I S S U E 2 6 : AUTUMN 2 0 2 2 £ 2 4 . 0 0 P LU S : Schneider Electric unites digital tools and sustainability for urban transformation Netflix’s Jean-Paul Bonjour highlights the importance of compelling media content Firms are building agile and sustainable supply chains, says Microsoft’s Indranil Sircar Banks can boost revenue with real-time payments, says Microsoft’s Peter Hazou Johnson Controls helps Microsoft meet sustainability goals at its Beijing campus Sustainable innovation Cloud and data technologies can help businesses reach sustainability goals while protecting profits
Spark Your Ingenuity November 14-17, 2022, at the Moscone West Convention Center AVEVAWorld in San Francisco • Engage with experts • Network with industry peers • Extend your technical expertise with hands-on learning • Expand your knowledge by meeting with product experts • Connect with the AVEVA community at large Whether you use solutions from AVEVA’s engineering or operations portfolios, and/or AVEVA™ PI System™, there is something here for you. 12+ industries 20+ learning labs 70+ customer presentations 600+ companies worldwide 160+ global speakers aveva.com @avevagroup linkedin.com/company/aveva
Agenda at a glance Monday, November 14 Introduction • Introductory sessions • Customer councils • “What to expect from AVEVA World” session • Learning labs • Speaker reception • Welcome reception Tuesday, November 15 Spark your ingenuity • Keynotes • Networking lunch • Product & portfolio tracks • Executive summit (invite only) • Off-site dinner event • Partner & product expo • Learning labs Wednesday, November 16 Customer insights • Keynotes • Customer presentations (across various industries, products, and solutions) • Networking lunch • Partner & product expo • Learning labs • Expo reception • Industry dinners Thursday, November 17 Innovation • Keynotes • Deep-dive portfolio sessions • Networking lunch • Partner & product expo • Learning labs Join us in San Francisco and discover how your organization can benefit from the entire AVEVA portfolio by engineering smarter and operating better. This is an event you won’t want to miss. events.aveva.com/aw-sf-2022 Featured speakers Peter Herweck AVEVA Chief Executive Officer Caspar Herzberg AVEVA Chief Revenue Officer Rob McGreevy AVEVA Chief Product Officer Norton Green AVEVA VP Executive Engagement
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7 WE LCOME : AUTUMN 2 0 2 2 Leading the way This issue of the magazine will be available at a number of leading industry events around the world. If you’re attending an industry gathering over the coming months do look out for a copy of Technology Record and take the opportunity to engage with magazine staff who will also be attending. When the Autumn 2022 issue is released, delegates from around the globe will be gathering in Amsterdam for Sibos, one of the leading financial services events of the year. As always Technology Record will play an active role as media partner. In our main financial services feature, we talk with Microsoft’s Peter Hazou about the impact that Azure cloud services are having upon the core process of bank payments – a topic which he and his colleagues will no doubt expand upon at the event. You’ll find that feature on page 130. In the 20 years, since its launch Microsoft Dynamics has grown from relatively humble beginnings as a suite of accounting and resource planning tools for small and medium-sized enterprises to a solution used by organisations of all sizes and across every sector. In a special product focus starting on page 76, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of business applications marketing Emily He tells us more about this latest iteration of the software tools, the partners who are helping Microsoft to power industry innovation and the customers that are using Dynamics 365 to gain real competitive advantage. Jeremy M. Goldberg continues to showcase Microsoft technology in his series of articles on public sector infrastructure, with a timely focus upon the work being done to evolve the built environment in sustainable ways. In our Industrials & Manufacturing section, Microsoft’s Indranil Sircar discusses how manufacturers are using the firm's products to reimagine their supply chains to become more agile, resilient and sustainable. We also talk with Microsoft’s Simon Crownshaw about fundamental changes underway within the world of broadcasting and how Azure-based tools are driving wide-ranging innovation across the media and communications industry. 