Wednesday 28 October 2020

Security Azure Infographic

Securely harness the power of the cloud with Azure Advanced Threat Protection. This infographic outlines how your organization can trust Azure Advanced Threat Protection as it provides real-time security at enterprise scale, detect threats quickly, and allows your business to stay focused on what's important.

View: Security Azure Infographic

Modern Cloud

Optimize your cloud experience while lowering costs for your Windows Server desktops and apps. Don't miss out on all the amazing features Windows Virtual Desktop has to offer and subscribe now.

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Tuesday 27 October 2020

4 Reasons Why Social Proof Is Essential to Building Your Brand

Social proof is the idea that people will follow the actions of others—that since so many other people behave in a certain way, it must be the correct behavior. In digital marketing, social proof is highly influenced by comments and reviews on your social platforms. Studies have shown that people are not only more likely to share their experiences about your product or service online, but they are also more likely to be influenced by what other people say and write about you. So yes, it's vital that customers are sharing positive reviews of doing business with you—customer service has never been more important than in the digital age. Maleeka T. Hollaway, in her article "4 Reasons Why Social Proof is Essential to Building Your Brand," states that your social proof demonstrates the degree in which you've helped your clients gain results. "When you can publicly share with your audience how your work or product has created transformations for those who do business with you, naturally, people are inclined to pay attention. Results speak for you whether you are present or not," writes Hollaway. Customers' excitement is often contagious, and you suddenly access the radar of people who might not have even known about your brand, according to Holloway. To read more in depth about social proof and the reasons it's essential to your business, read her entire article. Social proof has never been more important.

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How Entrepreneurs Are Connecting the World With IoT

As we enter a new decade, the number of IoT-connected devices is predicted to grow 3x from 2019 to 2020, totaling 21 billion devices. As competition increases, so does innovation, and companies across the world are coming up with new uses and applications for the ever-increasing number of devices that are turned on each day. In this Entrepreneur.com article, you'll learn how companies and startups are finding new market niches to exploit the near unlimited potential of IoT technology, and how they're causing disruptive waves that ripple across different trades to nurture a near trillion-dollar industry.

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The leading South African law firm steps up digital innovation to build the legal practice of tomorrow

With over 150 years of history and experience in the legal market, Webber Wentzel has become one of South Africa's most prominent law firms, operating at the forefront of legal services and home to the country's longest-standing pro bono practices. The firm aims to act as a beacon of innovation for the industry. In this video, see how Webber Wentzel has taken advantage of the capabilities of Office 365 to create a more efficient and collaborative workplace for its teams, while facilitating and securing client interactions.

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Introducing Microsoft Teams

How do you empower great ideas across a digital workspace so that they evolve in a fluid and organic matter? This is a critical question to answer for any company with a remote workforce—and with teams growing more diverse and intergenerational every year, it's becoming increasingly complex. In this video, you'll learn how Microsoft Teams complements the already-robust applications found in Office 365. You'll also discover how both solutions together are enabling some of the world's leading companies to create frictionless digital workplace experiences for their employees.

Finding the right IoT solution for your business

It's no secret that IoT is revolutionizing business around the world. However, investing in IoT is not as simple as investing money in new platforms or applications. The real challenge lies in finding a model that works for your business and adjusts to your organization's focus and competitive advantage. In other words, it's the opposite of a one-size-fits-all approach, and making the wrong choice can have profound consequences that can take years to overcome. In this infographic, we'll cover the distinctions between Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service models, as well as explain the main variables that can determine where your business stands when choosing one of these models.

View: Finding the right IoT solution for your business

Monday 26 October 2020

ESNEFT Customer Success Story - Microsoft Azure and Windows Virtual Desktop

Using Windows Virtual Desktop, the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust removed unnecessary stress and frustration with IT. This empowered them to devote more time providing excellent patient experiences and healthcare services. Listen to their experience and learn how you can apply these solutions to your business.

Thursday 22 October 2020

Never miss a post—never miss an opportunity. Subscribe today.

For team members to work in concert together, they need a set of tools designed to work in concert together. Office 365, with Microsoft Teams at the center, enables real-time communication and collaboration among team members, whether they're located across the hall or across the world. And with business intelligence solutions like Microsoft Power BI hosted in Azure, data can be shared and analyzed across the entire enterprise to uncover insights that can help improve the business as a whole. Subscribe now to stay informed on how Teams, Office 365, and other leading Microsoft solutions can help elevate and transform communication, collaboration, and teamwork throughout your organization.

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Stay connected with Microsoft Azure IoT. Subscribe now.

