One of the highlights of my career has always been connecting with customers and partners across industries to learn how they are using technology to drive their businesses forward. In the past 30 years, we’ve seen four major platform shifts, from client server to internet and the web to mobile and cloud to now—the next major platform shift to AI.  

As today’s platform shift to AI continues to gain momentum, Microsoft is working to understand just how organizations can drive lasting business value. We recently commissioned a study with IDC, The Business Opportunity of AI, to uncover new insights around business value and help guide organizations on their journey of AI transformation. The study found that for every $1 organizations invest in generative AI, they’re realizing an average of $3.70 in return—and uncovered insights about the future potential of AI to reshape business processes and drive change across industries.  

Today, more than 85% of the Fortune 500 are using Microsoft AI solutions to shape their future. In working with organizations large and small, across every industry and geography, we’ve seen that most transformation initiatives are designed to achieve one of four business outcomes:  

1. Enriching employee experiences: Using AI to streamline or automate repetitive, mundane tasks can allow your employees to dive into more complex, creative and ultimately more valuable work.
2. Reinventing customer engagement: AI can create more personalized, tailored customer experiences, delighting your target audiences while lightening the load for employees.
3. Reshaping business processes: Virtually any business process can be reimagined with AI, from marketing to supply chain operations to finance, and AI is even allowing organizations to go beyond process optimization and discover exciting new growth opportunities.
4. Bending the curve on innovation: AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development, reducing the time to market and allowing companies to differentiate in an often crowded field.

In this blog, we’ve collected more than 200 of our favorite real-life examples of how organizations are embracing Microsoft’s proven AI capabilities to drive impact and shape today’s platform shift to AI. We hope you find an example or two that can inspire your own transformation journey.

Enriching employee experiences

Generative AI is truly transforming employee productivity and wellbeing. Our customers tell us that by automating repetitive, mundane tasks, employees are freed up to dive into more complex and creative work. This shift not only makes the work environment more stimulating but also boosts job satisfaction. It sparks innovation, provides actionable insights for better decision-making and supports personalized training and development opportunities, all contributing to a better work-life balance. Customers around the world have reported significant improvements in employee productivity with these AI solutions:

1. Access Holdings Plc adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrating generative AI into daily tools and, as a result, writing code now takes two hours instead of eight, chatbots launch in 10 days instead of three months and presentations are prepared in 45 minutes instead of six hours.
2. Adobe is connecting Adobe Experience Cloud workflows and insights with Microsoft 365 Copilot to deliver generative-AI powered capabilities that enable marketers to increase collaboration, efficiency and creativity.
3. Amadeus empowers its teams to focus their time and skills on value-added tasks with Microsoft 365 Copilot, by summarizing email threads, chat or transcripts and summing up information from diverse sources.
4. ANZ has invested in Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot and Copilot in Microsoft Edge to boost productivity and innovation across its workforce.
5. Asahi Europe & International (AEI) has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, saving employees potentially 15% of time previously spent on administrative tasks.
6. AXA developed AXA Secure GPT, a platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service that empowers employees to leverage the power of generative AI while targeting the highest level of data safety and responsible use of the tool.
7. Axon Enterprise developed a new AI tool with Azure OpenAI Service called Draft One, resulting in an 82% decrease in time spent on reports, which freed up officers to engage more with their community.
8. Aztec Group enhanced productivity and client experience by trialing Microsoft 365 Copilot with 300 staff, uncovering “unlimited” use cases and plans for a wider rollout.
9. Bader Sultan & Bros. Co. W.L.L implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance employee productivity and speed up customer response times.
10. Bancolombia is using GitHub Copilot to empower its technical team, achieving a 30% increase in code generation, boosting automated application changes to an average of 18,000 per year, with a rate of 42 productive daily deployments.
11. BaptistCare Community Services is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to save employees time as they navigate workforce shortage challenges, allowing them to focus more on the people they care for.
12. Barnsley Council was recognized as “Double Council of the Year in 2023” for its implementation of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which modernized operations and reduced administrative tasks, leading to improved job satisfaction and increased creativity.
13. BlackRock purchased more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees, functions and locations, helping improve the Copilot experience, including codeveloping new features and functions.
14. British Heart Foundation is testing Microsoft 365 Copilot and in its initial test, users estimate that Microsoft 365 Copilot could save them up to 30 minutes per day.
15. Buckinghamshire Council deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot with staff reporting productivity improvements, quality enhancements and time savings, which are enabling the different teams to do more with less.
16. Campari Group adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees integrate it into their workflow, resulting in time savings of about two hours a week from the support of routine activities such as email management, meeting preparation, content creation and skill acquisition.
17. Capita is using GitHub Copilot for productivity improvements as well as improvements in developer satisfaction, recruitment and retention.
18. CDW used Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve work quality for 88% of users, enabling 77% to complete tasks faster and increasing productivity for 85% of users.
19. Chi Mei Medical Center is lightening workloads for doctors, nurses and pharmacists with a generative AI assistant built on Azure OpenAI Service.
20. E.ON is focused on Germany’s energy transition, leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to manage the complex grid in real-time, increasing productivity and efficiency for its workforce.
21. Enerijisa Uretim has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meeting summaries, reformat documents and compile reports, enabling employees to concentrate on more strategic and fulfilling activities instead of spending six hours in meetings.
22. EPAM is deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to consolidate information and generate content and documents.
23. Farm Credit Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot, which resulted in time savings on routine tasks for 78% of users, with 30% saving 30 to 60 minutes per week and 35% saving over an hour per week, allowing employees to focus on more value-added tasks.
24. Finastra used Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate tasks, enhance content creation, improve analytics and personalize customer interactions, with employees citing a 20% to 50% time savings.
25. Four Agency Worldwide increased employee productivity using Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate ideas for creative work and support administrative-heavy processes, data analysis and report generation, allowing staff to focus on outreach and less time doing paperwork.
26. Goodwill of Orange County developed an AI-powered app using Azure AI capabilities to help more people, including those with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities, work in unfilled e-commerce positions.
27. Honeywell employees are saving 92 minutes per week—that’s 74 hours a year! Disclaimer: Statistics are from an internal Honeywell survey of 5,000 employees where 611 employees responded.
28. Insight employees using Copilot are seeing four hours of productivity gained per week from data summarization and content creation.
29. Joos uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to grow its brand with worldwide collaboration by streamlining meetings, optimizing presentations and improving communications.
30. Kantar is harnessing the power of Microsoft 365 Copilot by reducing costly, time-consuming IT processes and boosting productivity for employees.
31. KPMG Australia is using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Microsoft Copilot 365 to perform advanced text analysis of dozens of client source documents to identify full or partial compliance, or noncompliance, in a fraction of the time required for manual assessments.
32. LGT is launching Microsoft Copilot LGT to improve efficiency, showing users save an average of an hour a week even in the pilot phase.
33. Lotte Hotels & Resorts has been creating a new work culture that allows employees to work more efficiently and focus on the nature of the work by adopting Microsoft Power Platform for automation.
34. MAIRE is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate routine tasks, saving over 800 working hours per month, freeing up engineers and professionals for strategic activities while supporting MAIRE’s green energy transition by reducing their carbon footprint.
35. McDonald’s China chose Microsoft Azure AI, GitHub Copilot and Azure AI Search to transform its operations, resulting in a significant increase in AI adoption, consumption and retention from 2,000 to 30,000 employee transactions monthly.
36. McKnight Foundation adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot for all staff, saving time, increasing productivity and freeing space to focus on strategic priorities.
37. Morula Health is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, streamline medical writing tasks and ensure data security, ultimately improving efficiency and client satisfaction.
38. Motor Oil Group is achieving remarkable efficiency gains by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot into its workflows, with staff spending minutes on tasks that used to take weeks.
39. Nagel-Group uses Azure OpenAI Service to help employees quickly access information which saves time, creates efficiency and transparency, and leads to higher-quality answers overall.
40. National Australia Bank is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot for daily productivity and data analysis and insights and Microsoft Copilot for Security to quickly analyze millions of security event logs and allow engineers to focus on more important areas.
41. NFL Players Association integrated Azure AI Services and Azure App Service into their video review process, reducing review time by up to 73%, significantly increasing efficiency and enhancing player safety through consistent rule enforcement.
42. O2 Czech Republic boosts productivity and streamlines meetings with Microsoft 365 Copilot, revolutionizing how information is shared and making automation a part of daily work.
43. Onepoint developed a secure conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI, which delivers productivity gains of between 10% and 15% across all business lines.
44. Orange Group has over 40 use cases with Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot across business functions to support employees in their day-to-day tasks, enabling them to concentrate on higher value-added activities.
45. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve staff report productivity by saving one to two hours a week, or simple formatting tasks down to a matter of seconds, enabling more resources to deliver frontline services.
46.  PA Consulting transformed its sales operations with Microsoft 365 Copilot, so its people can invest more time on the activities that have the biggest impact for clients and maximize the strategic value they provide.
47. Petrobras used Azure OpenAI Service to create ChatPetrobras, which is streamlining workflows, reducing manual tasks and summarizing reports for its 110,000 employees.
48. Petrochemical Industries Company automates work processes to save time with Microsoft 365 Copilot from weeks to days, hours to seconds.
49. PKSHA Technology is optimizing their time on critical work by increasing efficiency in meeting preparations, data analytics and ideation with the help of Microsoft 365 Copilot.
50. Providence has collaborated with Nuance and Microsoft to accelerate development and adoption of generative AI-powered applications, helping improve care quality and access and reduce physician’s administrative workloads.
51. RTI International adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to gain productivity wherever possible, allowing staff to focus on their areas of expertise, delivering even better science-backed solutions for clients.
52. Sandvik Coromant is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to drive efficiency and accuracy, shaving at least one minute off each transaction, allowing sellers and account managers to focus their expertise on responding to customers’ needs with analysis, creativity and adaptability.
53. Sasfin Bank built a solution on Microsoft Azure that centralized 20,000 documents to analyze contract clauses and provide real-time snapshots, moving guesswork into data-driven decision-making.
54. Scottish Water implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot, reducing mundane tasks to a minimum and thus freeing up time for employees to work on the more meaningful tasks.
55. Shriners Children’s developed an AI platform allowing clinicians to easily and securely navigate patient data in a singular location, enhancing patient care and improving the efficiency of their healthcare services.
56. Siemens is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to improve efficiency, cut downtime and address labor shortages.
57. Softchoice employees are experiencing firsthand how Microsoft 365 Copilot can transform daily workflows, realizing productivity gains of 97% reduction in time spent summarizing technical meetings and up to 70% less time spent on content creation.
58. Syensqo utilized Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service to develop a custom AI chatbot in three months, which improved their internal data management, decision-making and overall efficiency.
59. Teladoc Health uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to revolutionize its telehealth operations, automating routine tasks, boosting efficiency and increasing productivity.
60. Telstra developed two cutting-edge generative AI tools based on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service: 90% of employees are using the One Sentence Summary tool, which resulted in 20% less follow-up customer contact, and 84% of customer service agents are using the Ask Telstra solution.
61. Topsoe achieved 85% AI adoption among office employees in seven months, significantly enhancing productivity and business processes.
62. Torfaen County Borough Council utilized Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline back-office processes, resulting in significant time savings and enhanced productivity for both business and children’s services teams, with further rollouts planned.
63. Trace3 leveraged Microsoft Copilot to streamline and enhance processes across the business and with clients, such as reducing the time it takes HR recruiting managers to respond to applicants within a couple of days instead of several weeks.
64. Unilever is reinventing their marketing process with Copilot, saving time on briefing tasks, automatically pulling in relevant market data, content and insights to accelerate campaign launches.
65. Uniper SE implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce time spent on manual and repetitive tasks and help workers focus on more pressing work, such as developing enhanced solutions to speed up the energy transition.
66. Unum Group built a custom AI application to search 1.3 terabytes of data with 95% accuracy using Azure OpenAI Service.
67. Virgin Atlantic adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot and is seeing real business benefits, including productivity improvements, enabling new ways of working.
68. Visier built a generative AI assistant that leverages Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Services to deliver workforce analytics and actionable insights for more than 50,000 customers.
69. Virtual Dental Care developed an AI application Smart Scan that leverages Microsoft Azure to reduce paperwork for mobile dental clinics in schools by 75% and frees dentists to devote more time to patient care.
70. Zakladni Skola As Hlavkova adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and saw a 60% improvement in handling administrative documents, decreased lesson preparation from hours to a few minutes, increased inclusivity and enhanced communication with students and parents.

Reinventing customer engagement

We’ve seen great examples of how generative AI can automate content creation, ensuring there’s fresh and engaging materials ready to go. It personalizes customer experiences by crunching the numbers, boosting conversion rates. It makes operations smoother, helping teams launch campaigns faster. Plus, it drives innovation, crafting experiences that delight customers while lightening the load for staff. Embracing generative AI is key for organizations wanting to reinvent customer engagements, stay ahead of the game and drive both innovation and efficiency.