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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CONT ENT S 9 COV E R S TOR Y Sustainable innovation Cloud and data technologies can help businesses reach sustainability goals while protecting profits 16 MAR K E TWATCH The latest news fromMicrosoft and its partners, including the new Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty 64 Johnson Controls helped Microsoft meet Chinese sustainability goals by reducing the carbon emissions of its Beijing campus 66 Schneider Electric is uniting digital technologies and sustainability to transform urban infrastructure 68 Christopher Dann shares the findings from Publicis Sapient’s new report on enterprise sustainability 70 Marjorie Martinez discusses Orbus Software’s new partner programme 72 PointFire uses the Microsoft cloud to help organisations improve multilingual communication 74 P ractices of circularity can maximise revenue, reduce costs and streamline business, says Sankar Konduru of Infosys 76 Staying ahead of the curve Emily He shares how Microsoft is evolving Dynamics 365 to give customers and partners new and better opportunities 84 N ordic Leisure Group uses ExFlow by SignUp Software to improve accounts payable processes 86 Avalara’s taxing solution integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for automated tax calculations 88 I t’s not too late to optimise supply chains, says Mary Lanham of Lanham Associates 90 Formpipe’s new DM for Dynamics solution streamlines processes and leverages Microsoft security 92 Joachim Schiermacher shares how ClickLearn is helping its customers to assess cloud-based applications 93 EBizCharge helped Queue Associates to save time tracking invoice payments 95 Kyndryl’s expertise and Azure VMware Solution can help organisations migrate workloads to the cloud 96 TimMitchell shares how Orbus Software’s iServer365 solution can help businesses manage complexity, reduce costs and improve collaboration 98 Organisations must embrace uncertainty to build truly digital capabilities and cultures, according to Netcel and Optimizely 50 I S S U E 2 6 : AUTUMN 2 0 2 2
$ Cloud Strategy Engagement: synergy-technical.com/services-cloud-sd Licensing Strategy Engagement: synergy-technical.com/services-licensing-as Deploy to the Cloud & Consolidate Your Licensing Many organizations have been re-inspired to explore sustainability strategies. But to realize their goals, they must make a renewed commitment to technological innovation. By helping organizations understand their real cloud licensing needs, we help reduce their carbon footprint while increasing e ciency and productivity. Licensing Strategy Engagement Cloud Strategy Engagement • Review business initiatives & projects • Analyze your current environment & potential cloud capabilities • Find under/over-licensed software • Understand your technology needs • Centralize & consolidate contracts Our Business IT Strategy o ers include: Do more with less
CONT ENT S F E ATUR ED PARTNE R S 11 100 CyberProof ’s Tony Velleca discusses the evolving cybersecurity landscape and outlines how businesses can overcome the risks of cyberattacks 102 Anywhere365’s Enrico Karsten explains how cloudbased dialogue management systems can transform customer service 104 F irms must use science-based targets and a network of partners for sustainability success, says AVEVA’s Lisa Wee 106 Businesses should consider eight key steps to reduce environmental impact, says Johnson Controls’ Mark Reinbold 108 Marco Morsella shares how AvePoint is helping businesses make the most of SaaS and the clouds 110 isolved's James Norwood explains how HR departments can use virtual assistants to optimise Microsoft technology 112 AI and Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems are helping companies to lower costs and improve processing times, says Alyssa Putzer of Metafile Information Systems 113 S ynergy Technical’s Rohana Meade shares how Windows 365 workstations, PowerApps, OneNote and Teams can boost business productivity 114 Businesses must invest in audio technology to deliver productive hybrid meetings, says Joe Debold of EPOS 116 O rganisations can improve data management with Microsoft Azure Data Explorer and CyberProof Log Collector 117 Digitalisation helps firms to control supply chains and protect market share, says Terry Simpson of Nintex 118 Barracuda research highlights the obstacles facing organisations as they secure their operational technology 119 JourneyTEAM helps firms implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Finance and Supply Chain solutions 120 Businesses can enhance customer engagement with subscription models built on their CRMs, says Work 365’s Ismail Nalwala 121 LA NET’s Mitesh Chauhan shares some top tips for using the cloud to ensure business success 122 Experian’s data quality management is essential to helping firms make the most of Microsoft Dynamics 365 124 Businesses need digital transformation road maps that focus on customers and employees, says Geoff Ables of C5 Insight 126 Kyndryl’s Ron Xavier shares how the firm is combining its services with Microsoft technology for better workplace experiences 128 D avid Labuskes of AVIXA highlights the importance of people, technology and change management in hybrid work environments 207 A selection of Microsoft partners operating across all business sectors 216 THE L A S T WORD IDC’s Joe Dignan shares an update on the progress of smart cities
