Amber Hickman |
Hybrid cloud storage provider Nasuni has been a Microsoft partner for several years, and in that time has helped customers store enterprise data and streamline cloud infrastructure with solutions that integrate with Microsoft Azure, Sentinel and more.
“Organisations want to utilise their data with high-quality services from Microsoft, and we see our job as being an enabler; to make it easier for them to foster those integrations,” says Jim Liddle, Nasuni’s chief innovation officer of data intelligence and artificial intelligence.
Much of Nasuni’s current endeavours revolve around AI, and Liddle expects that to continue, as they “look for more opportunities to integrate with the technology”.
In particular, he sees scope to broaden horizons for AI application. “We found that many customers are using Microsoft 365 Copilot to access insights,” he says, while noting they are using just the data they have stored within Microsoft 365, “as opposed to creating their own custom tools using Copilot Studio” and data from throughout their organisation. “We wanted to be able to facilitate that process,” he explains.
This is enabled through Microsoft’s Graph Connector, which allows customers to make Nasuni data, alongside SharePoint and OneDrive data, available for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Search.
“This provides a single pane of glass into their entire ecosystem, allowing users to talk to Microsoft Copilot and gain a response that is not just based on a single source,” says Liddle.
One of the key use cases for this is what Liddle refers to as ‘institutional knowledge’.
“The number of documents created within an organisation in any working day accumulates. Previously, if you wanted to find something specific, you would have to manually search through documents saved in various locations to try and find it,” he explains. “By using the graph connector, Microsoft Copilot can automatically search through all Microsoft and Nasuni data sources to find the answer.”
Liddle believes that continuing to support Microsoft and provide solutions that support its products is the key to a lasting partnership.
“Our strength is that we know what we are good at, and that’s hybrid cloud data management,” he explains. “Microsoft has invested a lot in its technology, and I think that putting the two together is what makes our partnership so strong.
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