71. Absa has adopted Microsoft Copilot to streamline various business processes, saving several hours on administrative tasks each day.
72. Adobe leverages Microsoft Azure to streamline the customer experience, harnessing the power of the connected cloud services and creating a synergy that drives AI transformation across industries.
73. Acentra Health developed Medscribe, a web application that uses Azure OpenAI Service to generate draft letters in a secure, HIPPA-compliant enclave that responds to customer appeals for healthcare services within 24 hours, reducing the time spent on each appeal letter by 50%.
74. Alaska Airlines is using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Defender and GitHub to ensure its passengers have a seamless journey from ticket purchase to baggage pickup, and it has started leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to unlock more business value for its customer care and contact centers.
75. Ally Financial is using Azure OpenAI Service to reduce manual tasks for its customer service associates, freeing up time for them to engage with customers.
76. BMW Group optimizes the customer experience, connecting 13 million active users to their vehicles with the MyBMW app on Azure, which supports 450 million daily requests and 3.2TB of data processing.
77. Boyner has tripled its e-commerce performance using Microsoft Azure, seeing a rise in customer satisfaction, engagement, conversion rate and revenue.
78. Bradesco Bank integrated Microsoft Azure into its virtual assistant, BIA, resulting in reduced response time from days to hours, improving operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
79. Capgemini Mexico integrated GitHub Copilot to support scalable AI implementations, which has led to improved customer experiences and increased efficiency.
80. Capitec Bank uses Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling their AI-powered chatbot to assist customer service consultants in accessing product information more efficiently, saving significant time for employees each week.
81. Cdiscount is leveraging GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service to enhance developer efficiency, optimize product sheet categorization and improve customer satisfaction.
82. Cemex used Azure OpenAI Service to launch Technical Xpert, an AI tool used by sales agents to provide instant access to comprehensive product and customer solution information, significantly reducing search time by 80%.
83. Chanel elevated their client experience and improved employee efficiency by leveraging Microsoft Fabric and Azure OpenAI Service for real-time translations and quality monitoring.
84. City of Burlington created two AI-powered solutions: MyFiles system using Microsoft Power Platform for building permits and CoBy, a 24/7 customer support assistant using Microsoft Copilot Studio.
85. City of Madrid created an AI virtual assistant with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, offering tourists accurate, real-time information and personalized responses in 95-plus languages.
86. Cognizant is making performance management more effective and meaningful with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning to help clients across industries envision, build and run innovative digital enterprises.
87. Coles Group has leveraged Microsoft Azure to enhance its digital presence and improve customer engagement, rolling out new applications to its stores six times faster without disrupting workloads.
88. Commercial Bank of Dubai used Microsoft Azure to upgrade its application infrastructure, improving transaction security and speed so individual customers can now open an account and start banking in about two minutes.
89. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has significantly improved productivity and customer satisfaction by integrating multiple Microsoft AI solutions, reducing task completion time from days to hours and achieving a 98% customer happiness rate.
90. Elcome uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve the customer experience, reducing response times from 24 hours to eight hours.
91. elunic developed shopfloor.GPT based on Azure OpenAI, leading to increased productivity for customers and saving 15 minutes per request.
92. Estée Lauder Companies is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to create closer consumer connections and increase speed to market with local relevancy.
93. First National Bank (FNB) is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to help bankers create professional, thoughtful emails in 13 native South African languages, to enhance customer interactions, streamline communications and reinforce its commitment to innovation and customer service.
94. Flora Food Group migrated to Microsoft Fabric to offer more detailed and timely insights to its customers, enhancing service delivery and customer satisfaction.
95. Groupama deployed a virtual assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that delivers reliable, verified and verifiable information, and boasts an 80% success rate.
96. International University of Applied Sciences (IU) adopted Azure OpenAI Service to revolutionize learning with a personalized study assistant that can interact with each student just like a human would.
97. Investec is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales to enhance the bank’s client relationships, estimating saving approximately 200 hours annually, ultimately boosting sales productivity and delivering a personalized, seamless customer experience.
98. Linum is using Microsoft Azure to train their text-to-video models faster and more efficiently without losing performance or wasting resources.
99. Lumen Technologies is redefining customer success and sales processes through the strategic use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, enhancing productivity, sales, and customer service in the global communications sector.
100. McKinsey & Companyis creating an agent to reduce the client onboarding process by reducing lead time by 90% and administrative work by 30%.
101. Meesho leveraged Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot to enhance customer service and software development, resulting in a 25% increase in customer satisfaction scores and 40% more traffic on customer service queries.
102. Milpark Education integrated Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio and in just four months, improved efficiency and accuracy of student support, decreasing the average resolution time by 50% and escalations by more than 30%.
103. NC Fusion chose a comprehensive Microsoft solution to make marketing engagement activities easier and accurately target the best audience segments.
104. Medgate, a telehealth subsidiary of Otto Group developed a medical Copilot powered by Azure OpenAI which summarizes consultations, supports triage and provides real-time translations.
105. Pacific Gas & Electric built a chatbot using Microsoft Copilot Studio that saves $1.1 million annually on helpdesk support.
106. Pockyt is using GitHub Copilot and anticipates a 500% increase in productivity in the medium to long term as they continue adapting AI and fine-tuning their software development life cycle.
107. South Australia Department for Education launched an AI-powered educational chatbot to help safeguard students from harmful content while introducing responsible AI to the classrooms.
108. Sync Labs is using Microsoft Azure to create AI-driven solutions that have led to a remarkable 30x increase in revenue and a 100x expansion of their customer base.
109. Syndigo is using Azure to accelerate digital commerce for its customers by more than 40% and expand its customer base.
110. Telkomsel created a virtual assistant with Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in a leap in customer self-service interactions from 19% to 45%, and call volume dropped from 8,000 calls to 1,000 calls a day.
111. Torrens University chose to use Azure OpenAI to uplift its online learning experience, saving 20,000 hours and $2.4 million in time and resources.
112. Trusting Social integrated Microsoft Azure services to launch AI-driven agents that are changing how banks function and transforming their customer’s banking experience.
113. University of California, Berkeley used Azure OpenAI Service to deploy a custom AI chatbot that supports student learning and helps students with complex coursework.
114. University of Sydney created a self-serve AI platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service, to enable faculty to build custom chatbots for enhancing student onboarding, feedback, career simulation and more.
115. Van Lanschot Kempen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce the time needed for daily tasks, freeing up time to invest in that crucial personal connection.
116. Virgin Money built an award-winning virtual assistant using Copilot Studio to help build customers’ confidence in their digital products and services.
117. VOCALLS automates over 50 million interactions per year, resulting in a 78% reduction in average handling time aside from a 120% increase in answered calls.
118. Vodafone Group is leveraging Microsoft’s AI solutions, including Azure AI Studio, OpenAI Service, Copilot and AI Search, to achieve a 70% resolution rate for customer inquiries through digital channels and reduce call times by at least one minute.
119. Walmart is using Azure OpenAI Service to deliver a helpful and intuitive browsing experience for customers designed to serve up a curated list of the personalized items a shopper is looking for.
120. Weights & Biases created a platform which runs on Microsoft Azure that allows developers to keep records, log successes and failures and automate manual tasks.
121. World2Meet is providing better customer service and operations with a new virtual assistant powered by Microsoft Azure.
122. Xavier College is modernizing its student information systems on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Azure to unlock powerful insights, fostering innovation and data-driven decision making.
123. Zavarovalnica Triglav implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure OpenAI Service to streamline its operations with automated responses and smart rerouting of customer enquiries.

Reshaping business process

Transforming operations is another way generative AI is encouraging innovation and improving efficiency across various business functions. In marketing, it can create personalized content to truly engage different audiences. For supply chain management, it can predict market trends so companies can optimize their inventory levels. Human resources departments can speed up the hiring process, while financial services can use it for fraud detection and risk assessments. With generative AI, companies are not just refining their current processes, they’re also discovering exciting new growth opportunities.