CONT ENT S I NDUS T R I A L S & MANUFAC TUR I NG 130 The path to real-time payments With payments becoming real-time services, banks can meet customer demand, drive innovation and boost revenue. Microsoft’s Peter Hazou tells us more 136 Adyen’s new embedded financial products helps firms create new experiences and revenue streams, and increase user loyalty 138 The Bank of Botetourt deployed Barracuda Email Protection to prevent malicious cyberattacks 139 Financial organisations must modernise payments to meet evolving customer and regulatory demands, says Finastra’s Paul Thomalla 140 Rowan Brewer of Paymentology explains why the cloud can help financial services firms to personalise products 142 RSM UK uses Gamma Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams for a company-wide cultural and workingpractice revolution 144 Smart, agile, connected Microsoft’s Indranil Sircar discusses how organisations are reimagining manufacturing and build agile, resilient and sustainable supply chains 152 Jason Alexander and David McLaughlin of RSM highlight the value of choosing the right technology and employees 154 Industrial companies are learning from the pandemic to build resilience and ensure future success, says AVEVA’s Caspar Herzberg 156 Diehl Metering combines IoT, manufacturing execution systems and Microsoft Azure to transform manufacturing IT 158 Skkynet’s Andrew Thomas shares how organisations can manage data during a network outage 160 ICONICS’ software helps the International Union of Operating Engineers to train operators and engineers 162 Groupe Roullier is automating authorisation requests and improving transparency with Nintex solutions 164 Augury’s James Newman and Chris Dobbrow discuss the renewed emphasis on sustainability in manufacturing 1 F I NANC I A L S E RV I C E S 12
13 R E TA I L & CG 190 Building brand loyalty Microsoft’s Shanthi Rajagopalan and Publicis Sapient’s Guy Elliott and Hilding Anderson discuss how retail brands are adapting to ensure they remain first choice for every customer 198 Loyalty programmes help organisations to deliver individualised experiences. Annex Cloud’s Erin Raese explains 200 C hris Nealon of Sunrise Technologies discusses the challenges facing retailers to meet customer expectations 202 Kika/Leiner has transformed customer engagement with Diebold Nixdorf ’s Vynamic Engages 204 Peak system performance is essential to prepare for a post-pandemic holiday season, says Akamai’s Jeff Darnton PUB L I C S E C TOR 178 Improving life through the built environment Microsoft technology is key to helping city leaders better serve residents, businesses and visitors in accessible, safe and sustainable ways MED I A & COMMUN I CAT I ONS 166 The future of television Microsoft’s Simon Crownshaw discusses how broadcasters are dealing with the transformation of media that has been accelerated by streaming 172 Netflix’s Jean-Paul Bonjour explains why media companies must focus on creating compelling content 174 Organisations must encourage audiovisual and IT teams to collaborate for better hybrid working experiences, says AVIXA’s Aaron Weiler 176 Garrett Gladden outlines how Kollective Technology’s solutions can address spikes in demand due to hybrid working 186 Umojo’s NexCity platform helps cities to enhance parking infrastructure, while improving revenue, efficiency and safety 187 Powerful sensors could improve the urban environment for everyone, says Kevin Taylor of Axis Communications 188 Johnson Controls’ Katie McGinty discusses the decarbonisation value of partnerships that harness digital transformation 189 Brillio’s Chander Damodaran shares how digital twins could revolutionise healthcare to benefit both practitioners and patients
Microsoft is the world leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential. PUB L I SHED I N COL L ABORAT I ON WI TH PUB L I SH I NG PAR TNE R S Finastra builds and deploys nextgeneration financial technology on its open software architecture and cloud ecosystem. EPOS delivers high-end audio and video solutions with design, technology and performance in mind. Johnson Controls is a global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, and reimagines building performance to serve people, places and the planet. Kyndryl and Microsoft are delivering solutions that enable modern work experiences and support mission-critical workloads and hybrid cloud adoption. Infosys is a global leader in nextgeneration digital services and consulting, enabling clients to navigate their digital journeys. Over 10,000 organisations across every industry leverage the power and ease of the Nintex Process Platform to accelerate digital transformation. AVEVA creates industrial software that inspires people to shape the future, by delivering solutions across the asset and operations life cycles. Augury unlocks new levels of production health, enabling manufacturers to prevent machine failures and optimise processes to benefit profits, people and the planet. I S S U E 2 6 : AUTUMN 2 0 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 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 a quarterly magazine about technology solutions for enterprise organisations, published by Tudor Rose in collaboration with Microsoft. 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. ISSN 2754-3277 (Print) and 2754-3285 (Online). 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. 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 Technology Record: AVIXA, the international trade association for the audiovisual industry, believes technology changes the way people experience the world. Schneider Electric drives digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies for homes, buildings, data centres, infrastructure and industries. Orbus Software provides cloud solutions for digital transformation to accelerate its customers’ success and enable them to build operational resiliency.
