The Record - Issue 18: Autumn 2020

62 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om and general anxiety are affecting consumers and business owners in a big way. This does create an opportunity for companies, like Microsoft, that communicate with honesty and integrity. We feel very proud that partners and customers consist- ently see Microsoft as one of the most trusted brands in the world. Relationships built on trust are at the core of our partnerships and allow us to co-create, co-innovate, and collaborate. It really is a ‘better together’ story.” As partners and customers worldwide come to terms with the effects of Covid-19 and work to optimise operations for this new environment, Muckler-Visser believes that there are a few solutions areas that will offer the biggest oppor- tunities for driving digital transformation in the year ahead: remote work, business continuity, cloud migration, and security. In terms of remote work, she sees the value that Microsoft Teams can offer as a customer connec- tion tool. “It is the hub for teamwork inMicrosoft 365 and the key to driving collaboration across organisations,” she says. “For example, Teams is the secure platform that many hospitals are using to implement telemedicine during the pandemic and to collaborate with colleagues locally and around the globe.” Business continuity has fully entered the com- mon lexicon in recent months as organisations strive to maintain operations, and the cloud is enabling it. “Customers need to keep their business up and running and cannot afford to be shut down because no one is on site to manage servers and workloads,” says Muckler-Visser. “They need to be able to adapt as conditions change – quickly and cost-effectively. As such, moving to the cloud is no longer a question of if, but when. More than 95 per cent of the Fortune 500 use Microsoft Azure. Customers are learn- ing the many advantages of moving to the cloud including cost savings, scalability, security, and flexible integration.” While businesses have increased their use of the cloud to allow their staff to work from anywhere, the shift has highlighted the need for robust secu- rity measures and solutions. “We know that bad actors are out there and it’s more important than ever to maintain a safe, secure environment,” she explains. “Lax security can result in company and customer data being compromised, phishing scams and other costly security breaches. “We have ready-to-go 12-week campaigns available for all these priority solution areas,” she says. “These resources save our partners time and money.” COV E R S TOR Y “To compete successfully in the market today, trust and credibility are critical” Microsoft’s Sarah Muckler-Visser believes that remote work, business continuity, cloud migration and security will drive digital transformation in the year ahead