Insights From Microsoft Envision 2016: Dreaming Big for Small Businesses

What’s the most powerful question in business today? How can I increase growth? What’s the next big thing? Good questions, but there’s a better one.

To me, the most powerful question is: What if…?

Earlier this month, more than 6,000 business leaders and IT decision makers from nearly every industry joined together in New Orleans for the first-ever Microsoft Envision conference. Microsoft Envision was created to bring business and technology leaders together to share insights and uncover solutions for success in our mobile-first, cloud-first world. And so many of these solutions are a perfect fit for SMBs.

Growth and disruption were two top of mind themes throughout the conference; but more than just asking about the future, many discussions were focused on ways in which businesses can actively build it. So, I couldn’t help but think, “What if SMBs had access to technology that satisfied their most pressing concerns? What could they accomplish?”

Below I’ll share three ways that the innovations in technology discussed last week at Microsoft Envision have the potential to help SMBs succeed, grow and compete today and into the future.

Create Better Customer Connections

A few months ago, I shared predictions on the top technology trends that will impact SMBs in 2016, including my belief that digital personal assistants would become more personal. It’s easy to imagine how that will help us in our daily lives. But at Microsoft Envision, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pointed out that this also has ties to our customer relationships.

What if customers interacted with company websites and applications like they do with people? That is, through conversation. Asking questions instead of clicking around for information. Making requests of the application itself instead of calling customer service or, worse, feeling frustrated and giving up.

It’s really exciting to think about. And with personal assistants like Cortana, soon to be available within Skype, this idea isn’t as futuristic as some may think.

Cortana is built right in to Windows 10 and is also available on select iPhone, Android and Cyanogen OS-powered devices, as well as Windows 10 PCs. As your personal assistant, either in life or at work, Cortana helps you get things done because she knows you. She learns from the past and develops a kind of “intuition” for how to serve you better.

That’s the kind of service you’ll be giving customers in the future: a digital personal assistant to guide their experience and respond to their needs. And, not only are these tools important for connecting with customers, they can also help you take care of daily tasks – such as checking your calendar, scheduling a meeting, booking a flight – leaving you more time to focus on running your business.

Enable More Empowered Employees

Something else we highlighted at last week’s conference was how to empower employees. For SMBs, a big part of this is likely enabling staff to perform their jobs from anywhere, on any device.

Microsoft designed Windows 10 with that kind of empowerment in mind. We wanted SMBs to be able to work across any device in a more natural and effortless experience. And we’re seeing a really strong response: Windows 10 has had the fastest start in Windows history, with over 270 million active devices (outpacing Windows 7 by 145 percent)!

This momentum was top of mind at Microsoft Envision, particularly on the heels of the announcement of a new Windows 10 Anniversary Update at Microsoft’s Build Conference just a few weeks ago. The update features innovations for Windows Ink, Cortana and Windows Hello, which will enable SMB employees to interact with Windows 10 devices as naturally as they’d interact with the world around them — by pen, voice and presence. And the combination of Office 16 – launched in July – with Windows 10 takes productivity and collaboration to a whole new level.

Better Optimize Business

It’s hard to overstate the importance of speed in business. Not only do you need to know what’s happening right now, but you also need to anticipate what will happen tomorrow, next week and next year so you can react and, hopefully, capitalize.

Chances are you’re already aware of how automation can add speed to your awareness and reactions.  But are you aware of how Machine Learning and the Internet of Things (IoT) can transform automation? Once again, let’s imagine the What if…

What if a retailer’s point of sale terminal could learn from past transactions and make suggestions to customers right there in the checkout line (similar to the “other customers who bought XXX also bought YYY” notifications we see when we’re shopping online)? Or what if this retailer installed sensors that tracked inventory and foot traffic through the store, and the data from those sensors went straight to managers’ or employees’ devices so they could better tailor the customers’ experience?

Machine Learning and the IoT can seem like sci-fi — irrelevant to a small business. But from examples like the ones above, you can see how it’s possible to introduce these advancements in little ways today that strategically help the work you’re already doing.

That’s why Microsoft prefers to think of it as the Internet of Your Things. At the end of the day, it’s not about ripping everything down and replacing it in order to keep up with the latest technology. It’s about making small changes that have a big impact on the responsiveness of your business and the value of your customers’ experiences.

Putting It All Together

Whether better connecting and engaging with your customers, empowering your employees by giving them the best tools to do their jobs anywhere, or optimizing the way you work, SMBs have the opportunity to transform their businesses. This was clear to me from Microsoft Envision 2016, as I pictured all the ways the technologies and strategies discussed could be deployed by small organizations.

For more information on what three of our SMB influencers thought of the event, take a look at their videos filmed on-site: Anita Campbell, Rieva Lesonsky and Steve Strauss.

Of course, the real question is: What do you envision for your business?