15 S PONSOR S ANA LY S T S AND I NDU S T R Y ORGAN I S AT I ONS Where Manufacturing Meets IT Multilingual SharePoint
16 MAR K E TWATCH Microsoft is developing Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, which will allow public sector organisations to build and digitally innovate workloads within Microsoft Cloud while meeting compliance, security and policy requirements. The new solution, which will be built in the Microsoft public cloud, will give public sector organisations greater control over their data and increased transparency into the operational and governance processes of the cloud. Users will be able to run their workloads in any of Microsoft’s more than 60 Azure regional data centres and implement policies to ensure their data and applications remain within a preferred geographical boundary. This will allow them to fulfil specific industry, national or global security, privacy and compliance requirements. “Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty is being built on the Microsoft public cloud to accelerate digital transformation while creating a customised experience adhering to government requirements,” said Corey Sanders, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Cloud for Industry and Global Expansion Team in a blog post. “Government customers will have the power of the public cloud, addressing low cost, agility and scale expectations, with the full breadth of capabilities like modern developer services, agile infrastructure, secure DevOps, open-source platforms, modern collaboration and low-code development.” Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty will also deliver additional capabilities for encrypting and protecting sensitive data. For example, the solution will analyse more than 24 trillion security signals per day to allow users to identify and protect against local cyberattacks so that government information remains secure. In addition, customers will be able to use Azure Confidential Computing, a technology offering sovereign protection with Confidential Virtual Machines and Confidential Containers, as well as specialised hardware to create encrypted memory called Trusted Execution Environments to protect data from security breaches. Meanwhile, software-as-a-service solutions such as Double Key Encryption will allow Microsoft 365 Microsoft to launch Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty The new public sector solution will enable customers to meet the specific data sovereignty, security and privacy requirements outlined by governments
17 users to classify emails and documents as ‘sensitive’ so that customer data can be encrypted using customerprovided keys. Furthermore, Microsoft will only access customer data on Customer Lockbox for Microsoft 365, Azure, Power Platform and the upcoming Dynamics application when given explicit customer approval. Microsoft is working closely with partners such as Arvato, Capgemini, Minsait, Orange, SAP and Telefonica to ensure that it delivers functionalities to meet the unique sovereign requirements of governments around the world. For example, partners have helped to customise the solution’s Sovereign Landing Zone, which will allow customers to manage compliance settings with deployments that are automatable, customisable, repeatable and consistent. Users will also be able to make recommendations for any additional required settings. “The landing zone will span the Microsoft public cloud, with tools to maintain data residency, deploy sovereign controls, protect data classification and extend into hybrid deployments, creating a single solution for all application needs,” said Sanders. Microsoft has already released an initial private preview of Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty in select locations and will share further details on the product soon.
18 MAR K E TWATCH Cloud solution provider Synergy Technical is helping companies achieve both business and sustainability goals with Cloud Strategy & Windows 365 Quickstart Engagement, which is available to Microsoft customers. The solution helps customers to optimise their cloud environment and deploy Windows 365 by securely streaming the Windows experience to any device. “We knew we could help companies enhance their cloud environments to meet sustainability initiatives by embracing virtual desktop solutions like Windows 365,” said Rohana Meade, president and CEO of Synergy Technical. Synergy Technical helps companies to use cloud environments Data management platform provider AvePoint has launched new data recovery capabilities for Microsoft Azure in its Cloud Backup solution. The service now extends protection to Azure workloads to help businesses mitigate risk, protect applications and collaborate with confidence across their Microsoft deployments. AvePoint Cloud Backup complements native Microsoft backup, ensuring customers can satisfy their compliance, productivity and business continuity requirements. The new data recovery capabilities include periodic full and incremental backup, cloud-to-cloud backup, point-in-time and granular level restoration, and full fidelity recovery. The firm has also introduced Ransomware Detection to proactively detect suspicious behaviour within Microsoft OneDrive and can restore all or specific data. AvePoint adds new data recovery capabilities for Microsoft Azure DID YOU KNOW? 94% of organisations surveyed by Barracuda Networks have experienced a security incident between 2021 and 2022 and 87% of those organisations were impacted for more than one day. However, 93% also reported having failed industrial internet of things (IIoT) and operational technology (OT) security projects. The security solutions provider recently released its findings from its report The State of Industrial Security in 2022, which surveyed 800 senior IT managers, senior IT security managers and project managers responsible for IIoT and OT. Learn more about the report on page 118
19 Avalara has built a new cloud-based solution on Microsoft Dynamics 365 to help businesses to calculate payments for communications services tax, sales and use tax, VAT, goods and services tax, and other applicable taxes. AvaTax for Communications can be tailored to a variety of communications services, including voice over internet protocol, unified communications as a service, wireless connectivity, internet of things, and text messaging. In addition, businesses can use Avalara Returns for Communications to manage the tedious and time-consuming work of preparing, remitting payments and filing returns in thousands of tax jurisdictions each month. DID YOU KNOW? “ The Microsoft cloud processes and analyses more than 24 billion security signals every day” – Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president of security, compliance, identity and privacy at Microsoft Avalara powering the tax and compliance needs for communications and media providers Augury's Machine Health solutions can now be purchased using MACC agreement Augury’s Machine Health solutions for machine maintenance can now be purchased directly via Microsoft Azure’s Commercial Marketplace, enabling companies to apply the contract cost towards their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). The MACC agreement represents a commitment to purchase a specified volume of Azure cloud consumption in exchange for a reduced rate for Azure services. The agreement requires companies to reach their commitment to avoid penalties. The purchase of Augury solutions will now count towards this commitment and may also be applied to a company’s pre-approved Azure budget.