124. Accelleron used Microsoft Power Platform to support numerous business applications and simplify processes for service agents and employees, resulting in the onboard of new agents in 30 minutes, compared to two days for other solutions.
125. Accenture developed an AI-powered financial advisor that leverages RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure to enhance their infrastructure and integrate financial data.
126. Atomicwork leverages Azure OpenAI to bring together three power capabilities: a conversational assistant, a modern service management system and a workflow automation platform.
127. Blink Ops fully embraced generative AI to build the world’s first Security Automation Copilot with more than 8,000 automated workflows to help any Security/IT task through prompts.
128. Chalhoub Group is using Microsoft Fabric to modernize its data analytics and streamline its data sources into one platform, increasing agility, enhancing analytics and accelerating processes.
129. Cineplex is developing innovative automation solutions for finance, guest services, and other departments, saving the company over 30,000 hours a year in manual processing time.
130. ClearBank moved its services to Microsoft Azure to gain scalability and efficiency, pushing out 183% more monthly system releases, gaining both scalability and efficiency.
131. Danske Statsbaner increases productivity up to 30% with help from Microsoft AI solutions.
132. Eastman implemented Microsoft Copilot for Security, realizing the benefits of accelerated upskilling, step-by-step guidance for response and faster threat remediation.
133. Fast Shop migrated to Microsoft Azure, creating a self-service culture of access to data, eliminating delays, reducing costs and increasing leadership satisfaction with data while providing more agility in reporting.
134. Florida Crystals adopted a value-added solution across Microsoft products including Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce telecom expenses and automate industrial process controls.
135. GHD is reinventing the RFP process in construction and engineering with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
136. GovDash is a SaaS platform that leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the entire business development lifecycle for government contracting companies using Azure OpenAI.
137. Grupo Bimbo is deploying Microsoft’s industrial AI technologies to modernize its manufacturing processes, optimizing production and reducing downtime, driving significant cost savings and empowering global innovation.
138. Insight Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline business operations, realizing a 93% productivity gains in functions including sales, finance and human resources.
139. Intesa Sanpaolo Group enhanced its cybersecurity with AI-enabled Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Copilot for Security, resulting in faster threat detection, increased productivity and reduced storage costs.
140. Kaya deployed a custom implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power BI to modernize its supply chain, leading to enhanced visibility, improved planning and streamlined inter-department operations.
141. Lionbridge Technologies, LLC is using Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI Service to accelerate its delivery times and improve quality, reducing project turnaround times by up to 30%.
142. LTIMindtree integrated Microsoft Copilot for Security, offering automated incident response, integrated threat intelligence and advanced threat analysis.
143. Mania de Churrasco used Microsoft Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft 365 to achieve high efficiency, security and scalability in its operations, in addition to improving its data intelligence, which indirectly participated in a 20% increase in sales year on year.
144. National Bank of Greece built an Azure-powered Document AI solution to transform its document processing, improving the bank’s accuracy to 90%.
145. Nest Bank has revolutionized its operations by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in doubled sales and increased daily transactions from 60,000 to 80,000, showcasing the transformative impact of generative AI in the financial sector.
146. Network Rail modernized their data analytics solution with Microsoft Azure, helping engineers understand data 50% faster than before and improve efficiency, passenger experiences and safety—all while saving costs.
147. Nsure developed an AI-powered agent that uses Copilot Studio and Power Automate to reduce manual processing time by 60% while also reducing associated costs by 50%.
148. Oncoclínicas implemented Microsoft Azure to transform its entire data ecosystem with a web portal and mobile application that performs all image processing and storage.
149. Pacifico Seguros has adopted Microsoft Copilot for Security to optimize its security operations and anticipate and neutralize threats more efficiently and effectively.
150. Parexel adopted Azure Databricks and Microsoft Power BI, achieving an 85% reduction in data engineering tooling costs, a 30% increase in staff efficiency and a 70% reduction in time to market for data product delivery.
151. Paysafe used Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings, information management, and document creation, addressing language barriers, eliminating time-consuming tasks, and boosting creativity along the way.
152. Planted is integrating Azure OpenAI to manage everyday tasks more efficiently and facilitate the search for information for innovative process development.
153. Presidio realized dramatic productivity gains saving 1,200 hours per month on average for the employees using Microsoft 365 Copilot and created 70 new business opportunities.
154. Qatar Charity used Copilot Studio to increase its call center efficiency, reducing average handle time by 30%, increasing customer satisfaction by 25% and achieving a 40% reduction in IT maintenance costs.
155. Saphyre uses Microsoft Azure and AI to provide an intelligent cloud-based solution that automates and streamlines financial trading workflows around client and counterparty life cycle management, reducing manual efforts by 75%.
156. Swiss International Air Lines migrated and modernized with Microsoft Azure, achieving up to 30% cost savings, a remarkable boost in platform stability along with enhanced security visibility.
157. ZEISS Group uses Microsoft Fabric to create a secure and trusted data supply chain that can be shared effortlessly across a range of business units.
158. ZF Group builds manufacturing efficiency with over 25,000 apps and 37,000 unique active users on Power Platform.

Bending the curve on innovation

Generative AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development. It’s helping companies come up with new ideas, design prototypes, and iterate quickly, cutting down the time it takes to get to market. In the automotive industry, it’s designing more efficient vehicles, while in pharmaceuticals, it’s crafting new drug molecules, slashing years off R&D times. In education, it transforms how students learn and achieve their goals. Here are more examples of how companies are embracing generative AI to shape the future of innovation.

