P LU S : Five top tips for hybridising the workforce using Microsoft Teams and cloud video ITAC uses Nintex Promapp to manage processes and successfully onboard new hires Personalisation is key to delivering customer satisfaction, says Adobe Microsoft's David Rhew on how the cloud can relieve pressures on healthcare Microsoft is helping retailers to harness the power of data, says Shelley Bransten I S S U E 2 3 : W I NT E R 2 1 / 2 2 £ 2 4 . 0 0 Partnering in the cloud Microsoft’s Rodney Clark shares how the cloud is helping the firm deliver on the promise of partnership
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7 WE LCOME : W I NT E R 2 1 / 2 2 The way ahead Welcome to the Winter 21/22 edition of Technology Record. As the new year begins, our thoughts turn to some of the key events of the past 12 months and how we might see them evolve. November 2021 saw the city of Glasgow, Scotland play host to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, a much anticipated gathering of some 25,000 delegates from197 countries around the globe. As a result of the decisions made here, government agencies and industry organisations of every kind will be tasked with the job of rapidly developing strategies to address the issue of climate change. For many, technology will be their core driver for change, andMicrosoft is well placed to help secure tangible wins. In our cover story, Microsoft’s global channel chief Rodney Clark gives us a detailed view of the tools that Microsoft is already delivering to customers across all industries. He also shares his thoughts on some of the lessons learned by the corporation during a unique period in recent global history. You’ll find that story starting on page 36. Combatting climate change is a challenge that we all need to address; however, it is not our only collective cause for concern right now. Covid-19 continues to present a significant challenge, and so we take a closer look at the role that technology plays in providing healthcare professionals with tools to combat the pandemic and deliver lasting protection for the populations that they serve. Starting on page 138, Microsoft’s chief medical officer and worldwide healthcare lead Dr David Rhew talks with us about ways in which cloud-powered tools like Azure are assisting in the battle to overcome the spread of coronavirus. He also discusses how Microsoft’s collaboration with organisations such as the Vaccine Equity Consortium is democratising the roll-out of vaccination and associated healthcare services. Turning to enterprise, on page 160 we talk with Microsoft’s global vice president for retail and packaged goods Shelley Bransten about how Microsoft Cloud for Retail and other technologies are empowering retailers to take control of their data and transform the shopping experience for customers and employees. Similarly, in our latest manufacturing feature Microsoft’s chief technical officer Indranil Sircar tells us more about how technology products such as Azure Synapse are helping manufacturers to overhaul their traditional supply chains with the aim of developing increasingly sustainable operations for the future. You’ll find that story on page 110. A busy start to the year. I hope you enjoy the read. ANDY C L AY TON - SM I TH : E X E CUT I V E ED I TOR
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9 C LOUD AND THE HY B R I D WOR K FOR C E Zachary Bosin of BlueJeans shares his top tips for hybridising the workforce using Microsoft Teams and Cloud Video Interop 56 I S S U E 2 3 : WI NT E R 2 1 / 2 2 CONT ENT S
11 CONT ENT S 64 36 16 3 6 COV E R S TOR Y Partnering in the cloud Rodney Clark explains how Microsoft is working to ensure it delivers on the promise of partnership 4 5 Personalised selling with D365 Insights Amit Kumar and Supratim Bhattacharyya discuss the value of Infosys Cobalt 4 8 Collaboration unleashed New updates and features in Microsoft Teams will continue to drive the platform’s future success 5 6 Cloud and the hybrid workforce Zachary Bosin of BlueJeans shares his top tips for hybridising the workforce using Microsoft Teams and Cloud Video Interop 5 9 Mitigating meeting anxiety Decisions’ Jørgen Solberg discusses the firm’s in-Teams extension for managing meetings 6 0 Connecting efficiently in the hybrid world Gamma's UC success wheel helps clients to improve their project journey, says Richard McPhee 6 2 At home with Anywhere365 1UC helped Abri to support adoption of its new Anywhere365 contact centre solution 6 3 Why do we need location intelligence? Using location data in place of addresses can prevent disrupted deliveries, says Experian’s Steve Farr 6 4 Rapid improvements Optimizely’s Deane Barker shares how .NET 5 has improved performance and response times 6 6 Using Teams as an ecosystem Mike Harvey discusses the ways Resonate helps customers improve efficiency with Microsoft Teams 6 7 Building remote-first flexibility With staff out of the office, IT organisations must now build and deploy remote-first technologies, says Bandwidth’s Matt Brown 6 9 Using AI to make smarter decisions As AI evolves, programmers will need to evolve with it, according to Nintex’s Siddarth Ranganathan 7 0 Security approaches for modern business practices For successful cybersecurity, Mick McNeil from Logicalis believes businesses must defend apps and their data 7 WE LCOME 1 6 MAR K E TWATCH Th e latest news from Microsoft and its partners, including Mesh for Microsoft Teams