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23 Microsoft announced in July 2022 that Azure has helped more than 125 million Covid-19 vaccination doses to be administered to people in England since the end of 2020. The UK Government’s vaccine deployment was among the fastest in the world and the NHS’s efforts to encourage people to sign up for the Covid-19 vaccine was supported by tools and services that were powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. NHS Digital’s National Booking Service, the online system that allows members of the public to book their Covid-19 vaccinations, was deployed on the National Immunisation Management System (NIMS). The system, which went live on 1 September 2020, is an Azure-based solution that was developed by System C Healthcare, Graphnet Health and Liquidlogic. How Microsoft Azure powered NHS England’s Covid-19 vaccine roll-out Brillio is launching BrillioOneHealth, a comprehensive suite of products and solutions to help healthcare providers improve patient experiences, optimise cost and drive revenue growth. The cloud-ready, secure, easily configurable, and consumable suite provides services across price transparency on Azure, interoperability, patient and member experiences, healthcare cloud, value-based care, virtual care, behavioural and mental health, and more. “BrillioOneHealth is an important milestone that will enable our mission to turn disruptions into affordable, accessible and connected care,” said Avantika Sharma, head of healthcare services at Brillio. Brillio launches BrillioOneHealth MAR K E TWATCH
24 MAR K E TWATCH E-learning software provider ClickLearn has developed new collaborative learning experiences for Microsoft Dynamics products, which will be delivered via Microsoft Teams in 2022. “We have been working on a completely new way of doing collaborative learning and creating a more dynamic e-learning experience, and we selected Teams as the primary platform for delivering that,” says Michael Olsen, chief technology officer at ClickLearn. “Our solution will enable learners to collaboratively and dynamically extend the learning platform for any software product.” ClickLearn to deliver collaborative learning in Microsoft Teams Infosys EcoWatch to help businesses meet ESG objectives The Infosys Ecowatch platform helps enterprises plan, ingest, audit and publish their sustainability goals and data. It enables enterprises to manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting across facilities and buildings. Built on the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365, the plug-and-play solution offers pre-existing building management systems and provides automated data management on cloud for a seamless experience. Organisations can also implement Infosys’s recently launched EcoWatch for Retail solution to reduce waste, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and improve water efficiency.
25 Banks invest in Microsoft's financial services solutions Large banks have turned to Microsoft’s services to improve their digital platforms, payment functionalities and connectivity. Italian bank Nexi partnered with Microsoft to use the Microsoft Azure cloud platform to offer digital payments to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe. Nexi will then use Azure to further digitise its data centres and platforms such as PayTech, whilst maintaining high standards of cybersecurity and data protection. The integration of payment functionalities onto the cloud will enable independent software vendors to better operate in the markets of interest. British multinational bank Barclays has deployed Microsoft Teams for more than 120,000 colleagues and service partners to improve global connectivity. The deployment is part of the bank’s efforts to better connect employees across its business units, as well as to enhance its data retention, search and retrieval capabilities, which are available within Microsoft Purview. In the UK, The Co-operative Bank has opted to migrate its treasury infrastructure to Microsoft partner Finastra’s Kondor cloud services to digitise its processes, enhance its integrated ecosystems and increase the opportunity for collaboration with other UK-based organisations. Kondor, which is available via Microsoft Azure and integrated within workflow applications CloudMargin and eflow, will provide the bank with a modern, scalable and cost-effective system to automate reporting and other processes. Photo: Microsoft Alshaya Group partners with Optimizely and Conversion Alshaya Group, a brand franchise operator, will use Optimizely’s experimentation platform to enhance its digital touchpoints and improve customer experiences. Optimizely will carry out the project in collaboration with its partner Conversion, a conversion rate optimisation company. Alysha’s e-commerce online portfolio includes over 100 live experiences and it is now focusing on increasing customer engagement and conversion. To achieve this goal, it will implement the Optimizely platform in its fashion and footwear, health and beauty, and home furniture businesses. CASE STUDY
26 MAR K E TWATCH Schneider Electric has partnered with MIT Technology Review to reveal a concerted push towards sustainability within the manufacturing sector, with a long-term goal of total carbon visibility across the entire supply chain. The joint research, entitled Equipment management and sustainability, reveals that leading manufacturers are making sustainability the goal of process improvements rather than a by-product of responsible equipment management. The sector is pairing efficient equipment management and green principles to help to reach international climate goals and ensure effective decarbonisation. Read the full report at: https://bit.ly/3xk0Az9 Manufacturers are driving sustainability, says Schneider Electric Microsoft celebrated the 15th anniversary of Microsoft OneDrive in August 2022. In August 2007, the firm first launched the cloud storage system that allows users to share and synchronise their files in the cloud. And OneDrive is continuing to promote secure collaboration and productivity, helping individuals in the current era of hybrid work.