159. Air India has incorporated Microsoft 365 Copilot into multiple departments, unlocking a new realm of operational insights that not only provide critical data on flight punctuality and operational hurdles but also empower proactive, collaborative decision making.
160. Agnostic Intelligencedeployed Azure OpenAI Service to eliminate time-consuming tasks, saving users up to 80% of their time and enabling IT managers to focus on innovation and quality assurance.
161. Albert Heijn is using Azure OpenAI for everything from customer personalization to demand forecast and food waste projects, making it easier for its customers to change their lifestyle.
162. Amgen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity and has the potential to speed up drug development and support advancements in their business processes.
163. APEC leverages Microsoft Azure and deep neural network algorithms to develop an app that enables healthcare providers to capture retinal images, increasing the accuracy to identify Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) to 90%.
164. ASOS is using Azure AI Studio to help customers discover new looks with genuine shopping insights, personalized conversations, naturalism and even humor to enliven the shopping journey.
165. Auburn University is incorporating Microsoft Copilot to promote AI literacy, accessibility, and collaboration, with the aim to expand educational and economic opportunities for its entire academic community with AI-centric tools.
166. B3 launched an AI assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that aids 10,000 users a day to answer Brazilians’ questions about how to start investing.
167. Basecamp Research aims to build the world’s largest database of national biodiversity and apply AI and machine learning to advance bioscience.
168. Bayer is using Microsoft Copilot to contribute to feeding a growing global population and helping people lead healthier, disease-free lives.
169. Brembo leveraged Azure OpenAI to develop ALCHEMIX, a solution to generate innovative compounds for its brake pads, drastically reducing the development time of new compounds from days to mere minutes.
170. Canary Speech can now train new vocal models in as little as two months and handle millions of transactions per month with Microsoft Azure.
171. CapitaLand simplified internal processes, increasing efficiency to more than 10,000 worker days saved per year and deployed Azure OpenAI Service to build the first AI hospitality chatbot for its lodging business.
172. Cassidy is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance efficiency across various industries, supporting over 10,000 companies.
173. Coca-Cola is implementing Azure OpenAI Service to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions, including testing how Microsoft 365 Copilot could help improve workplace productivity.
174. Denso is developing “human-like” robots using Azure OpenAI Service as the brain to help robots and humans work together through dialogue.
175. eFishery is using Azure OpenAI for farmers to get the data and insights on fish and shrimp farming, including more precise feeding and water quality monitoring.
176. EY developed an application that automatically matches and clears incoming payments in SAP, resulting in an increase from 30% to 80% in automatically cleared payments and 95% matched payments, with estimated annual time savings of 230,000 hours globally.
177. FIDO is using Azure OpenAI Service to develop an AI tool that uses sound to pinpoint leaky pipes, saving precious drinking water.
178. Georgia Tech is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, achieving rapid data classification and predictive modeling, highlighting the reliability of networked chargers over non-networked ones.
179. GigXR developed a solution to create the intelligence for specific AI patients using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and other Azure services.
180. GoTo Group is significantly enhancing productivity and code quality across its engineering teams by adopting GitHub Copilot, saving over seven hours per week and achieving a 30% code acceptance rate.
181. GovTech used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to create LaunchPad, sparking more than 400 ideas and 20 prototypes, laying the foundation for the government to harness the power of generative AI.
182. H&R Block is using Azure AI Studio and Azure OpenAI Service to build a new solution that provides real-time, reliable tax filing assistance.
183. Haut.AI provides skin care companies and retailers with customizable, AI-based skin diagnostic tools developed with the help of Microsoft AI.
184. Helfie is building a solution that caters to healthcare providers who can arm their patients with an application to more quickly and accurately access the care they need.
185. Hitachi will implement Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot to create innovative solutions for the energy, mobility and other industries.
186. Icertis is providing AI-based tools that will recognize contract language and then build algorithms to automatically choose the right approach based on the content of the contract.
187. ITOCHU is using Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Studio to evolve its data analytics dashboard into a service that provides immediate recommendations by automatically creating evidence-based product proposals.
188. IU International University of Applied Sciences (IU) is using the power of Azure OpenAI Service to develop Syntea, an AI avatar integrated into Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot, making learning more personalized, autonomous and flexible.
189. Khan Academy has partnered with Microsoft to bring time-saving and lesson-enhancing AI tools to millions of educators.
190. Lufthansa Group developed an animated 3D avatar called Digital Hangar to help guide passengers from initial travel inspiration to flight booking through an exchange with an avatar in natural language.
191. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is using Azure OpenAI Service to help accelerate digital innovation in power plants.
192. Molslinjen has created an AI analytics toolbox that has reduced fuel emissions, improved customer satisfaction and brought in millions of additional revenue.
193. Novo Nordisk recently published initial results with predictive AI models for advanced risk detection in cardiovascular diseases, including an algorithm that can predict patients’ cardiovascular risk better than the best clinical standards.
194. Paige.AI​ is using AI and Microsoft Azure to accelerate cancer diagnoses with data from millions of images.
195. Pets at Home created an agent to help its retail fraud detection team investigate suspicious transactions.
196. Plan Heal is using Microsoft AI to create solutions that enable patients to monitor and report health metrics so care providers can better serve them.
197. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is testing a new battery material that was found in a matter of weeks, not years, as part of a collaboration with Microsoft.
198. Rijksmuseum is harnessing the power of Copilot to make art accessible at scale by joining forces with Microsoft to improve and expand the art experience for blind and low-vision community members.
199. Royal National Institute of Blind People is using Azure AI Services to develop an AI-based solution that quickly and accurately converts letters to braille, audio, and large print formats.
200. Schneider Electric provides productivity-enhancing and energy efficiency solutions and is using a whole suite of AI tools to hasten its own innovation and that of its customers.
201. SPAR ICS created an award-winning, AI-enabled demand forecasting system achieving 90% inventory prediction accuracy.
202. Suzuki Motor Corporation is adopting Azure OpenAI Service for data security, driving company-wide use with five multipurpose apps.
203. Tecnológico de Monterrey created a generative AI-powered ecosystem built on Azure OpenAI Service with the goal to personalize education based on the students’ needs, improve the learning process, boost teachers’ creativity and save time on tedious tasks.
204. TomTom is using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure Kubernetes Service to revolutionize the driver experience.
205. Unilever is partnering with Microsoft to identify new digital capabilities to drive product innovation forward, from unlocking the secrets of our skin’s microbiome to reducing the carbon footprint of a multibillion-dollar business.
206. Unity used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to build Muse Chat, an AI assistant that can guide creators through common questions and help troubleshoot issues to make game development easier.
207. University of South Florida is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to alleviate the burden of repetitive, time-consuming tasks so faculty and staff can spend this time creatively solving problems, conducting critical research, establishing stronger relationships with peers and students and using their expertise to forge new, innovative paths.
208. Visma has developed new code with GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Azure DevOps and Microsoft Visual Studio as much as 50 percent faster, contributing to increased customer retention, faster time to market and increased revenue.
209. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot and using Microsoft Viva to drive sustainable adoption, streamlining processes, empowering better decision making and cultivating a culture of innovation and inclusion.
210. Wipro is committed to delivering value to customers faster and improving the outcomes across the business by investing $1 billion in AI and training 200,000 employees on generative AI principles with Microsoft Copilot.

Read more:

• Get the study: Business Opportunity of AI | Microsoft
• Explore Microsoft AI solutions: Artificial Intelligence Solutions | Microsoft AI
• Assess your AI readiness: AI Readiness Wizard – Microsoft Adoption
• Build a strategic plan for AI: AI Strategy Roadmap | Microsoft AI

IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024

The post How real-world businesses are transforming with AI appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog.

One of the highlights of my career has always been connecting with customers and partners across industries to learn how they are using technology to drive their businesses forward. In the past 30 years, we’ve seen four major platform shifts, from client server to internet and the web to mobile and cloud to now—the next…
The post How real-world businesses are transforming with AI appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog.Read More

Hi everyone,

Wondering if this group could help answer whether it was possible to use power automate to update contents stored in a SharePoint Online Document Library. Basically update the different columns they have (eg. Description, custom columns etc) with data stored on something like a csv file?

Is that doable at all with Power Automate?

Ex. 