12 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om CONT ENT S 7 2 Time to transition to omnichannel Now is the time to adapt to ensure businesses can support their evolving customer base, says Anywhere365’s Gijs Geurts 7 4 Building future resilience According to Metafile’s Alyssa Putzer, automation technology is helping AP departments to be more productive 7 5 The path to savings and sustainability Mary Anne Ballouz shares how ICONICS’ automation software is helping customers hit their sustainability targets 7 7 Delivering the best computing experience Synergy Technical’s Rohana Meade discusses the security benefits of using Windows 11 on a Windows 365 device 7 8 Solving the data problem Understanding how best to use data requires a pervasive and continuous approach, says Talend’s Krishna Tammana 8 0 Shaping the future of audio According to John Ho from EPOS, high-quality audio solutions can help employees thrive in the hybrid workplace 8 2 Secure and simple industrial IoT According to John Ho from EPOS, high-quality audio solutions can help employees thrive in the hybrid workplace 8 4 The next step for digital twins ScaleOut Software’s William Bain discusses how real-time analytics and machine learning can enable the intelligent monitoring of large systems 8 7 An ecosystem of experts Businesses can leverage Interworks.cloud’s ecosystem of experts to minimise business continuity risks. Ioannis Vryniotis shares more 8 8 A trademarked method for customer success ITAC is using Nintex Promapp to manage business processes and successfully onboard new hires 9 0 Removing obstacles to improve efficiency According to Mike Harvey, Resonate enhances the capabilities of the voice offering with Power Platform 9 1 Metaverse means business CraneMorley’s Thomas Pratt explains why the metaverse is relevant to enterprise professionals 9 2 Workplace of the future: partnering to succeed A digital-first approach is enabling Finastra and its partners to thrive in a modern workplace. Denise Parker shares how F I NANC I A L S E R V I C E S 1 0 0 Unlocking the power of the cloud The Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services is helping businesses enhance customer and employee experiences. Microsoft’s Bill Borden explains 1 0 8 Retaining the human touch in digital banking VeriPark’s Ozkan Erener believes banks must adopt an omnichannel strategy for those who prefer human assistance AUTOMOT I V E , MOB I L I T Y & T RANS POR TAT I ON 9 4 Showcasing the future of mobility A look at the innovations fromMicrosoft and its partners that were shared at CES 2022 9 8 Innovation on demand Joint solutions fromMicrosoft and Annata allowed RCI Serviços and Renault On Demand to carry out an innovative project online 1 1 0 Doing supply chain differently Manufacturers are investing in cloud capabilities for better supply chains. Microsoft’s Indranil Sircar tells us more 1 1 7 Delivering collaboration and communication Sanjay Ladha shares the value of Infosys’s DynamicsOFS solution in helping fuel providers manage assets and reduce emissions 1 1 8 A powerful partnership Ravi Gopinath shares how AVEVA is working with Microsoft to help manufacturers boost resilience and reduce emissions 1 2 1 Planning an intelligent supply chain With supply chain issues exposed, businesses should consider the resiliency of their production processes, says Quisitive’s Syed Fahad MANU FAC TUR I NG & R E SOUR C E S 94
13 1 6 0 Reimagining retail landscapes Shelley Bransten outlines how Microsoft technology is helping retailers to harness the power of data and reimagine the shopping journey 1 6 8 The loyalty balancing act A focus on personalisation can help retailers keep existing customers happy while attracting new ones, says Adobe Systems’ Michael Klein 1 7 0 Protecting retail supply chains According to Chris Hill of Barracuda, businesses must look to new forms of security to deter attacks on retail supply chains 1 7 2 A true omnichannel experience Vertex helped Patagonia implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 for a better customer experience 1 3 8 Widening access to healthcare Microsoft’s Dr David Rhew explains how cloud-based technologies are easing pressures on resources 1 4 6 Improving care with the cloud Gippsland Health Alliance chose Allscripts’ Sunrise platform to make its EHRs more accurate, accessible and secure 1 4 8 Delivering specialised health services A UK health provider used Quisitive’s MazikCare platform to reduce waiting times and improve prescription processes 1 5 0 Creating customisable healthcare experiences Laura Faughtenberry explains how Avaya is helping healthcare providers to develop cost-effective and compliant experiences 1 5 4 Focusing on digital inclusion Akari’s solutions are transforming accessibility and inclusivity for public sector and healthcare organisations, says Lindsay Climson 1 5 6 Improving healthcare equity Many communities still struggle to access quality healthcare services. Sally Frank explains how Microsoft is working with start-ups to change this 1 5 8 Protecting healthcare data Threatlocker’s Danny Jenkins discusses the solutions to secure patient data 1 7 3 A selection of Microsoft partners operating across all business sectors R E TA I L & HOS P I TA L I T Y C PG PUB L I C S E C TOR F E ATUR ED PAR TNE R S 1 8 0 THE L A S T WORD IDC’s Joe Dignan shares how the pandemic and climate change has affected the delivery of city services MED I A & COMMUN I CAT I ONS 1 3 2 Enabling next-generation networks Rainer Kellerhals and Rick Lievano of Microsoft discuss how the convergence of technology is delivering new and impactful services 1 3 6 Improving member communication Experian’s validation solutions help Melbourne