Document management solution provider Formpipe will release a new interface to connect its digital repository Autoform DM with Microsoft Dynamics. Aptly named DM for Dynamics, the connector will allow Dynamics users to securely import, store, search for and retrieve documents without needing to change displays. This means organisations can easily access all their data in one place, configure the product to suit their needs and regain control over ungoverned repositories. The interface is set to be released on 1 October 2022. Find out more in Formpipe’s interview on page 90 Formpipe to launch DM for Dynamics interface The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) is one of the largest manufacturing trade shows in North America and took place between 12 and 17 September 2022, bringing together leaders in the industrial manufacturing industry. Both ICONICS and Mitsubishi Electric are experts in process innovation, plant operations, quality and inspection, and automation, and so collaborated to exhibit together this year. Mitsubishi Electric presented its single-source manufacturing solutions and ICONICS showcased the integration of its software for monitoring, alarm notifications and analysis of Mitsubishi Electric’s LoadMate robot solutions for autonomous computer numerical control tending. They demonstrated to manufacturers and end users how to leverage realtime production data to make intelligent operational decisions. ICONICS joined Mitsubishi Electric at IMTS 2022 Umojo implements parking solution in Louisville Parking management solution provider Umojo has implemented its NexCity platform to Louisville, Kentucky, USA, to help local authorities identify and address inefficiencies in the city’s parking infrastructure. Information from 11 different parking vendors was fed into the NexCity platform, providing the city authority a live overview of how drivers were using kerb space. Using this information, the city identified areas where public parking policy did not match driving behaviour, enabling it to adjust policy to improve access to, and revenue from, parking spaces. MAR K E TWATCH 28
Where is it? Who has access? Control with Governance Fidelity with Migration Are we compliant? Is that data lost? Resilience with Data Protection avepoint.com Make your Microsoft 365 collaboration more productive, compliant, and secure with AvePoint. CONFIDENCE MEANS: Collaborate with Confidence
30 MAR K E TWATCH Cybercriminals are increasingly using ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) to access organisations’ data, according to Microsoft’s second Cyber Signals report, which highlights security trends and insights from its 43 trillion security signals and 8,500 security experts. To execute an attack via RaaS, criminals purchase or rent ransomware from a developer so they can deploy it against specific targets, often vulnerable organisations with exposed credentials or existing malware footholds in their network. Microsoft recommends basic defences like multifactor authentication to combat ransomware infiltration routes before malware deployment. Annex Cloud, a global provider of advanced loyalty management solutions and experiential customer retention software, has enhanced its technology platform to better support complex enterprises. “Organisations with multiple brands across multiple regions have unique loyalty needs,” said Erin Raese, senior vice president of revenue at Annex Cloud. “They need programmes with different languages, different currencies and often similar, but different, programme rules or promotions or rewards. For these organisations we’ve created multiple types of templates that allow the brands the utmost in flexibility.” In addition, Annex Cloud has partnered with Ometria, a customer data and marketing platform, to provide companies with data, insights, tools and capabilities to deliver the personalised experiences that today’s consumers expect. Annex Cloud is helping customers to drive loyalty Independent supply chain software vendor Lanham Associates has created a new warehouse device user interface (UI) for Android and iOS devices. It can be used with Lanham’s flexible Outbound Warehouse Request app, its robust ACE Warehousing solution and the Advanced Warehousing feature in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The new UI is contained in Lanham’s Warehouse Basic feature and can be used on touchscreens across numerous devices, with or without a keypad. Warehouse employees can use old or new mobile devices and their associated interfaces within the same environment, allowing customers to maximise their existing hardware investments. Lanham Associates releases new UI for warehouse devices Ransomware-as-a-service attacks are increasing, finds Microsoft
31 Microsoft China has built a driving solution to improve the safety, efficiency and development of automotive vehicles. Revealed at the 2022 World New Energy Vehicle Conference in Beijing, China, the smart cockpit will become a new contact point for users to communicate with car manufacturers and will be built with an intelligent voice dialogue solution that will support more than 70 languages and recognise over 140 regional dialects. The solution will also be able to identify the speaker’s emotions and be used in various vehicles. Developers will also use the end-to-end autonomous driving support solution to analyse, train and simulate data to build artificial intelligence models for smart vehicles. Vehicle data will be gathered from the global internet of vehicles. In addition, Microsoft is enhancing its security capabilities and compliance certification system to accelerate the deployment of smart cars across the world. Microsoft’s cloud services, tools and ecosystems, will help companies to further the development of smart transportation by integrating smart technology into the side of the car to improve its perception and computing capabilities. Microsoft China develops smart cockpit solution for automotive vehicles Photo: Microsoft
