Martech at Microsoft

This month, I changed my title on LinkedIn and was flooded by commentary. Most of it was to be expected with the normal “Congratulations!”. What I found interesting was the commentary around the job title itself “Martech Industry Lead”. It appears that this was met by some surprise, but also by a level of excitement.

Microsoft has never had this title in our line-up. It comes on the back off the two years of business development in the field of Digital Agencies, ISVs and Infrastructure providers to build our Martech line-up. It is led by our fearless leader, Satya standing on stage with our Martech ISV partners like Adobe and Sitecore making ground-breaking announcements like the Common Data Platform amongst others.

There has never a better time for Microsoft to step into the conversation of Martech. We hear from analysts that the Martech field is too crowded, unhealthy and unstable. Carlton Doty from Forrester commented that “It’s time to stop the madness. Marketers need clarity to figure out how to make wise Martech (and AdTech) investments.”  

So. why Microsoft?

Simplicity

The Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic, as published by Scott Brinker, is now showing 7040 Martech companies (which exclude country specific or citizen built apps). Microsoft provides a single platform with APIs that will allow for chosen technologies to work seamlessly on a common data platform. Thousands of Martech ISVs have already chosen to make their home with Microsoft and access the interoperability that comes with that partnership.

Innovation

Even though marketers need Simplicity to make their Martech work, they crave Innovation. Azure allows customers to extend and build around the core technologies to bring sexy new tech like AI, AR/VR, Blockchain, Bots and alike to life.

Trust

Marketers carry a heavy burden in the collection and protection of customer information. Microsoft’s data security and compliance solutions are vital as marketing technologies need to integrate with the IT Department’s to comply with legislation.

I have been in Marketing for 25 Years and now I am working with the partners who plan and implement major Digital Transformation Projects across the User Experience Journey. Martech is fundamental to the future of Marketing and I am excited about what Microsoft can bring to the discussion.