Cricket Club to better communicate with its 140,000 members 1 2 2 The value of the service supply chain PTC’s Leslie Paulson shares why digital service supply chains are key to helping manufacturers provide successful customer experiences 1 2 4 Maximising outputs and competitiveness JourneyTEAM helps heavy equipment dealer and supplier to prepare for future growth 1 2 5 The power of partnership MECOMS’s Mar Jorba and Solgari’s Joe Leberte explain why collaboration and Microsoft technology can be transformational in energy and utilities 1 2 6 Digitising accounts receivable processes Manufacturers must prioritise digital operations to withstand future disruption, says Versapay’s Craig O’Neill 1 2 8 Why digitisation is key to saving the planet AVEVA’s Lisa Johnston discusses how digital transformation can help the manufacturing and energy sectors to become climate positive 1 5 9 Transforming the patient experience Sue Bridger shares how Solgari’s patient engagement solution can modernise healthcare services and patient experiences 1 3 7 Delivering reliable calling Inclusa migrated voice and E911 to the cloud with Microsoft Teams and Bandwidth’s Duet for Teams
I S S U E 2 3 : WI NT E R 2 1 / 2 2 Executive editor Andy Clayton-Smith Production editor Elly Yates-Roberts Editorial team Alice Chambers, Rebecca Gibson, Jacqui Griffiths, Richard Humphreys, Lindsay James, Alex Smith, Michele Witthaus Production manager Stuart Fairbrother Design Bruce Graham, Libby Sidebotham, Dhanika Vansia Website development Chris Jackson Partner managers Tim Grayson, Ricky Popat, Daniel Thurlow, Thomas Wills, Paul Zmija Subscriptions For subscription enquiries, please contact Tudor Rose on subscribe@tudor-rose.co.uk or visit the website www.technologyrecord.com/subscribe Circulation Ritwik Bhattacharjee Publisher Toby Ingleton Photography courtesy of contributors and www.istockphoto.com Business management Rachael Heggs, Richard Pepperman Published by Tudor Rose Tudor House, 6 Friar Lane, Leicester LE1 5RA Tel: +44 116 222 9900 www.tudor-rose.co.uk Technology Record is Microsoft’s quarterly enterprise customer magazine. For further information and to subscribe, please visit: www.technologyrecord.com/subscribe Visit www.technologyrecord.com for up-to-date news and articles about Microsoft technology for enterprise businesses, a comprehensive directory of Microsoft partners that provide solutions for enterprise businesses, and to find out more about our printed publications. Technology Record (Print): 2754-3277, Technology Record (Online): 2754-3285. Printed in Great Britain by Micropress. © 2022 Tudor Rose Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored or transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means, including whether by photocopying, scanning, downloading onto computer or otherwise without the prior written permission from Tudor Rose Holdings Ltd. Active Directory, BizTalk, Microsoft, Outlook, SharePoint, Visual Studio and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft in the US and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Microsoft or the publishers. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply official endorsement of the products or services concerned. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy of content, no responsibility can be taken for any errors and/or omissions. Readers should take appropriate professional advice before acting on any issue raised herein. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject advertising material and editorial contributions. The publisher assumes no liability for the return or safety of unsolicited art, photography or manuscripts. Follow us: twitter.com/tech_record Become a fan on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn CONTACT US AT TUDOR ROSE toby.ingleton@tudor-rose.co.uk www.tudor-rose.co.uk WHATEVER YOUR MARKETING NEEDS Contact us NOW to discuss how we can help engage your customers MAGAZINES & BOOKS As publisher of Technology Record, we are expert at creating customer magazines and books centred on enterprise technology BROCHURES From copywriting and design to print and delivery, we can create company brochures targeted to your clients CAMPAIGNS We can deliver print and digital media advertising to engage your industry customers CONTENT Our knowledge of the industry enables us to specialise in providing content services to enterprise business customers worldwide
15 PAR TNE R S Microsoft is the world leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential. PUB L I SH I NG PAR TNE R S ANA LY S T S AND I NDU S T R Y ORGAN I S AT I ONS Where Manufacturing Meets IT AVEVA creates industrial software that inspires people to shape the future. It harnesses the power of its ecosystem to deliver solutions across the asset and operations life cycles, empowering people and industries. BlueJeans is a leading meetings platform for remote work productivity. Many of the most trusted organisations and institutions in the world use BlueJeans for video meetings and large interactive events. Nintex is the global standard for process management and automation. Over 10,000 organisations across every industry leverage the power and ease of the Nintex Process Platform to accelerate digital transformation. Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, enabling clients to navigate their digital journeys. EPOS is an audio and video solution company developing devices for business professionals. Based on leading technologies, EPOS delivers high-end audio and video solutions with design, technology and performance in mind. Finastra builds and deploys next-generation financial technology on its open software architecture and cloud ecosystem. PTC enables global manufacturers to realise double-digit impact with software solutions that enable them to accelerate product and service innovation, improve operational efficiency and increase workforce productivity. Quisitive is a premier, global Microsoft partner that harnesses the Microsoft platform to generate transformational impact with its innovative cloud, industry and payment solutions. S PONSOR S