32 MAR K E TWATCH Cloud solutions provider Orbus Software has introduced a new programme to deliver new capabilities and resources to help partners around the world drive operational resiliency. The global programme will help partners to address challenges such as cyberattacks, climate change and other crises, while becoming more agile by building sustainable digital processes so they can adapt to disruptions. Resellers, service organisations, system integrators and technology partners can join the tiered programme to access skills and solutions to help customers across various industries. “The new programme reflects Orbus Software’s commitment to a partner-first culture,” said Marjorie Martinez, global head of partnerships at Orbus Software. Find out more on page 70 Orbus Software launches global partner programme Independent software vendor PointFire has shifted its machine translation engine from Microsoft SharePoint Online to Azure Translator. By moving PointFire 365 – the firm’s solution for managing multilingual SharePoint environments – to Azure, PointFire will be able to deliver better accuracy, reliability and coverage of user interface localisation. PointFire leverages Azure Translator for new machine translation DID YOU KNOW? Microsoft Azure has over 60 data centre regions worldwide and is available in 140 countries
33 AVEVA will host its annual AVEVA World conference on 14-17 November 2022 at Moscone West in San Francisco, California. The event will be focused on the theme of ‘Spark your ingenuity’ and will features keynote addresses from AVEVA’s CEO Peter Herweck and executive vice president of operations business Rob McGreevy. Spanning the full breadth of AVEVA’s end-to-end industrial software portfolio, the conference will explore how leading companies are sharing data to bring about the new age of the connected industrial economy. It will focus on datacentric ecosystems that drive enhanced profitability, and how technology will accelerate decarbonisation and circularity, and empower connected workers. AVEVA World will deepen the technical expertise of attendees via executive keynotes, hands-on training and customer presentations. Confirmed speakers include C-suite executives from Pfizer, Shell, Starbucks and Worley. The event will bring together more than 2,500 attendees from over 600 companies worldwide. Together, they will explore how industries are driving change using integrated data networks, interoperable industrial software and leveraging the scale of the cloud. Registration is open now. AVEVA World to focus on the new connected industrial economy Audio solution provider EPOS has launched the new EXPAND Vision 5 for small meeting rooms. The video bar features two integrated speakers and four adaptive, noise-cancelling microphones for high-quality audio and video during virtual and hybrid meetings. The solution has flexible mounting options, cable management and electromechanical pan/tilt to simplify installation. Users can also leverage the built-in compute power to run applications natively on the device for a seamless user experience. Enterprise-grade security ensures the highest standard for data safety. EPOS unveils EXPAND Vision 5
34 MAR K E TWATCH Skkynet’s DataHub software – which enables users to connect live data in real time – now supports MQTT Sparkplug B edge of network, primary and non-primary application capabilities. Sparkplug B is a specification for MQTT that defines how data is sent and received. With its MQTT smart broker capabilities, the DataHub program resolves many edge case inconsistencies when using Sparkplug B. For example, it responds to device errors by identifying and correcting problems due to out-of-order or lost messages and keeps all applications synchronised, eliminating start-up order issues. It also resolves failed writes to devices to maintain a single version of the truth and adds data quality information, updating all clients with the connection status. Anywhere365, which provides a cloudbased dialogue management and contact centre platform for the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, has opened a new Ambassador Program for accredited partners. Once a year, partners can nominate themselves or members of their technical, sales and marketing teams to receive ambassador status in recognition of their efforts to help businesses implement Anywhere365 technology. The first ambassadors will be named during an exclusive event in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in mid-October 2022. They will be recognised as an Anywhere365 expert, join the global ambassador community, and gain early access to Anywhere365’s road map, invites to exclusive events, and VIP access to Anywhere365’s team. Anywhere365 launches new Ambassador Program Around 96 per cent of businesses in the manufacturing, energy, oil and gas, and other sectors predict that improving sustainability will lead to good long-term outcomes, according to a new survey from digital transformation company Publicis Sapient, Microsoft and analytics firm Ipsos. The survey found 40 per cent of respondents predict their earnings will grow by 5-10 per cent if they became more sustainable, but also showed that there is a disparity between ambitions and action. Almost all (98 per cent) respondents would not trade-off more than 10 per cent of their earnings to achieve their sustainability goals. Read more about the research on page 68 and access the full survey at www.psandmicrosoft.com Boosting sustainability could drive 10 per cent earnings growth for firms, finds Publicis Sapient Skkynet DataHub supports MQTT Sparkplug B
35 Axis Communications technology improves road safety in Milan Metropolitan City RSM’s recent Cybersecurity Report, developed in partnership with the US Chamber of Commerce, shows that cyberthreats are coming from more directions than ever before and that cybercriminals are becoming more skilled at targeting middle-market companies. However, the report found that the number of breaches reported by middle-market companies decreased by 28 per cent with protections becoming more available. “Even with the decline in reported attacks, companies recognise the risks posed by the current dynamic threat environment, with 72 per cent of executives anticipating that unauthorised users will attempt to access data or systems in 2022, a sharp rise from 64 per cent last year and the highest number since RSM began tracking data in 2015,” said Tauseef Ghazi, national leader of security and privacy services at RSM. Cybercriminals are continuing to target the middle market Axis Communications and system integrator Safety21 have implemented a solution to monitor road safety in Milan Metropolitan City, Italy. The solution runs on Microsoft Azure and is connected to more than 200 cameras enabled with onboard analytics installed in the city for purposes including pedestrian crossing and rest area surveillance, instant and average speed detection, traffic detection, and traffic light detection. The project has successfully reduced average speed by 80 per cent, which has reduced the severity of accidents in the city and lowered associated mortality and health expenditure.
