Never was that more apparent than when I sat down with Michael Plimsoll, senior industry strategist at Adobe to discuss the future of AI. AI-driven customer experiences that are personalised, scalable, and compelling: that’s the goal as, together, Microsoft and Adobe are set to launch a joint pitch to increase collaboration.

‘Great AI needs great data,’ I told ouraudience. ‘One of the biggest pieces of work that we’ve undertaken at Microsoft in the UK has been around getting that single source of truth, that single source of customer data on which we can start to overlay some amazing tools and technology, some of those from Adobe.’

Changing how you collaborate

But, as I said, this ‘single source of truth’ is only attainable through collaboration. It demands teamwork between the marketing and IT teams – a fact highlighted in research undertaken by IDG for both our companies. The report showed that, in supporting future technology needs, a third of CIOs plan to team-up with the CMO.

I explained: ‘Actually to do that requires a great deal of collaboration across the business, not just in terms of clearly working with the IT team, and ensuring that the technology roadmap, the processes, the stack, the usage all works beautifully, but then ensuring that’s infused and integrated into the way our sellers work, and our product team work. Really what that needs is amazing collaboration.’

As you’d expect with us working so closely together, Michael agreed, adding: ‘Technology now just underpins everything we do and this is a fundamental shift Adobe made when we shifted from boxed products to cloud products.’

We no longer live in a world where products are launched every few years. Today, businesses must be agile, ready to adapt to a constantly changing marketplace.

‘[It’s] more about the value proposition and getting closer to the customer,’ Michael said. ‘As businesses adapt to that subscription model that consumers are asking for, the whole organisation has to change.’

In short: ‘This is why the coming together of the CIO and CMO, and even the CFO, is so important. To be part of this journey, as it is ubiquitous now across business.’

Data-driven landscape

This need for greater collaboration across disciplines is having a knock-on effect: your business, like many others, is no doubt witnessing a change in the demography of your marketing teams.

That’s not to say all marketers are transforming into data scientists. However, the team’s skillsets are evolving.

Gazing over the audience, I said, ‘There’s no doubt we’ve seen a big shift in the demographics in the make-up of marketing teams, in terms of data and operational prowess embedded in the heart of the way a marketing organisation works.’

I continued: ‘That doesn’t mean that marketing is no longer a creative force. It’s now underpinned with data. It’s now underpinned with a different mix of skill sets.’

On the subject of GDPR, Michael has been consistently bullish about its transformative effects. ‘It’s highlighted to the marketers the value and importance of the data,’ I said. ‘It’s no longer just IT’s responsibility to treat data responsibility, but everyone in the organisation. Everyone has to approach things with privacy by design. In that way I believe it has brought those teams together.’

Creating a true customer experience

However, this has led to a greater issue for many businesses – the problem of data silos. Information is independently created by several teams, leading to unnecessary and repeated data. That has a major impact of the customer experience when seamlessness should be the goal.

They aren’t talking to each other and that drives frustration for a customer. It’s a hugely competitive market today, irrespective of your industry, so I would encourage anyone to break down those silos. The need for businesses to collaborate and feel their collective responsibility to drive these outcomes is a prerequisite, not an option.

Customers feel data silos. We’ve all experienced them as consumers, having to answer the same questions as you move between departments, such as sales to customer service. These silos show up in many ways, they are all presenting unnecessary challenges to your customers, and eroding their brand experience with you.

Technologies mean, more so than ever, marketing’s ability to reach customers, to drive great experience, to acquire new customers, to maximise the customer’s lifetime value, at scale, done incredibly well based on data.

And that brings us right back to the start – because ‘great AI needs great data.’

About the author

Paul has over 20-years’ experience in the technology sector across a variety of VP and GM roles. Most recently, Paul was appointed as CMO at Microsoft UK after running their UK SMB business and sits as a NED on the board of a SaaS start-up. His passions lie in building engaging workplace cultures, understanding how technology drives transformation, collaboration and creates compelling customer experiences.

The post How collaboration is evolving: A Microsoft-Adobe discussion appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Our in-depth report into AI, ‘Accelerating competitive advantage’, showed that 38% of business leaders want to be at the forefront of AI innovation. This figure has doubled since last year.  Despite the overwhelming desire to be at the forefront of emerging technologies, many organisations are struggling to successfully implement AI.  

Never-ending experimental phase – or not doing anything at all

While 8% of UK organisations consider themselves in the advanced stage of AI use, plenty more find themselves trapped in the experimental phase. 48% of organisations say they’re ‘experimenting’ with the technology. They tinker, they toy, they try – but many struggle to move beyond exploration of the technology into enterprise scale AI.  