Doc Library:

ID           Name           Test Field

1            Test File        <Blank>

CSV File:

ID           Name           Test Field

1            Test File        Hello World

Post Power Automate state of Doc Library Content:

ID           Name           Test Field

1            Test File        Hello World

​Hi everyone, Wondering if this group could help answer whether it was possible to use power automate to update contents stored in a SharePoint Online Document Library. Basically update the different columns they have (eg. Description, custom columns etc) with data stored on something like a csv file? Is that doable at all with Power Automate? Ex. Doc Library:ID           Name           Test Field1            Test File        <Blank> CSV File:ID           Name           Test Field1            Test File        Hello World Post Power Automate state of Doc Library Content:ID           Name           Test Field1            Test File        Hello World  Read More

​

फ़्लिपकार्ट ग्राहक सेवा अधिकारी से बात करने के लिए 9831×224×914 या O983~1224~914 ▪︎डायल करें । आपको अपनी समस्या को स्पष्ट और संक्षिप्त तरीके से बताना होगा। आधिकारिक शिकायत दर्ज करने के लिए अधिकारी आपसे आपकी ऑर्डर आईडी, पंजीकृत मोबाइल नंबर..

​फ़्लिपकार्ट ग्राहक सेवा अधिकारी से बात करने के लिए 9831×224×914 या O983~1224~914 ▪︎डायल करें । आपको अपनी समस्या को स्पष्ट और संक्षिप्त तरीके से बताना होगा। आधिकारिक शिकायत दर्ज करने के लिए अधिकारी आपसे आपकी ऑर्डर आईडी, पंजीकृत मोबाइल नंबर..  Read More

​

So it seems like removing forum posts works, but removing a certificate from the Microsoft Database OR fixing this idoti.c Microsoft Partner Portal does not work within 2 MONTHS (whereas I see problems with this Partner Portal for almost a year now)?

Maybe the Forum admins should be levelled up to become backend administrators?

If Microsoft is not competent enough to fix the Microsoft Partner Portal problems, how about hiring skilled people rather than keep going with the current incompetent people who cannot and who are not willing to fix any problems?

Don’t be shocked but Microsoft AI is not up to it and will not fix it.

Why does Microsoft want to rely on cross signed Windows drivers if Microsoft is not competent enough to implement that in their eco-system?

Digicert is able to verify a company within 1 day while Microsoft is not able to fix their B2B issues within 2 month. Microsoft is not even able to verify the developer identification properly even though the developer is set as company owner which also shows up in the DUNS database.

What’s the goal of all that? Keep/make other people angry?

It’s so easy to fix those issues, why don’t you guys just fix them?

And reading .. the other department doesn’t share information, yes well then they should be laid off or getting taught to share information. The way Microsoft is going is absolute incompetent at the moment.

I really wonder how Microsoft can run a cloud service with such unreliable staff, customers joining this madness is nothing but an economical sui.cide mission.

​So it seems like removing forum posts works, but removing a certificate from the Microsoft Database OR fixing this idoti.c Microsoft Partner Portal does not work within 2 MONTHS (whereas I see problems with this Partner Portal for almost a year now)?Maybe the Forum admins should be levelled up to become backend administrators? If Microsoft is not competent enough to fix the Microsoft Partner Portal problems, how about hiring skilled people rather than keep going with the current incompetent people who cannot and who are not willing to fix any problems?Don’t be shocked but Microsoft AI is not up to it and will not fix it. Why does Microsoft want to rely on cross signed Windows drivers if Microsoft is not competent enough to implement that in their eco-system? Digicert is able to verify a company within 1 day while Microsoft is not able to fix their B2B issues within 2 month. Microsoft is not even able to verify the developer identification properly even though the developer is set as company owner which also shows up in the DUNS database. What’s the goal of all that? Keep/make other people angry?It’s so easy to fix those issues, why don’t you guys just fix them? And reading .. the other department doesn’t share information, yes well then they should be laid off or getting taught to share information. The way Microsoft is going is absolute incompetent at the moment. I really wonder how Microsoft can run a cloud service with such unreliable staff, customers joining this madness is nothing but an economical sui.cide mission.  Read More

​

Hey all, just after the best way to share files with External users in SharePoint. Our users are increasingly having issues with external users not being able to access our files.

Sometimes its user issue like sending a sharing link only for employees with external users. Sometimes its external users tenant conflicting with ours. However, we’ve been having issues with many external users having dropped access or no access at all even though they were added to permissions.

We haven’t changed any setting in our tenant, and this was a lot smoother couple of months ago. Whats the process in your tenant for external sharing? It would be helpful if you could give me a step by step on how you do it at your org.

Right now, this is us:

• User fille out a form with necessary info.
• Security looks at the domain and make sure it’s safe.
• We whitelist the domain if it’s not already and if full name is specified, we add the guest through Azure and add the person to SharePoint permissions. If full name not specified, go to the SharePoint link and add the user straight to the folder permissions.

Thanks in advance all

​Hey all, just after the best way to share files with External users in SharePoint. Our users are increasingly having issues with external users not being able to access our files. Sometimes its user issue like sending a sharing link only for employees with external users. Sometimes its external users tenant conflicting with ours. However, we’ve been having issues with many external users having dropped access or no access at all even though they were added to permissions. We haven’t changed any setting in our tenant, and this was a lot smoother couple of months ago. Whats the process in your tenant for external sharing? It would be helpful if you could give me a step by step on how you do it at your org. Right now, this is us: User fille out a form with necessary info.Security looks at the domain and make sure it’s safe.We whitelist the domain if it’s not already and if full name is specified, we add the guest through Azure and add the person to SharePoint permissions. If full name not specified, go to the SharePoint link and add the user straight to the folder permissions. Thanks in advance all  Read More

​

Hi all,

I think this should be relatively straight forward, but can’t find a simple solution…My data has 2 columns, a week of the year and a ‘score’

I need to create a spill result (so I can generate a dynamic chart), which separates the result of a filter into 3 columns:

Column1: Week 

Column2: Scores >50

Column 3: Scores <50

getting the three separate columns is not an issue, but it’s combing them into a spill result that I can’t fathom – using HSTACK with three FILTE functions means the scores/weeks do not align.

Any help much appreciated

​Hi all, I think this should be relatively straight forward, but can’t find a simple solution…My data has 2 columns, a week of the year and a ‘score’ I need to create a spill result (so I can generate a dynamic chart), which separates the result of a filter into 3 columns: Column1: Week Column2: Scores >50Column 3: Scores <50 getting the three separate columns is not an issue, but it’s combing them into a spill result that I can’t fathom – using HSTACK with three FILTE functions means the scores/weeks do not align. Any help much appreciated  Read More

​

This article is part of our AZ-700 series, offering a step-by-step guide on configuring Azure Private DNS, based on the tutorial available on YouTube. I highly recommend watching the video to gain a solid understanding of the concepts covered in this article. Through this guide, you’ll gain hands-on experience in setting up and managing Azure Private DNS, enabling efficient DNS resolution, network segmentation, and seamless automation within Microsoft Azure.

In today’s cloud environment, managing network resources and ensuring secure connectivity across virtual networks (vNets) can be complex, particularly when DNS management comes into play. This article provides a comprehensive, hands-on guide to setting up and configuring Azure Private DNS for efficient DNS resolution, network segmentation, and seamless automation in Microsoft Azure. Follow along as we explore the essential elements, from linking vNets and subnets to DNS automation.