16 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om MAR K E TWATCH Microsoft is preparing to roll out the new Mesh for Microsoft Teams this year. The feature combines the mixedreality capabilities of Microsoft Mesh, which enables people in different physical locations to join collaborative and shared holographic experiences, with the productivity tools of Microsoft Teams, where users can access virtual meetings, chats and shared documents. While productivity has been found to increase with employees working remotely, Jeff Teper, corporate vice president of Microsoft 365 collaboration with Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, believes the new offering could provide staff with the social aspects and engagement they lack at home. “[It] helps take the formality down a peg and the engagement up a peg,” he said. Mesh for Teams – which will be accessible from smartphones, laptops and mixed-reality headsets – is designed to make online meetings more personal, engaging and fun, according to Microsoft research and innovation writer John Roach. “It’s also a gateway to the metaverse – a persistent digital world that is inhabited by digital twins of people, places and things,” he said. Users will be able to join standard Teams meetings as customised avatars of themselves instead of as a static picture or on video. “To start, we will take audio cues so as you talk your face will animate,” said Katie Kelly, a principal project manager at Microsoft working on Mesh for Teams. “You’ll also have animations that bring additional expressivity to the avatars. Your hands will move. The ambition is to closely follow that with Microsoft’s plethora of artificial intelligence technologies so that we can use the camera to insinuate where your mouth is and mimic your head and facial movements.” Organisations can also build immersive spaces – metaverses – within Teams where users can take their avatars to mingle and collaborate on projects. “As a company whose focus is on productivity, on knowledge workers, Mesh for Microsoft Teams to transform collaboration Integrating the collaboration platform with Microsoft’s new holographic virtual space technology could give remote workers the social interactions they lack at home Users’ avatars can meet and collaborate in Mesh for Teams immersive spaces
17 it’s something that customers are really asking us for, and it’s coupled with the vision of mixed reality that we’ve been working on for 12 years,” said Alex Kipman, Microsoft technical fellow. “It’s all coming together.” The new offering is the result of several years of work with professional services company Accenture. Before the pandemic, Accenture built a virtual campus where employees could gather for coffees, presentations, parties and other events, from anywhere in the world. “We started to call it the Nth Floor, this magical, mythical campus that could only be found in virtual reality,” said Jason Warnke, senior managing director and global digital experiences lead for Accenture. Covid-19 created new opportunities for the Nth Floor, particularly in onboarding new employees, of which Accenture has approximately 100,000 each year. New hires can meet on Teams where they receive instructions on how to create a digital avatar and access One Accenture Park, a shared virtual space. The immersive experience features a central conference room, a virtual boardroom and monorails to different exhibits for new employees to attend. Mesh for Teams will roll out with a set of pre-built immersive spaces to support a variety of contexts. Over time, businesses will be able to build their own spaces with Mesh and deploy them to Teams.
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19 MAR K E TWATCH Workplace technology firm Crestron is building on the Crestron Flex platform with intelligent video support from Jabra and Huddly. The new video integration provides features including full-room view, whiteboard sharing and analytics. With full-room view, users get a 180-degree view of the room, which improves video conferences in small rooms, and ensures all participants can be seen clearly. Also new is ‘people counting and face framing’, where intelligent cameras recognise each participant in the room, ensuring each participant has “an equal seat at the table”. “Hybrid meeting isn’t going away, so we have to make the experience better for everyone,” said Alex Peras, director of unified communications and corporate development at Crestron. Crestron integrates intelligent video support from Jabra and Huddly Finastra launches online channel for innovation and collaboration Finastra has launched Finastra Universe Channel, a new financial technology content series designed to “unlock the potential of finance”, says Finastra, as it “invites the industry to learn, inspire, celebrate and network”. The debut keynote, from Jim Marous, co-publisher of The Financial Brand and owner and host of the Banking Transformed Podcast, explores the future of banking transformation and is available now: www.finastra.com/finastra-universe.