IoT is easy to understand: it's about connecting devices over the Internet so they can communicate with us, with other applications, and with each other. But while IoT may be simple to explain, putting an effective IoT strategy into practice is vastly more complex. Subscribe now to stay up to date on how Microsoft technologies deliver the flexibility and scalability you need to control, monitor, and manage your things, allowing you to capture real-time data that can be applied to uncover new business insights and revenue streams.

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

9 tips for meeting with Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams enables you to host and participate in more productive meetings and invite anyone to join you. This makes Teams a perfect solution where you can communicate and meet with anyone inside or outside your organization - even if they are not a Teams user. This blog offers nine tips to having more productive meetings with attendees in and outside your organization.

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Built-in Hybrid infographic

Microsoft is committed to enabling a seamless hybrid approach to cloud adoption. Azure was designed and built to natively support hybrid environments from its inception. This infographic introduces more about the hybrid value you can benefit from when you choose Azure.

View: Built-in Hybrid infographic

Council Post: Creating An Effective Case Study: 12 Important Tips To Remember

Case studies are effective marketing tools when done correctly. Not only do you need to select which background details to include in your case study, but you also need to pack it carefully so that it demonstrates you are a problem solver and have desirable skills—without looking like you are merely promoting your business. It's a balance. This article offers 12 key elements—offered by 12 members of Forbes Agency Council—to keep in mind when creating cases studies. For example, Emily Porter's tip is #9 Let the Images Do the Work. Aside from ensuring a case study is focused on the solution to the problem, Porter writes that "nothing brings it to life more than imagery. In lieu of a long-form case study, consider a photo essay with solid captions narrating the case study" in order to keep the audiences truly engaged while illustrating your product's value.

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Saving Money with Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams helps companies improve access to information and free up workers to focus on high-value activities, thus reducing operating costs, accelerating time-to-market, and fostering greater innovation.

View: Saving Money with Microsoft Teams

Modernize digital processes to improve profitability and ensure data security​

Improve profitability and ensure data security by modernizing digital processes with Microsoft.

View: Modernize digital processes to improve profitability and ensure data security​

Tuesday 20 October 2020

Microsoft Partner Network podcast: Partner Marketing Pros- Episode Nine (Part Two)

This week's guest is Gerry Murry, a Research Director with IDC's Marketing and Sales Technology service. Marketing technology and related solutions are his specialty and he's got a great pulse on marketing budgets and trends. He confirms that we've seen an increase in social, content and digital marketing and that the significant upsurge in digital marketing is because it's "way less expensive for the reach that you get." Yet he also advises to pay close attention to the privacy and data collection trends that continue to be on the rise. Marketers must be respectful and create positive relationships centered around customer privacy—a priority pillar in this digital business world. Listen to the entire podcast for more insight into marketing budgets and investments!

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AEG delivers unforgettable entertainment experiences to fans using Microsoft technologies

Why would a sports fan or music fan choose to attend a live event rather than watch the game from home or listen to their favorite band on headphones? For AEG, a global entertainment company that owns and operates 100+ facilities across four continents as well as produces concerts, festival, and special events, the answer is simple: it's the experience. More to the point, it's the whole experience—not just the event itself, but also everything else surrounding it, from ticket purchases and event access to the pomp and circumstance during the event, all for the express purpose of delivering a more visceral and unforgettable experience for fans. To achieve all of these things—as well as simplify the business side of producing and hosting a larger-than-life event—AEG relies on Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Power BI, and Azure cloud to analyze and share massive amounts of data across its diverse business units, and utilizes Surface devices and the new Surface Hub to enable employees to meaningfully interact with this data. Watch this lively video to see how Microsoft technology is helping AEG not only deliver singular experiences to fans, but also redefine the business of entertainment in the digital age.

FINNING | Customer Value of Self-Service IoT Apps on the Azure Cloud

Finning, the second largest supplier of Caterpillar machinery in the world, was intent on delivering next-generation, experience-enhancing services to its clients. However, there was something standing in the way: siloed databases that were forcing users to use multiple logins for multiple platforms, resulting in a disjointed and ultimately convoluted practice. Watch this video to learn how Finning used Microsoft Azure Cloud to unify fragmented data sets and streamline its customer journey roadmap.

Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona winery creates a perfect blend of tradition and technology with Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams provides virtual solutions in response to an unexpected crisis. For three generations, the Bianchini family has been creating exceptional wines on their idyllic estate, maintaining the traditions of a historic estate while staying one step ahead of the latest developments in the world of wine. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic and trade shows postponed and international travel impossible, everything changed. The Ciacci winery responded by turning to Microsoft Teams. To keep the business thriving, they moved quickly to replace in-person gatherings with virtual wine tastings using Teams meetings. Family members also used Teams to work together and connect with partners and suppliers, making the adjustment a perfect balance of tradition and technology.

Church and Dwight move Windows Server licenses to Azure for cost optimization

Why run Windows Server on Azure? Find out from Church and Dwight, the major American manufacturer of household products. In this video, learn about the benefits of running their Windows Servers on Azure, the saving on costs by leveraging Azure Hybrid Benefit, and their short and long-term strategic goals.

Monday 19 October 2020

Big Red Cloud: Targeting pain points

Chief Executive Marc O'Dwyer shares that he started Big Red Cloud, an online cloud accounting software company, because as a business owner of a different company, he experienced problems with his own accounting systems and believed there had to be a better way. Because of these prior pains, he focuses on supporting customers and claims it is the primary reason for the company's success. Watch this video for examples of how Big Red Cloud prioritizes customer service and enjoys a 55% conversion rate from lead to closed sale.

Tuesday 13 October 2020

How Online Collaboration Tools Could Help Your Business

It's no secret that teamwork is one of the key ingredients to a successful business. But in today's interconnected, wireless world, teams don't necessarily need to be in the same location to make teamwork work—that is, as long as each team member is equipped with the right tools for collaborating and communicating on a project. So how do you determine which tools are right for your organization and teams, and what should you look for when evaluating prospective solutions? Read this Lifewire article, "The Benefits of Online Collaboration Tools," to see what author Gabriela Warren feels are the greatest benefits of adopting such tools and, by extension, what features you should look for when shopping around.

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Spend a day in the life with physician Dr. Thomas

Dr. Thomas is an oncologist whose day is divided among seeing patients, reviewing charts and x-rays, meeting with colleagues remotely and in-person, and improving patient services at his practice. With so many tasks to do and only a finite number of hours during the day, Dr. Thomas relies heavily on Microsoft Teams to prepare for upcoming appointments, review confidential patient information, and follow up with nurses and radiologists on test results. He also utilizes Power BI dashboards to visualize and address trends in his practice, like patient wait times and quality of care issues. View the infographic for a play-by-play account of Dr. Thomas' day, and how Teams and tools like Power BI enable him to more effectively focus on patient care.

View: Spend a day in the life with physician Dr. Thomas

FINNING digitally transforms its operations with IoT apps on Azure cloud

FINNING, the world's largest Caterpillar dealer, started its digital transformation journey with customers in mind, but soon realized that its own operations were seeing just as many benefits as its clients. Not willing to turn down an opportunity to improve, FINNING quickly learned that the data obtained from customer-facing solutions enabled it to gain insights into internal processes and become even more efficient. Watch this video to learn how Azure IoT can have game-changing solutions that push forward internal process optimization and enhance customer satisfaction.

McCann & MullenLowe - Microsoft Teams Case Study

When bringing two companies together through acquisitions, you are often bringing in a different culture with different technology. This can often make it difficult to efficiently collaborate. Sharing files and streamlining communication is a common problem. Two of the leading agency networks, McCann and MullenLowe, needed help to create a single platform which enabled their employees to work together through close collaboration. Microsoft Teams provided the solution they were looking for.

App migration to Azure

In this video, look at strategies to migrate to Microsoft Azure spanning zero to higher levels of coding and when to use which. From rehosting your apps by lifting and shifting them to Azure to choosing to refactor your apps for greater efficiency, Azure offers you possibilities. You can also rearchitect your apps to be able to quickly add new capabilities or take a cloud-native approach by rebuilding them from scratch. This video also addresses Azure's new secure options in the wake of the end-of-support for Windows Server 2008 R2 or SQL Server 2008.

Monday 12 October 2020

Four Ways To Boost Customer Experience (And Thus Hold Onto Your Clients)

Customer satisfaction needs to be THE priority in every area of your business. Each interaction a customer has with you will either positively or negatively influence your brand, the customer's lifetime value, and the impact on future customers and therefore your revenue. The customer experience is everything in today's market. Ryanne Van Der Eijk is the Chief Customer Experience Officer at RAKEZ and knows how to create a customer-centric workplace. She shares her best advice for providing the right experience to customers in her article, "Four Ways to Boost Customer Experience (and Thus Hold onto Your Clients)." One of her tips is to build customer-centricity as part of your company culture. Start by defining your company's philosophy on customer service—that's the easy part—and then work on ways to share it via the workflow, the hiring process and the staff training. Read her entire article for more ideas for developing a culture focused on customers and her other tips to boost overall customer experience.