Why Azure Private DNS?

Azure Private DNS allows you to manage and resolve DNS names within a virtual network without exposing them to the public internet. It simplifies domain name resolution, enhances security, and enables automation for dynamic environments.

Key benefits of using Azure Private DNS:

• Dynamic DNS Management: Automatically updates DNS records for new or deleted resources, eliminating stale or “dangling” DNS entries.
• Domain Delegation: Allows centralized DNS management by delegating your corporate domain to Azure Private DNS.
• Enhanced Security: DNS records are automatically removed when resources are deleted, ensuring up-to-date and secure network configuration.

Quick Recap: Azure Networking Fundamentals

Before diving into Azure Private DNS, let’s revisit some foundational concepts from our previous discussions:

• vNet (Virtual Network): Similar to a traditional VLAN but without broadcast support, a vNet enables secure and scalable resource management.
• Subnet: Subdivision within a vNet, allowing more granular control over resource segmentation.

Azure allows you to set up a single vNet with multiple subnets, maximizing network organization and security without the broadcast overhead typical in traditional networks.

Step 1: Understanding Azure Private DNS

Azure Private DNS enables the automatic registration of DNS names for resources within your vNet. For example, when you create a virtual machine (VM) in a vNet linked to a private DNS zone, the VM’s name and IP address automatically register within the zone. This streamlines DNS management, especially for dynamic environments where resources are created and deleted frequently.

Key Features

• Automatic DNS Registration: Automatically updates the DNS zone with new or removed resources.
• Domain Delegation: You can delegate your corporate domain to the private DNS zone, managing DNS records centrally within Azure.
• Support for All DNS Record Types: Azure DNS supports a full range of DNS records, including A, AAAA, CNAME, and MX records.

Step 2: Setting Up the Private DNS Zone

1. Create a Private DNS Zone

• In the Azure Portal, navigate to Private DNS Zones and create a new zone.
• Define a name for the DNS zone, such as yourdomain.private.
• Deploy the DNS zone and navigate to the resource.

2. Link vNets for Automatic DNS Registration

• Within the Private DNS Zone resource, select Virtual Network Links to connect vNets to the DNS zone.
• For each vNet (e.g., Core Services, West Europe, Asia), specify the vNet link and enable Auto Registration.
• This enables seamless DNS name resolution across linked vNets and allows automatic DNS record updates when resources are created or deleted.

Step 3: Verifying DNS Resolution and Connectivity

1. Verify DNS Records in the Private DNS Zone: Go to DNS Management under the Private DNS zone and check that the A records for the VMs appear.
2. Connect to VMs via DNS:
   • Use Remote Desktop to access one VM, then attempt to connect to the other VM by its DNS name (rather than IP address). This confirms that the Private DNS setup allows for name-based connectivity.
   • If issues arise (e.g., timeouts), ensure that firewall settings permit connectivity between the VMs.

Step 4: DNS Zone Peering Across Regions

With Azure Private DNS, you can link vNets across different regions, allowing resources in different geographic locations to resolve names and connect seamlessly.

1. Link vNets Across Regions: Connect the vNets in regions like West Europe, East US, and Asia to the Private DNS zone.
2. Verify Regional Connectivity: From a VM in one region (e.g., Asia), test connectivity to a VM in another region (e.g., East US) using DNS names. Azure Private DNS allows DNS name resolution across regions, ensuring consistent and reliable network connectivity.

Summary

Setting up Azure Private DNS is a powerful way to automate and centralize DNS management within a virtual network environment. This guide provides a practical framework for deploying Private DNS zones, linking vNets, and verifying connectivity. By configuring Azure Private DNS, organizations can streamline DNS management, secure network configurations, and enhance connectivity across geographically dispersed resources.

Next Steps

In future tutorials, we’ll explore VNet peering for advanced network configurations, allowing secure communication between isolated virtual networks. Be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for more Azure networking tips and tricks!

Let’s enhance your Azure network management with practical, hands-on solutions.

​This article is part of our AZ-700 series, offering a step-by-step guide on configuring Azure Private DNS, based on the tutorial available on YouTube. I highly recommend watching the video to gain a solid understanding of the concepts covered in this article. Through this guide, you’ll gain hands-on experience in setting up and managing Azure Private DNS, enabling efficient DNS resolution, network segmentation, and seamless automation within Microsoft Azure.    In today’s cloud environment, managing network resources and ensuring secure connectivity across virtual networks (vNets) can be complex, particularly when DNS management comes into play. This article provides a comprehensive, hands-on guide to setting up and configuring Azure Private DNS for efficient DNS resolution, network segmentation, and seamless automation in Microsoft Azure. Follow along as we explore the essential elements, from linking vNets and subnets to DNS automation.Why Azure Private DNS?Azure Private DNS allows you to manage and resolve DNS names within a virtual network without exposing them to the public internet. It simplifies domain name resolution, enhances security, and enables automation for dynamic environments.Key benefits of using Azure Private DNS:Dynamic DNS Management: Automatically updates DNS records for new or deleted resources, eliminating stale or “dangling” DNS entries.Domain Delegation: Allows centralized DNS management by delegating your corporate domain to Azure Private DNS.Enhanced Security: DNS records are automatically removed when resources are deleted, ensuring up-to-date and secure network configuration.Quick Recap: Azure Networking FundamentalsBefore diving into Azure Private DNS, let’s revisit some foundational concepts from our previous discussions:vNet (Virtual Network): Similar to a traditional VLAN but without broadcast support, a vNet enables secure and scalable resource management.Subnet: Subdivision within a vNet, allowing more granular control over resource segmentation.Azure allows you to set up a single vNet with multiple subnets, maximizing network organization and security without the broadcast overhead typical in traditional networks.Step 1: Understanding Azure Private DNSAzure Private DNS enables the automatic registration of DNS names for resources within your vNet. For example, when you create a virtual machine (VM) in a vNet linked to a private DNS zone, the VM’s name and IP address automatically register within the zone. This streamlines DNS management, especially for dynamic environments where resources are created and deleted frequently.Key FeaturesAutomatic DNS Registration: Automatically updates the DNS zone with new or removed resources.Domain Delegation: You can delegate your corporate domain to the private DNS zone, managing DNS records centrally within Azure.Support for All DNS Record Types: Azure DNS supports a full range of DNS records, including A, AAAA, CNAME, and MX records.Step 2: Setting Up the Private DNS Zone1. Create a Private DNS ZoneIn the Azure Portal, navigate to Private DNS Zones and create a new zone.Define a name for the DNS zone, such as yourdomain.private.Deploy the DNS zone and navigate to the resource.2. Link vNets for Automatic DNS RegistrationWithin the Private DNS Zone resource, select Virtual Network Links to connect vNets to the DNS zone.For each vNet (e.g., Core Services, West Europe, Asia), specify the vNet link and enable Auto Registration.This enables seamless DNS name resolution across linked vNets and allows automatic DNS record updates when resources are created or deleted.Step 3: Verifying DNS Resolution and ConnectivityVerify DNS Records in the Private DNS Zone: Go to DNS Management under the Private DNS zone and check that the A records for the VMs appear.Connect to VMs via DNS:Use Remote Desktop to access one VM, then attempt to connect to the other VM by its DNS name (rather than IP address). This confirms that the Private DNS setup allows for name-based connectivity.If issues arise (e.g., timeouts), ensure that firewall settings permit connectivity between the VMs.Step 4: DNS Zone Peering Across RegionsWith Azure Private DNS, you can link vNets across different regions, allowing resources in different geographic locations to resolve names and connect seamlessly.Link vNets Across Regions: Connect the vNets in regions like West Europe, East US, and Asia to the Private DNS zone.Verify Regional Connectivity: From a VM in one region (e.g., Asia), test connectivity to a VM in another region (e.g., East US) using DNS names. Azure Private DNS allows DNS name resolution across regions, ensuring consistent and reliable network connectivity.SummarySetting up Azure Private DNS is a powerful way to automate and centralize DNS management within a virtual network environment. This guide provides a practical framework for deploying Private DNS zones, linking vNets, and verifying connectivity. By configuring Azure Private DNS, organizations can streamline DNS management, secure network configurations, and enhance connectivity across geographically dispersed resources.Next StepsIn future tutorials, we’ll explore VNet peering for advanced network configurations, allowing secure communication between isolated virtual networks. Be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for more Azure networking tips and tricks!Let’s enhance your Azure network management with practical, hands-on solutions.  Read More

