The saying, “the only thing constant is change,” is one I can’t seem to get out of my head these days, and also seems to resonate with customers I talk to given the dynamic market changes, macroeconomic headwinds, geopolitical tensions, and labor constraints we’re all living in currently. That’s why for this episode of Inside Azure for IT, we’re bringing you three discussions about cloud strategies that can help you not only successfully navigate some of today’s uncertainties, but also build agility and increase efficiency while you move ahead.
In part one, we discuss how migrating and modernizing your business with the cloud can help you achieve efficiencies and the scalability you need to meet changing business demands. The pandemic fundamentally shifted the technology landscape and accelerated the pace of digital transformation across all industries. If you’re working with existing IT platforms that limit the agility you need to be successful, moving strategic workloads to the cloud can help you deliver on customer demand and gain a competitive advantage.
In part two, we dive into how you can optimize your IT investments and realize the full power of the cloud quickly by configuring workloads for maximum efficiency and cost savings. As technology evolves, many orginizations will need to re-think how their technology strategy aligns with their business objectives. For example, if you’re operating your business primarily on premises, you might decide that you can’t afford, or don’t want to invest in, running more of your own servers, hardware, or storage to keep up with continually evolving IT infrastructure. Taking advantage of the economies of scale that a cloud provider offers can help you reduce technical debt and optimize your operations for better efficiency.
Finally, in part three, we look at today’s ever-changing security landscape and why a strong security posture is critical to growing your business. Now more than ever, IT leaders need to adopt the right security strategy to protect against ransomware attacks, supply chain software compromises, and data breaches. Microsoft shares best practices and invests heavily in cybersecurity so you can run your business more securely and efficiently—because when your business is protected, teams can innovate fearlessly and focus on what they do best.
As I reflect on my own personal strategies managing through change, I find it always helps to focus on what you can control. That gives you a way to anchor your thinking and build certainty out of the uncertain. Each of these strategies offers a point of view on what you can control within your environment and a place to start.
Inside Azure for IT, Episode 5: Three cloud strategies to help you navigate market uncertainty
The episode is divided into three separate segments so you can watch them individually, on demand, and at your convenience.
Part one: Navigate market uncertainty by migrating and modernizing with Azure
Guest: Sathish Rajappa, Vice President of Global Platform Technology Sales at Blue Yonder
In the first segment, Sathish Rajappa from software provider Blue Yonder joins me to share some insights from their own modernization journey, and how their strategic partnership with Microsoft enhances their software as a service (SaaS) solutions to help customers accelerate digital transformation. We also talk about how you can optimize spending by consolidating systems to a few solution providers, and how adopting AI and machine learning at scale can help you solve specific use cases and gain a competitive advantage.
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Part two: Optimize IT investments to maximize efficiency and reduce cloud spend
Guest: Henry O’Connell, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Canary Speech
In the second segment, I talk with Henry O’Connell at Canary Speech about how they use Microsoft Azure to power their vocal biomarker screening technology to help healthcare professionals use conversational speech to screen for mood changes and diseases. With this technology, clinicians can recognize conditions such as depression, anxiety, stress, and more in a matter of seconds. Henry shares a few reasons why Canary Speech chose to move from another cloud provider to Azure to grow their business, how they used resources like the Azure Well-Architected Framework to configure workloads for maximum efficiency and cost savings, as well as some exciting innovations Canary Speech is pursuing with Azure.
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Part three: Strengthen your security posture to innovate fearlessly and grow your business
Guest: Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Security, Compliance, Identity and Privacy
In the third segment, I’m joined by my friend and colleague Vasu Jakkal to talk about how Microsoft is navigating the ever-changing global challenges of today’s security landscape. Vasu explains how Microsoft’s investments in cybersecurity are helping customers run their businesses more securely and efficiently while minimizing disruptions, and we end with an inspiring discussion about how strengthening your security posture can help you innovate fearlessly in challenging times.
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What’s next for Inside Azure for IT
Beyond this latest episode, there are many more fireside chat videos, tutorials, and cloud-skilling resources available through Inside Azure for IT. Learn more about empowering an adaptive IT environment with best practices and resources designed to enable productivity, digital transformation, and innovation. You can also take advantage of technical training videos and learn about implementing some of the scenarios we discuss in this episode.