20 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om Virtual communication tools that became indispensable during the pandemic have played an increasingly significant role as the world moves from a state of crisis to recovery. According to new research from EPOS, 86 per cent of global decision makers say audio technology has become more important in the last year. In fact, global businesses reported a seven per cent increase in investment in individual audio equipment in the past year, and six per cent for shared audio equipment. By investing in high quality audio equipment as EPOS has designed, the path to productivity will be easily unlocked, creating an overall better work experience for today’s employees. MAR K E TWATCH High-quality audio is crucial for post-pandemic work, finds EPOS Digital twins are fast becoming an essential tool for tracking the myriad internet of things (IoT) devices in large infrastructures such as smart buildings and vehicle fleets. ScaleOut Software has announced the integration of its Azure-hosted, real-time analytics with the popular Azure Digital Twins service. This integration gives users the power of fast, scalable in-memory computing to analyse telemetry from thousands of IoT devices and keep their Azure Digital Twins deployments up to date. ScaleOut has also incorporated machine learning algorithms from Microsoft’s ML.NET library to give Azure Digital Twins powerful new capabilities for analysing telemetry and alerting system managers. ScaleOut Software adds analytics to Azure Digital Twins
21 1UC to launch exclusive Anywhere365 training packages 1UC, the exclusive training partner of Anywhere365, has developed a range of training packages especially for organisations deploying or upgrading their contact centre solution. 1UC worked closely with Anywhere365 to create the training packages to simplify onboarding and adoption of new agents and supervisors. This has been achieved by leveraging 20 years of experience in delivering training and adoption strategies to contact centre clients globally. The result is a tried and trusted ‘Training Flow’ that supports successful adoption of Anywhere365 (and any Teams-based contact centre) by making sure all staff receive the correct training course at the right stage of the project. Remote go-live support is included, and tailored training videos can also be created to enable a blended learning approach that covers ongoing training needs. Scheduled to launch in February 2022, the training packages will automatically be made available to anyone buying an Anywhere365 Cloud Contact Centre solution. Skkynet launches DataHub service for Microsoft Azure Skkynet Cloud Systems’ DataHub technology is now available in a Microsoft Azure Managed Application for secure, real-time industrial data communications. Microsoft Azure customers can now securely acquire, monitor, control, consolidate and share their live process data. “This service provides a way to securely integrate operations technology with IT on the Microsoft Azure platform,” said Paul Thomas, president of Skkynet. The Skkynet DataHub service connects seamlessly to Azure IoT Hub for real-time remote monitoring, control and data logging. Using standard industrial protocols like OPC Unified Architecture or MQTT, users can also connect directly to popular applications and programs that run on Azure, or at remote locations. Nintex has achieved the Federal Risk and Authorisation Management Program’s (FedRAMP) In Process designation for Nintex Workflow Cloud for Government, designed to be leveraged by US federal, state, local agencies, and federal contractors to quickly, easily and securely manage, automate and optimise processes and workflows. This US government-wide program provides a standard approach for assessing, authorising and continuous monitoring of cloud products and services. With this FedRAMP authorisation, government agencies and federal customers are provided a cost-effective, low-risk approach for the adoption and use of cloud services that keep federal data safe and secure. Nintex Workflow Cloud authorised for government use
22 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om MAR K E TWATCH Send by Bandwidth, a messaging application for Microsoft Teams Direct Routing users, allows staff to send and receive SMS from Teams channels to PSTN phone numbers. With the app, staff can eliminate sharing personal phone numbers for business communication, preserve their privacy and promote omnichannel collaboration with customers, clients and suppliers. The first prototype of the Microsoft Teams Direct Routing messaging bot is available to early adopters in January 2022. Send by Bandwidth will complete the Bandwidth Direct Routing solution, Duet for Microsoft Teams, by adding SMS and MMS capabilities to Voice and Emergency Calling with Dynamic Location Routing. Bandwidth is the network supplier of Microsoft Teams calling plans in the USA. Send by Bandwidth improves Microsoft Teams messaging Gamma hosts communication technology event Michigan healthcare provider focuses on patient care with Nuance DAX Cloud communication services provider Gamma welcomed guests to the British Library in London, UK, on 14 October for the return of its flagship direct customer event, the GX Summit. The GX – short for The Gamma Experience – explored the theme of frontiers in communication technology, with Professor Brian Cox as the headline speaker. Inperson sessions ran throughout the day as well as streamed virtually, hosted by Gamma experts and supported by Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Three UK representatives. The University of Michigan Health-West (formerly Metro Health – University of Michigan Health) has expanded its deployment of the Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX), an ambient clinical intelligence solution that empowers physicians to reduce administrative workloads and focus on patient care. The Nuance DAX pilot at University of Michigan Health-West began earlier this year throughout primary and specialty care settings. The expansion to the hospital's entire primary care group will allow even more healthcare providers to focus on the patient rather than the administrative tasks, resulting in significant time savings, improved patient care, and, ultimately, better health outcomes.
