All posts by afoellmi@yahoo.com

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Businesses are amassing enormous amounts of data, more than they know what to do with. Most are just using it to put together dense periodic reports explaining “what” happened too long after the fact to be of much use. Modernizing your digital workplace by moving to Azure and utilizing its AI technology can help you get a handle on your data and graduate from “what” happened to “how” it happened and, finally, to what “will” happen to inform what you should do all within a relevant period of time.

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Empowering managers


Retail managers have a lot on their plate, and ensuring that they make the best of the time they have available is imperative. One way to address this is to ensure that they have access to the business-critical information they need to obtain a holistic view of their customers and stores. This way, managers are empowered to make accurate decisions quickly based on the most-current data and focus on delivering innovative in-store experiences that increase revenue and improve customer loyalty.

In this video, you’ll see how Kroger’s Microsoft-powered Virtual Store Manager solution enables retail decision-makers to process their tasks electronically, allowing them to make more-effective decisions and create alluring in-store experiences.

Cultivating successful farming for future generations


In many regions of Africa, climate change has had a profound impact on independent farmers, especially those in isolated areas who lack proper access to running water. Dry seasons are increasingly longer and rains scarcer, making maintaining crops a bigger and bigger challenge with each passing year. For these farmers, traditional methods that were handed down for generations no longer yield the results they need to feed their families, leaving them in a desperate situation. Fortunately, modern technology and digital transformation are now able to provide these farmers with the tools they need to sustain their way of life during these challenging times.

In this video, you’ll learn how Monica, an independent farmer in Kenya, managed to overcome hardships brought on by climate change by using sustainable energy, accurate weather data, and Microsoft Azure.

City of Houston: transportation transformation


As cities become more densely populated, local governments must find ways to provide more-accessible services to all their citizens. One way they can do this is by investing in digital solutions that allow for the creation of new services while increasing the scope and efficiency of existing services. A shift to digitized operations enables public employees to do more with less and empowers them via digital tools that broaden the impact of their actions.

In this video, you’ll see how the city of Houston is using Microsoft technology to enable new services, reduce traffic congestion, and help create a better future for all its citizens.

SitePro Part 1


SitePro gained a competitive advantage by combining onsite sensors and data collection with online data processing and management using Microsoft Azure. As a result, they were able to provide faster and more effective service to their customers, which in turn strengthened the offerings of their customers. It’s a win for everyone.

6 Strategies to Boost Sales Productivity

Are your fragmented sales tools lacking the visibility you need into your prospects and customers’ buying behaviors? This is the reality for the majority of organizations. In fact, according to a TOPO blog, “Sixty percent of companies lack a well-designed sales process.” Fortunately, the right sales tools can help you understand and respond to buyers’ demands and needs–no matter where they are in the buyer’s journey.

In this eBook, you’ll learn six strategies to help you leverage the right tools for your sales challenges. Specifically, you’ll gain insight into how Dynamics 365 Sales Professional enables you to:

– Meet customers at any point in the journey
– Streamline engagement
– Get holistic performance insights, and more!

Share the eBook with your customers so they can start investing in the right technology to put them on the path to success!

View: 6 Strategies to Boost Sales Productivity

12 things pop culture gets wrong about artificial intelligence

As societies and workplaces become more digitized, our culture does, too. This daily interaction with technology engenders fascination and speculation about the role devices and technological advancements will play in our societies’ future. Some—if not most— of these assumptions are based on artistic portrayals of the future of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), and they are often far from providing an accurate representation of what actually awaits us in the realm of AI and machine learning.

Read this article to uncover the truth behind 12 misconceptions about AI and get a more accurate view of the present and future capabilities of this technology.

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Why smart data strategies will drive the evolution of retail

When e-commerce and online retail first appeared, many people—including some experts—speculated that it signaled the beginning of the end of brick-and-mortar retailers. For a moment, there was near agreement that physical stores were a thing of the past, but this was a misconception.

As with other overblown predictions, the so-called end of retail stores didn’t happen. Instead, the industry was taken over by a new breed of tech-savvy retailers that harnessed the power of digital transformation and analytics to create unified, alluring experiences for today’s consumers. Retailers are still adapting to this new, digitally driven business model, but most are already reaping the benefits that the new digital ecosystem offers.

In this article, you’ll learn about the challenges that retailers can face in analyzing their business performance, and what they can do to improve on their data-driven initiatives.

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How a cloud-native approach enables frictionless, scalable security

The cloud has profoundly transformed the way organizations operate by simplifying delivery, scale, and management to drive innovation. Cloud technology also greatly empowers development teams by allowing them to shorten development cycles and re-envision the nature of business operations.

No technology is without its unique challenges, though. Security and IT teams sometimes struggle with the adoption of a cloud-native approach because of the friction it can generate with existing applications, some of which lack the requirements for scalable cloud integration capabilities.

Read this article to learn about the three main characteristics that network detection and response (NDR) solutions must have to ensure scalable, frictionless security and native integration with industry-leading solutions such as Microsoft Azure.

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Igniting SMB Growth with Exceptional Customer Experiences

Today’s customers have higher expectations for buying experiences. They interact with businesses across many touchpoints, and they expect those experiences to be seamless and easy. Are you thinking about customer experiences from a customer-centric perspective?

In this productive webinar, you’ll hear from a Director of Product Marketing at Microsoft and a Vice President and Principal analyst at Forrester. Together, they discuss why the customer experience is so important and the effect it has on top line revenue.

Additionally, you’ll learn how the right CRM enables you to deliver on your customer’s expectations. Now, you can keep the customer at the center of your conversation and focus on the hottest leads and most important deals. Empowered with data and insights, sellers can now exceed the highest expectations.

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