​

I have been patiently waiting for the checkbox tab to appear on my excel application. As of today, 11/4/2024, it is still not showing up. I have Office 365, and my Version 2404 (Build 17531.20140 Click-to-Run) is what I am showing. When I click on Update Now, nothing happens. When I click View Updates, it takes me to the current changes page informing me “We fixed an issue where some users couldn’t see checkboxes getting rendered after inserting them.”, but it isn’t even populating on my ribbon to view.

I pay for Office 365 on two different accounts and I am not showing it on either account. If someone could walk me through getting this to populate on my ribbon, I would greatly appreciate it.

​I have been patiently waiting for the checkbox tab to appear on my excel application. As of today, 11/4/2024, it is still not showing up. I have Office 365, and my Version 2404 (Build 17531.20140 Click-to-Run) is what I am showing. When I click on Update Now, nothing happens. When I click View Updates, it takes me to the current changes page informing me “We fixed an issue where some users couldn’t see checkboxes getting rendered after inserting them.”, but it isn’t even populating on my ribbon to view.I pay for Office 365 on two different accounts and I am not showing it on either account. If someone could walk me through getting this to populate on my ribbon, I would greatly appreciate it.  Read More

​

The Marketplace Summit UK, #MarketplaceSummitUK, recently brought together over 300+ Microsoft partners, including ISVs, systems integrators, and channel partners, to explore and capitalize on the rapidly growing opportunities within the Microsoft commercial marketplace. Here are 5 takeaways from the keynote which shared marketplace opportunities and insights from Jason Rook– Senior Director, Lead for channels sales for the marketplace, Andy Whyte– CEO, MEDDIC, Nick Ross– UK&I Channel leader, Wiz, and Amit Sinha– President and Co-Founder, WorkSpan.

Marketplace Growth:

• Microsoft commercial marketplace is experiencing substantial growth, with nearly 100% year-over-year sales increases from ISVs and Fortune 500 customers, particularly in the UK. This reflects a significant momentum and opportunity for partners to expand their reach and impact.
• By 2028, cloud marketplaces are projected to generate $85 billion in revenue*, underscoring the importance of joint selling and collaboration between ISVs, channel partners, and enterprise customers to capture this growth potential.
  • *Hyperscale cloud marketplace sales to hit US$85 billion by 2028. Canalys, August 15, 2024.

MEDDPICC Framework:

• MEDDPICC stands for Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Paper process, Identify pain, Champion, and Competition.
• The MEDDPICC framework is used as a common language for co-selling across the entire customer lifecycle streamlining communication, improving collaboration, and enhancing the effectiveness of sales strategies. It emphasizes the understanding of customer pain points, decision criteria, and stakeholder engagement

Multiparty Private Offers:

• Multiparty private offers enable customers to purchase software through trusted channel partners, and ISVs to sell through channel partners, streamlining the buying experience and boosting sales opportunities.  They are currently available in the US, Canada, and the UK.  These offers are set to expand to Western Europe and Japan.
• Over 90% of multiparty private offer deals originate from channel partners interacting with customers.

Insights from Nick Ross of Wiz:

• Commitment to Channel Partners for Growth: Wiz has adopted a global strategy to always work with a channel partner on customer engagements, viewing it as essential for scaling, customer retention, and market expansion.
• Marketplace as a Key Growth Driver: With over 90% of revenue going through cloud marketplaces, Wiz emphasizes that adopting a marketplace-centric approach accelerates deal cycles, enhances customer reach, and is critical for sustained growth.
• Wiz’s marketplace-first, channel-first strategy accelerates scaling, shortens time-to-value for customers, and boosts deal efficiency by closely partnering with Microsoft and providing CSPs early pipeline insights. This integrated approach strengthens customer relationships and drives market expansion, providing a roadmap to becoming a leader in marketplace-driven growth.

Ecosystem Integration and Insights- Discussion with Amit Sinha from WorkSpan

• End-to-End Ecosystem Orchestration: WorkSpan serves as a platform connecting ISVs, channel partners, and service partners with Microsoft and other marketplaces, enabling seamless co-selling, co-building, and integration into existing CRM systems for a unified experience
• Enhanced Deal Velocity and Data Insight: By automating partner integrations and embedding marketplace processes into CRM systems, WorkSpan increases deal registration rates and enables data collection on sales performance, providing actionable insights in real-time. 

To learn more, you can view the full Keynote session here: Marketplace Summit learnings: Maximizing marketplace success.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Additional Resources:

• Marketplace community
• Marketplace Blog
• Join ISV Success

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More 

I am admin on my companies booking calendar, we have multiple technicians that are booked out to services by myself and the scheduler. There are technical team leads that can view their specific team’s availability and advise myself and the scheduler for work assignments.

Technicians are set up as guests on the calendar to be booked but without being able to view others calendars, team leads are set up as viewers to facilitate advising on scheduling. Recently there have been two technicians that were promoted to team leads, I updated their roles to viewer and they can’t see the calendar, they can find it by searching it for name but when they try to open it they are told they don’t have access to it.

Any advice on what may be causing this?

​I am admin on my companies booking calendar, we have multiple technicians that are booked out to services by myself and the scheduler. There are technical team leads that can view their specific team’s availability and advise myself and the scheduler for work assignments. Technicians are set up as guests on the calendar to be booked but without being able to view others calendars, team leads are set up as viewers to facilitate advising on scheduling. Recently there have been two technicians that were promoted to team leads, I updated their roles to viewer and they can’t see the calendar, they can find it by searching it for name but when they try to open it they are told they don’t have access to it.Any advice on what may be causing this?  Read More

​