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24 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om Quisitive is shifting its focus to the development of its manufacturing solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain. Tailored to drive insights, support intelligent order management and bring siloed data together, the company’s Supply Chain solution provides situational awareness to customers. “The pandemic has highlighted known supply chain challenges and elevated visibility on previously unknown issues,” said Syed Fahad, vice president of industry solutions at Quisitive. “Now is a great opportunity for manufacturers to work with their customers to create an agile and scalable process to deepen their relationship to meet current customer needs and foster additional growth opportunities.” Quisitive offers manufacturing supply chain solution MAR K E TWATCH VeriPark launches three apps on Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services As one of Microsoft's launch partners for the Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services, VeriPark has launched three applications on top of this new platform. The Customer 360 app provides a visual representation of key financial indicators. The Financial Transactions app provides the ability to perform banking transactions within the same view. The Complaints & Service Requests app ensures that the customer tells the story only once. All three are available for a test drive on Appsource.
25 PTC launches ThingWorx Digital Performance Management PTC announced the availability of its latest solution, ThingWorx Digital Performance Management (DPM), at its Manufacturing Live virtual event in October 2021. The new offering represents a significant advancement in manufacturing companies’ ability to improve efficiency, by providing performance insights and enabling real-time problem solving by communicating in an understandable business metric: hours. According to PTC, with DPM on Microsoft Azure, companies can achieve results in 90 days for the first site and can enable a minimum of five sites in the first year. DPM leverages Microsoft Azure technology and is included in the joint PTC-MicrosoftRockwell Automation offering, Factory Insights as a Service. RPC uses Versapay's click-to-pay invoicing solution to process and automate payments within its Microsoft Dynamics ERP. When customers receive their invoices by email, the solution allows them to pay online using their preferred payment method, view all their invoices at once, and customise their payment amount. Once paid, RPC can retrieve and apply these payments to the right invoices in Dynamics. By leveraging Versapay’s integration with Microsoft Dynamics, RPC accelerated its accounts receivable workflows and reduced time spent collecting payments. As a result, the company lowered the number of overdue accounts by 70 per cent and accelerated cash flow. Versapay helps RPC reduce overdue accounts by 70 per cent Infosys launches Platform of Possibilities 3.0 Infosys has launched 'Platform of Possibilities 3.0', a renewed avatar of its 'Digital Success Playbook'. PoP 3.0 aims to build thriving enterprises, leveraging Infosys' domain expertise and edge services around Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. According to Infosys, the platform has been integral to its vision of creating resilient enterprises with a human-centric, industry-first, data-driven and cloudnative approach.
26 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om MAR K E TWATCH Avaya and Microsoft develop joint cloud communications solutions Avaya is working with Microsoft to develop a set of joint cloud communications solutions, which Avaya says will “define the future of customer and employee experience”. The move comes after Avaya integrated its OneCloud CPaaS (communications platformas-a-service) with Microsoft Azure Communication Services in 2021. The two firms have worked together to expand availability of Avaya OneCloud CCaaS (contact center as a service) hosted in Azure and integrate OneCloud CCaaS with Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365. “Avaya’s market-leading solutions in Cloud Contact Center combined with Microsoft’s presence in cloud collaboration is compelling for existing and new customers alike,” said Anthony Bartolo, chief product officer at Avaya. Synergy Technical helps firms deploy Windows 365 Cloud solution provider Synergy Technical has enhanced its Windows 365 Quick Start workshop to include a Surface Go offering, which is available to all Microsoft customers. Designed to help organisations use Windows 365 quickly and securely, the interactive workshop will show businesses how to leverage Windows 365 and Surface Go tablets to deploy virtual Windows workstations to create a secure, remote and managed Windows experience for their users. “We recognise that organisations all over the world need to quickly deploy Windows workstations to enable hybrid work, all while continuing to keep their data secure,” said Rohana Meade, CEO of Synergy Technical. “Surface Go and Windows 365 are the answer for many firms.”
