserved professionals, including Firstline and healthcare workers.
The latest features include new integration between Teams and RealWear head-mounted devices, real-time noise suppression during meetings, booking apps, pop out chats, the raise hand feature, and more
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.
A day in the life - sales with Microsoft Teams
April, a sales rep, is looking to grow her company's Midwest customer base. See how she starts her day finding a lead in Microsoft Teams and then uses Dynamics and Power BI to dig out connections that turn that lead into an opportunity. By 5pm she now has a new resource to amp up more sales opportunities in the region.
Check out this infographic to see what deal building looks like with Microsoft Teams!
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