36 MAR K E TWATCH DID YOU KNOW? Technology research firm Gartner has identified three emerging themes in technology as part of its report Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2022, including the expansion of immersive experiences, the acceleration of artificial intelligence automation, and the optimisation of technology service delivery. Rabobank has adopted the latest version of Finastra’s Fusion Global PAYPlus to increase efficiency and innovation in payments. Finastra’s payments hub will help the bank migrate to the ISO 20022 payments standard, which is due to go live in the Eurozone for SWIFT messages in November 2022. With Finastra’s support, Rabobank has achieved a straight-through processing (STP) rate for SWIFT MT103 and MT202 payment messages of over 99 per cent between 2017 and 2022. Upgrading Finastra’s solution enables the bank to continue processing cross-border payments effectively, while benefiting from higher quality data and reduced errors and delays. Rabobank selects Finastra’s next generation payments hub C5 Insight releases guide for effective sales process Microsoft partner C5 Insight has published Revenue Engineering: 5 Steps to a CRM-Ready Sales Process, a guide to architecting an effective sales process. Research conducted by The Sales Management Association suggests that profit results are 30 per cent greater for firms using a sales process than for those that are not. The book is designed to outline how sales managers can achieve this success. “After years of using our Powered by LUCK process to transform sales processes, I wanted to put our toolbox into book format to help every business learn from our 20 years of experience,” said author Tricia Desso-Cox, managing director at C5 Insight.
37 Microsegmentation offers multiple benefits for retailers, according to IDC’s new Microsegmentation for Commerce: Zero Trust Requires Lateral Defense white paper, which was sponsored by cloud service and cybersecurity provider Akamai. These microsegmentation solutions enable granular visibility into east and west dataflows of users, applications and workloads via software defined policies to stop bad actors from moving laterally across networks. According to the report, softwaredefined segmentation enables retailers to limit the spread of an initial ransomware infection and better meet compliance and cyber insurance requirements. Other advantages highlighted by the report include the ability to scale and enforce consistent security policies, as well as adopting and deploying new cloud services without compromising defenses. Read the full report at: https://bit.ly/3RF8X0i Microsegmentation helps retailers to boost security, says IDC Financial technology platform Adyen is extending its banking and financial products to enable clients to enhance their customer revenue streams and increase user loyalty. New features in Adyen for Platforms, the embedded payments solution, will allow organisations to embed payments into their offerings and deliver a unified commerce experience across different sales channels, countries and regions. Additionally, Adyen’s virtual portal, Issuing, will offer users virtual and physical cards for business transactions to provide a system that receives funds faster. The company will also develop a multi-currency account so that users can receive payments, initiate payouts and safely store money, regardless of currency or location in the world. Adyen expands its financial services offerings JourneyTEAM to host Business Technology Summit JourneyTEAM, which specialises in cloud-based technology and Microsoft business applications, will hold its 10th annual Business Technology Summit on 2-3 November 2022. The virtual event will be targeted at business leaders and cover how Microsoft technology can be used by enterprises. One day will focus on Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, while the other will explore Azure and Microsoft 365. Find out more and register for Business Technology Summit at www.journeyteam.com/techsummit
38 MAR K E TWATCH Laurentian Bank of Canada has worked with IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl to create a new cloud landing zone, leveraging cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. The landing zone will serve as a foundation on which the bank will deploy its next-generation hybrid multicloud environment. The new environment will enable the bank’s digital services to function efficiently and securely, as well as accelerating the introduction of its digital onboarding solution for its Visa customers. Streaming service provider Netflix has chosen Microsoft as its technology and sales partner to deliver its first advertising-supported subscription plan. The new subscription plan will provide users with a cheaper alternative to the service’s existing ads-free basic, standard and premium plans. “Microsoft has the proven ability to support all our advertising needs as we together build a new adsupported offering,” said Greg Peters, chief operating officer at Netflix. “More importantly, Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members.” Read more about the partnership on page 172 Netflix chooses Microsoft for new ad-supported subscription plan SignUp Software has opened a new office in West London, UK, to support the continued growth of ExFlow, an accounts payable automation solution built into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (AX) and Business Central (NAV). ExFlow allows companies to increase efficiency, transparency and control in their accounts payable invoice process. SignUp Software expands to the UK Laurentian Bank of Canada and Kyndryl create new cloud landing zone
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