27 Mercy Iowa City has selected the Allscripts’ Sunrise platform of health, run on Microsoft Azure, as the core electronic health record (EHR) for its community hospital. Sunrise is a digital health platform that connects all aspects of care, including acute, ambulatory, surgical, pharmacy, radiology and laboratory services. It features an integrated revenue cycle, patient administration and patient engagement system and its integrated analytics also help to evaluate how to deliver better health outcomes in hospitals. “Allscripts has proven to be a trusted partner to fellow healthcare organisations, and Sunrise EHR will enable our providers to deliver streamlined care, with access to data that can help drive continuous positive outcomes to our organisation,” said Sean Williams, CEO of Mercy Iowa City. Mercy Iowa City selects Allscripts Sunrise for patient record Solgari completes global Azure migration All-channel communications independent software vendor and Business Applications Inner Circle member, Solgari, has recently completed its migration of selected core services to Microsoft Azure. The migration ensures continued availability and resiliency for its customers across the world. “We are pleased to have completed this migration with no disruption to our existing customers and look forward to driving continued Azure consumption in the months and years to come,” said Marcel McCann, chief technology officer at Solgari. The firm’s proprietary cloud will remain in place alongside its migration to Azure, given its role as a Tier 1 global Voice carrier. AVEVA Unified Operations Center is now available at all 45 Microsoft Technology Centers (MTCs). The solution offers realtime operational performance management for infrastructure operators, and their inclusion at MTCs will enable customers to leverage the joint capabilities of AVEVA and Microsoft to empower their digital transformation journeys. “With access to state-of-theart technology, unparalleled expertise and successful processes, customers can drive differentiation in their industries,” said Trudi Hable, global alliance leader for Microsoft at AVEVA. AVEVA Unified Operations Center now at all MTCs
28 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om MAR K E TWATCH VIEWPOINT What’s happened to Black Friday and Cyber Monday? NATA L I E K E R R : E X P E R I AN DATA QUA L I T Y For retailers worldwide, validating addresses, emails and phone numbers for customers at the checkout is essential to fulfil orders. In Cyber Week (23-30 November 2021), Experian’s data validation solutions collectively processed 207 million address, email address, and phone number validation requests from retailers globally. On Black Friday, the solutions processed 37.5 million requests alone, around 434 requests per second. The volume seen in the 2021 and 2020 Cyber Weeks was more than 50 per cent higher when compared to the same period in 2019, with 206.8 million requests in 2021 versus 136.1 million in 2019. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain peak days in the year, will retailers continue to see the same level of online transactions once we fully emerge from the pandemic? Cyber Week validation requests 2017 50,000,000 100,000,000 150,000,000 200,000,000 250,000,000 2018 2019 2020 2021 JourneyTEAM reduces Dynamics 365 and Power Platform implementation costs US-based technology provider JourneyTEAM has launched a range of new Sherpa Progams to help customers implement Microsoft technologies at a lower cost. Dynamics 365 Business Central Sherpa, Power Apps Sherpa and Dynamics 365 Marketing Sherpa programmes are kicking off in 2022. The Sherpa Progams use a group setting to reduce costs. Customers can also make use of JourneyTEAM’s expert consultants, implementation guides, group workshops, oneto-one sessions and managed services offerings. Find out more at: www.journeyteam.com/sherpa. Meeting technology provider Decisions is helping The Middlesex Corporation, a Boston-based construction company, run smoother meetings with clearer follow-up. The Middlesex Corporation holds a weekly progress meeting with potentially hundreds of employees for each project. Previously, it took hours to gather information, but with Decisions, attendees can individually update their agenda topic in minutes. “Decisions consolidates the things we were doing manually into one, easy-to-use solution,” said Matt Mead, business operations director at The Middlesex Corporation. “It makes our meetings more engaging and efficient. As just one example, tasks recorded in the Word meeting minutes automatically sync into Planner, aligning to our projects.” Decisions helps The Middlesex Corporation build better meetings
29 Logicalis survey reveals struggle with using data for digital transformation Responses from the 2021 Global CIO survey, commissioned by Logicalis, show that 85 per cent of chief information officers (CIOs) plan to focus on finding new ways to increase agility and speed in the next five years. The same number identified building and operating models as a priority. However, while 98 per cent of CIOs report that the pandemic accelerated their organisation's digital transformation plans, three-quarters of respondents admitted that their organisations struggle to unlock the data that would drive a successful digital transformation strategy. Building on this, the survey results reveal that 48 per cent of respondents use data to increase speed and agility in their operations, and a quarter of respondents use data to drive overall business strategy. City of York works with Barracuda Networks to protect data City of York Council in the UK has chosen Barracuda Networks, a provider of cloud-enabled security solutions, to help protect its Office 365 data with the security firm’s Cloud-to-Cloud Backup. The solution met the council’s requirements to have support for two-factor authentication, no onpremises controllers and data storage in the UK, as well as providing back-up for all Office 365 data from Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint as well as Exchange. “Barracuda Cloud-to-Cloud Backup makes it very easy to find and restore individual files in a very granular way,” said Ian Towner, infrastructure services technical lead for the City of York Council.