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Wednesday 7 October 2020

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From communicating and collaborating with others to simply getting day-to-day tasks completed on your own, there's no greater tool for productivity than Microsoft Teams. And with Teams as the hub for communication within Office 365, your organization can move closer to realizing the promise of the digital workplace. Subscribe now to stay informed on how Teams, Office 365, and other leading Microsoft solutions can help elevate and transform communication, collaboration, and teamwork throughout your organization.

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Spend a day in the life with retail store manager Alex

Alex is a retail store manager whose day is divided among attending meetings, reviewing store performance metrics, coordinating product refreshes, preparing presentations, and interviewing prospective employees. With so many tasks to do and only a finite number of hours in the day, Alex relies heavily on Microsoft Teams to get everything done--from recruiting and training staff to collaborating with vendors and developing marketing campaigns. View the infographic for a play-by-play account of Alex's day and how Teams enables him to get things done quickly and efficiently.

View: Spend a day in the life with retail store manager Alex

Shift your business into overdrive. Subscribe today.

More than ever before, organizations are augmenting human skills, ingenuity, and business acumen with data analytics, productivity, and enterprise solutions to gain a competitive edge. Subscribe today to stay informed on how solutions like Dynamics 365, Power BI, and other Microsoft services and solutions are enabling modern businesses to take the lead over competitors and finish first in the marketplace.

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Tuesday 6 October 2020

5 ways to lead effective virtual meetings with your remote teams

With virtual meetings, your team can connect from across the globe. In this article, read five tips to help you ensure high productivity and efficiency during your virtual meetings. You'll also learn techniques for keeping cameras on, connecting with your people with empathy, asking if there's anything they need, ensuring there's space for attendees to share their thoughts, and setting an agenda with an outline.

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Social Asset C: Realize up to a 406% ROI over on-premises and hosted solutions

When paired with Azure, Windows Server and SQL Server can provide unique benefits that range from unmatched security to better performance. Realize up to a 406% ROI over on-premises and hosted solutions. Learn more about Windows Server & SQL Server on Microsoft Azure. Subscribe now!

View: Social Asset C: Realize up to a 406% ROI over on-premises and hosted solutions

Streamline solutions with Microsoft Teams

Using Microsoft Teams helps you save time by having all solutions in one place for improved collaboration and information sharing. Foster a collaborative environment and embrace the upside of teamwork - frictionless sharing that makes good ideas exceptional.

View: Streamline solutions with Microsoft Teams

Finishing first with Renault Sports Formula One and Dynamics 365

To monitor every aspect of performance, a Renault Sports Formula One race car is outfitted with over 200 sensors that generate more than 35 billion data points over a typical race weekend. Since two or more sensors can be matched to form around 20,000 different virtual channels, cars relay an enormous volume of data back to the Renault Sports team during races and tests. By pairing Azure-based Dynamics 365 for Operations with Microsoft Power BI, the Renault Sports team can bring up and track this data in real time, enabling them to make exact modifications and adjustments at lightning speed to squeeze more performance out of the car. Watch this short video to see how the Renault Sports Formula One team capitalizes on the features of Dynamics 365 for Operations and Microsoft Azure to make its cars faster than ever and reach the finish line first.

How NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports uses Microsoft Teams to win races

Unlike any other competition, NASCAR is a sport where just one second of time can mean the difference between first place and a distant tenth. As such, racing teams like Hendrick Motorsports are always searching for ways to squeeze out another fraction of a second in performance. When NASCAR changed its rules to open up access to different data streams from each car--such as speed, brake level, and throttle position, coupled with GPS location--Hendrick needed a solution for generating actionable insights from this real-time telemetry information, and for sharing this information in real time with various stakeholders. To achieve this high-speed collaboration, Hendrick turned to Microsoft Teams for its efficient communication capabilities accessible in a single, convenient location, and for the solution's enterprise-grade, end-to-end security. Watch the video to see how Hendrick Motorsports is using Microsoft Teams to translate real-time racing telemetry into lightning-fast decisions and faster race car performance.

Commvault boosts capacity and performance with Windows Server and Azure

What are the benefits of running Windows Server and Azure? Learn from Ernie Costa, senior virtualization engineer from Commvault, about freeing up capacity and boosting performance. Also, learn how Commvault saves on cost by leveraging Azure Hybrid Benefit and running Windows Server and Azure services.