Build a hyperconnected business
As the world has changed over the past 18 months, we’ve seen three trends emerge. Hybrid work is here to stay, customer demands have fundamentally shifted, and there’s no simple roadmap for what’s ahead. At the same time, we’ve seen an explosion of data, generated by every business process, every connected device, and every individual on the planet.
In order to be successful given these trends, every organization must move beyond “business as usual” and toward a new model of hyperconnected business.
This means they must unify their business data, to enable a holistic view across the business. They must imbue every business function with the intelligence to be proactive, not reactive, resulting in faster and more meaningful business outcomes. And they must ensure collaboration at every step, so people can work together across functions and roles.
At Microsoft Ignite, we are announcing innovation across the Microsoft cloud that will allow every organization to build a hyperconnected business, providing the agility and flexibility for organizations and employees to thrive now and into the future. Read on to learn more about the new products, features, and capabilities we’re announcing this week.
Build a trusted and resilient supply chain with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing
The world is in the middle of a supply chain crisis. Successfully navigating today’s supply chain challenges and providing exceptional customer experiences will require new levels of visibility across your entire supply chain.
That’s why we’re excited to announce Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Insights, providing organizations with the visibility they need along with the intelligence to predict and proactively manage supply chain challenges.
Customers like Daimler Trucks North America can gain new visibility into their supply chains across multiple tiers of suppliers. They can get data in near real-time, allowing them to assess risks and mitigate problems before a massive disruption occurs. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Insights also enables customers to enrich their own supply chain data with external signals like global weather data to predict its impact on shipments, putting increased intelligence and predictive power at their fingertips.
In addition, we’re excited to announce the preview of the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing, which connects experiences across the end-to-end product and service lifecycle and lighting up the entire Microsoft cloud with capabilities specifically tailored to manufacturing. Customers including Johnson & Johnson are working with Microsoft on their digital manufacturing transformation with tools like Azure, artificial intelligence (AI), and Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing capabilities.
Connect and collaborate in context with Context IQ
No matter how much the workplace has changed, one common need remains: collaboration. But collaboration is rapidly transforming, too, going beyond group meetings and one-on-one calls. Now, it’s about seamlessly switching from individual work to collaboration—bringing together the right data, with the right people in context with the task at hand—to deliver greater impact.
Today at Ignite we introduced Context IQ, a set of capabilities for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 that make information, people and conversations more accessible in the moment, reducing the need to switch between apps. Context IQ helps ensure business users can access documents and records, colleagues across the organization, and conversations—all in the flow of work, whether from within Dynamics 365 or Microsoft 365 applications.
Context IQ makes it possible for Dynamics 365 or Microsoft 365 users to access what you need, when and where you need it.
Deliver an all-in-one digital contact center with Dynamics 365 Customer Service
At Microsoft Ignite, we’re proud to announce the general availability of our first-party voice channel for Dynamics 365 Customer Service, built on the planet-scale communications platform that powers Microsoft Teams.
With Dynamics 365 Customer Service, we’re bringing together contact center channels, unified communications, leading AI, and customer service capabilities into a single, integrated software as a service (SaaS) solution, built on the Microsoft cloud.
Dynamics 365 Customer Service enables organizations to deliver personalized customer experiences across channels, with out-of-the-box functionality spanning case and knowledge management, agent desktop, voice and routing, digital engagement, collaboration, infused AI, and NLU-powered chat bot and IVR.
Discover the next frontier of business data by bridging the physical and digital
Many of today’s announcements are centered on breaking down barriers between the physical and digital worlds to help organizations keep up with today’s competitive and fast-paced landscape.
We are excited to announce the preview of Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces, previously Dynamics 365 Connected Store, signaling our expansion from retail scenarios to all spaces. Now, with Connected Spaces, your organization can harness observational data with ease, use AI-powered models to unlock insights about your environment and respond in real-time to trends and patterns.
Customers including Mattress Firm see the incredible potential of Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces to help them unlock observational insights. With new and innovative in-store promotions, Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces can help Mattress Firm validate the effectiveness of their new and cutting-edge technologies.
Connect customer experiences with Microsoft Customer Experience Platform
Many companies struggle to manage, organize, and gain insight from the vast quantity of data available to them, and for marketers that challenge is even more acute. Because customer data is the key to personalized, relevant, timely customer experiences.
Marketers need a solution that lets them take control of their data and helps them more effectively win and keep customers with connected, intelligent customer experiences. That’s why we’re excited to introduce the Microsoft Customer Experience Platform this week at Microsoft Ignite.
The Microsoft Customer Experience Platform is a complete set of marketing solutions, allowing marketers to own their customer relationships, create raving fans, and engage with customers in new and differentiated ways.
Customers like Home Depot, Chipotle, and more are already using capabilities of the Microsoft Customer Experience Platform to deliver more tailored, delightful customer experiences while effectively leveraging and protecting customer data, and we’re excited to continue partnering with leading agency partners like VMLY&R and Kin+Carta to build on this platform.
Enable everyone to solve problems quickly with Power Platform
As the world continues to change, organizations are increasingly looking for ways to accelerate innovation so they can get ahead and stay ahead. This means demand for tech professionals has never been higher, and IT departments are backlogged. Microsoft Power Platform enables all types of problem solvers with the tools they need to build solutions, and at Microsoft Ignite we’re excited to announce updates across the Power Platform portfolio.
We’re adding new collaboration experiences, like commenting on virtual agents, apps, or flows across Power Virtual Agents, Power Apps, and Power Automate. And we’re deepening the integrations between Power Platform and Teams, as well as Power Platform and Dynamics 365.
We’re announcing new process mining capabilities for Power Automate, now in preview, allowing organizations to get deep analytics on how their processes work and what processes can be automated. And with the general availability of Windows 11, now everyone can use Power Automate Desktop in Windows 11 to automate any routine task.
We’re also helping every organization make better decisions founded on data-driven insights with Power BI, with more ways to collaborate and new capabilities to meet the demands of a growing data estate.
Lastly, to help simplify deployment of Power Apps and make it faster to get apps into the hands of your users, we’re excited to announce that developers can now connect an Azure subscription to their Power Apps, and pay only for what they use. Learn more about this new capability in Charles Lamanna’s video segment.
Change the world with Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit and Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability
Every day, I’m so inspired to hear stories of how businesses are making a difference for their customers, employees, or partners. But even more than that, I love hearing how organizations are partnering with us to make a difference in the world.
Take the example of one nonprofit, the National Forest Foundation. Their conservation work includes making forests more resilient to climate change and the monster blazes that have devoured thousands of miles of woodland. They are also working to restore wild habitat to save threatened species. This nonprofit relies on Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit to allow employees to work from any of the 154 national forests, coordinate conservation projects, and track every donated dollar, ultimately turning those gifts into on-the-ground improvements.
With the general availability of Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, announced this week at Microsoft Ignite, we’ll be able to help reduce the time nonprofit groups like the National Forest Foundation spend managing overhead while helping them advance their missions.
And with Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, now in public preview, organizations like the world’s largest baking company, Grupo Bimbo, and global ingredients supplier Ingredion are using our tools to record, report, and reduce their carbon emissions around the world. The fight against climate change is one of the most pressing challenges the world faces today, and we’re proud to help accelerate the world’s journey toward a more sustainable future.
Build a hyperconnected business with the Microsoft Cloud
Throughout Ignite, we’re excited to share how we’re helping every organization build a hyperconnected business with the Microsoft Cloud. We’re helping organizations put people first, create impact faster, and transform with a partner they can trust.
If you missed any part of the event, I hope you’ll take some time to check out the content on-demand to learn how you can build success in the coming year.