30 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om MAR K E TWATCH Microsoft Teams specialist Resonate has launched Resonate Apps & Automation, an in-house development capability delivering enhanced solutions for Microsoft Teams. Combining its experience and technical capability in voice and Power Platform, Resonate now offers off-the-shelf solutions such as Teams Voice Management and Call Queue & Auto Attendant tools. These new offerings build on the firm’s expert consultancy services that help customers identify and create solutions that will enrich the Teams user experience, increase productivity and deliver cost savings through automation. Resonate enhances Microsoft Teams with Apps & Automation interworks.cloud simplifies automation platform for CSPs As of 2022, interworks.cloud’s comprehensive cloud commerce solution will offer new pricing and add-on options, a simplified billing experience and increased flexibility for cloud service providers to manage their services. The new features and functional changes will be released under a phased approach in alignment with Microsoft's roadmap. The cloud commerce platform will also soon offer optimisation services for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure resources, providing regular data analytics, advanced artificial intelligence tagging and usage monitoring. Overall, with these updates, CSPs will be able to increase their customer retention by offering new and improved managed services. In response to continued Covid-19 concerns, especially with the Omicron variant on the rise, ICONICS is continuing to prioritise the health and safety of its employees, customers and partners by delivering its in-person worldwide customer summit, Transform 360, as a series of virtual events, webcasts, sales trainings and workshops. According to ICONICS, these events will guide its customers through best practices, case studies, customer stories, and tips and tricks for their specific industries and digital transformation needs. “We look forward to these conversations and knowledge exchanges to help our customers transform their businesses from all angles by gaining the necessary expertise and tools for a seamless digital transformation,” said Melissa Topp, senior director of global marketing at ICONICS. ICONICS delivers Transform 360 event virtually
31 Members of the CraneMorley mixed reality team showcased Guides first-hand to attendees of EY's Strategic Growth Forum November in Palm Springs, California. Speakers and attendees included top CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, advisors and influential business and government leaders from around the world, who all attended to share their experiences on innovation, transactions, growth and what’s shaping the future of the global economy. As part of the EY Illumination Experience within the event, the CraneMorley team joined other industry professionals who discussed how technology is being used to blend the physical and virtual worlds in ways that impact training, productivity, collaboration and creativity in an increasingly digital work environment. CraneMorley experts developed two different Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides experiences that highlighted different factors of the technology. In the first experience, attendees had the opportunity to make an espresso while being walked through the process step-bystep with holographic overlays. In the second experience, attendees stepped into the shoes of a Porsche technician and had the opportunity to virtually inspect the suspension of a Macan Turbo. Components of the suspension virtually drop out of the shell of the vehicle and users can interact directly with the holograms. Across a variety of industries, large numbers of highly skilled workers will be eligible for retirement over the next five years. CraneMorley is working on harnessing the power of mixed reality to change where and how business can train employees. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides allows instructional designers to create self-paced training that leverages images, video, instruction and 3D holograms to create step-bystep, skills-based training modules. It is providing organisations with a seamless way to capture expert knowledge in a format that is ideal for training large numbers of new employees. “CraneMorley has been on the front lines of developing performance training solutions for the last 28 years,” said Nick Berger, senior instructional designer at CraneMorley. “With travel and face-to-face restrictions caused by the pandemic and up to 30 per cent of the frontline workforce retiring within the next five years, it is critical that organisations adapt to new ways of training across all industries. In response to these changing needs, we are developing blending learning solutions that feature mixed reality training.” CraneMorley showcases value of mixed reality training CraneMorley demonstrated its Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides experiences at EY’s Strategic Growth Forum to highlight the potential of the technology
32 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om MAR K E TWATCH National Retail Federation (NRF) invited attendees to network in-person again at Retail’s Big Show on 15-18 January. The event, which covered a variety of retail-focused topics such as operations, team investment, business models and growth, looked towards the future of retail by reviewing recent technology and transformation. Keynote speakers included Corrie Barry, CEO of Best Buy and Matthew Shay, president and CEO of NRF, who discussed how to stay ahead of the curve. Meanwhile, Javier Quiñones, CEO and chief sustainability officer at IKEA US, and Jennifer Steinmann, global environmental, social and governance marketplace leader at Deloitte, spoke about climate issues as business imperatives and Brian Cornell, the board chairman and CEO of Target Corporation, shared his strategies for driving Target’s continued growth. Other sessions looked at best practices from consumer packaged goods in accelerating growth for future success, how to reshape retail with technology and embracing the power of heritage and reimagination. Other speakers included: Jessica Alba, actress and founder of The Honest Company; Brian Aoaeh, general partner at REFASHIOND Ventures; Tom Arigi, director of asset protection and safety at The Kroger Co.; Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president of retail and consumer goods at Microsoft; Tory Brunker, director of commerce at Adobe; and Stephanie Young, president of Disney consumer products, games and publishing at The Walt Disney Company. The event also featured over 700 exhibitors including Microsoft Stores, Old Navy Clothing Co., Mars Retail Group, Swarovski and Verizon. National Retail Federation: Retail’s Big Show Retail and technology professionals from around the world were invited to network and share ideas about the industry EVENT REPORT 15-18 January 2022 | New York City, USA
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