Powered by data - Ingenious solutions fueling disruption

I’m continually inspired by how Microsoft partners and customers innovate new ways to tackle business challenges and opportunities.

Advancements in AI, the cloud, and the intelligent edge are allowing companies to accelerate profits, streamline operations, improve products, and deliver stellar experiences. Our partners and customers continue to dream-up new solutions that are amplifying human ingenuity at an unprecedented rate.

So, what’s fueling these innovations? The ever-expanding universe of data.

The data opportunity disrupting every industry

The fact is, digital transformation simply can’t happen without data. Data powers better and more proactive decisions and helps companies to understand and engage customers on a personal level. Data provides the foundation upon which companies can build highly custom solutions to automate, predict, simplify, monitor, delight, and inform like never before.

Gartner predicts that by 2022, 90% of corporate strategies will explicitly mention data as a critical enterprise asset and data analytics as an essential competency. This is happening in every industry, from oil and gas to agriculture to retail. Companies that treat data as an asset vital to their existence, position themselves to reap enormous benefits—and potentially race ahead of their competitors.

I love sharing the brilliant ways our partners and customers are using data and Microsoft technologies. Below I’ve called-out a few of the ingenious solutions that are driving disruption.

Smarter, connected things

The number of connected things is exploding, and IoT is a key way that our customers and partners are solving business challenges. A fantastic example is Johnson Controls, which is working to develop an IoT-enabled AI persona that will help environmental sustainability and waste management company Bee’ah automate routine tasks like regulating temperature, scheduling meetings, and booking conference rooms at their new headquarters building.

For healthcare facilities looking to prevent infections, GOJO Industries created smart, Connected Hand Sanitizers. So far, they’ve deployed around 25,000 connected dispensers to more than a hundred facilities to monitor hand hygiene. One facility reported an 82% increase in hygiene compliance.

Optimizing operational excellence

The world’s largest forklift manufacturer, Toyota Material Handling Group, is using AI, mixed reality, and IoT to address a number of priorities from intelligent automation to increased production to supply chain acceleration. They even plan to use IoT to make their forklifts smarter. Of course, without data, none of this would be possible.

Manufacturers are also using predictive analytics to monitor, anticipate, and plan for maintenance issues. Microsoft partner Apergy created the Spotlight Monitoring System to continuously track, diagnose, and optimize equipment health for compressors and engines in the field. The sensors provide real-time data from sites around the world, delivering efficiency and cost savings while increasing safety and operational excellence 

Even the agriculture industry is using data. Microsoft partner MicroChannel recently created an Azure-based solution to help the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) boost efficiency and increase visibility into the supply chain, from shear shed to processing.

New revenue opportunities

Some of the most intriguing stories are the ones where a customer sets out to solve their own business dilemma, then finds themselves selling that technology as a service to other customers. Hello, new revenue stream!

Volante is a perfect example. Engaged by FIMBank to develop a more efficient way to process payments, Volante has expanded its VolPay-as-a-service solution to support the needs of local and regional financial institutions, as well as some of the world’s largest banks.

Microsoft partners are doing an amazing job helping customers translate data into revenue and competitive advantage.

To hear about more inspiring innovations, I’d love for you to connect with me on Twitter. You can also read more by following the Microsoft Partner blog.

Gavriella Schuster is a Corporate Vice President at Microsoft and the company’s One Commercial Partner Channel Chief. Follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter to engage on her journey to empower partners and employees to succeed in a transforming world.