I’ve seen many organisations getting stuck in the experimental phase, and very few ever manage to move into a live AI product. Even those that do deploy AI only manage to do so in pockets within the organisation, and face challenges when trying to scale. It’s also apparent that a large section of the businesses we talked to don’t have any AI strategy in place at all; 34%, according to our research, are doing nothing in the burgeoning AI arena.  

This creates some major challenges in demonstrating the business ROI of AI. Without demonstrating wins, as small as they may be, organizations might fail to see the benefits and turn away from this technology.   

So, what’s the best way to advance from being in the 48% – or even the 34% – to the 8%?  

To start, you should approach AI implementation as you would any other on-going digital transformation project. That is to say, this isn’t something to be driven solely by your IT department; it demands buy-in at every level of your organisation, since the technology will empower every job role. This requires thinking beyond the technology itself, and starting to think about the process, governance and roles that need to be in place to foster AI innovation.  

One of my favourite statistics from our report shows that 96% of employees claim managers never consulted them on the introduction of AI into the workplace – and 83% of leaders claim employees never asked about the business’s AI plans.  

Or, to put it another way: organizations need to leverage communication to drive innovation.  

Lack of understanding

It’s very easy for organisations to get caught in the hype surrounding AI. The technology itself promises so much – but with that comes a lot of confusion as to what AI actually is, the benefits of AI and what it can actually help businesses achieve.  

As Dr Lee Howls, Head of AI at PA Consulting Group, says: ‘It is worth understanding whether you are just trying to do something for technology’s sake, or if there is a genuine problem that might be solved through AI.’  

While scaling the technology should be approached like any other digital transformation, this is more than just another IT project. AI has gone beyond the technical definition, impacting every employee in every department – from marketing to finance. Therefore, it is fundamentally important that organizations think about AI enablement and education across all roles and functions. Through this understanding of AI organizations will be able to unlock capabilities and potential.  

AI must be used fairly, responsibly, and effectively. The challenge is, many business leaders aren’t entirely sure how to implement the technology in this way. A lack of training lies at the heart of this issue. ‘Accelerating the competitive edge’ reveals that a little over a fifth of UK leaders have fully completed training; they understand how AI complements their job and empowers their organisation.  

On the other hand, two-thirds don’t yet know how AI actually works, and therefore where it would be best placed. Without a fundamental understanding how the system comes up with the conclusions it does (hint: lots of data + lots of compute + algorithms = AI) , it’s impossible to fully recognise the value of AI.    

Lack of process and tools

A strong data strategy is what separates advanced AI organisations from their rivals. Not every business is equipped to deliver that. 

Part of the issue here is the ‘novelty’ of AI. The systems have evolved at great pace, so now organisations find themselves playing catch-up. How can we transform AI into enterprise-grade?, leaders wonder. 

The answer, of course, is the introduction of the right processes and tools.  

Hugh Milward, Microsoft UK’s director of CELA, strikes a sympathetic note, saying: ‘It’s hard for a company to make a decision that looks like it is against its own short term commercial interests, but that is the point where ethics really hits the road. Having the right process by which making the “right” decision is eased for the Chief Executive Officer and management of the company is really important.’ 

Creating any sort of AI framework doesn’t end post-launch, AI systems are constantly evolving and iterating on themselves. The launch is only just beginning, and organizations need to think about having the right processes in place to review and refine these systems over time to maximise the value of AI.  

Cultural change

Any sort of organisational change can be challenging for employees. With the large scale of change AI presents, your business may be facing a full-blown culture shock.  

Perhaps this is linked to a misconception of how AI should be used. It shouldn’t be used as a replacement for human workers, but to augment their roles and allow humans to use our uniquely human skills to do things that they do best.  

The introduction of AI demands a change of skills and a change of mindset – neither of which happen overnight. In itself, this, perhaps, wouldn’t be an issue. Every business leader understands how change must be managed without damaging morale. However, in our report, 71% of leaders say they’re not sure how to cope with staffing changes and workplace disruption as they drive through AI.  

Thankfully, according to PWC’s 2018 Economic Outlook report, there is a very real chance that “AI will create as many jobs as it displaces. This chimes well with the outlook of both employers and employees who are eager to become AI literate – in those AI-advanced organisations, 66% of business leaders claim to be actively supporting their employees on the path to AI literacy. Meanwhile, 36% of employees state that they’d use the time saved by the technology to learn new skills; 29% believe AI would allow them to take on new responsibilities. On the flip side, however, a little over one in ten workers have completed any sort of educational training.  

The only way to overcome this sort of challenge is for businesses to, first gain buy-in, offer dedicated training on AI systems and ensure you bring everyone on the AI journey. Microsoft’s popular AI business school is an excellent place to start when creating new business opportunities for your business, employees, and customers. 

Find out more

Download the full AI report, ‘Accelerating competitive advantage’

Watch Kate’s Future Decoded session, ‘Our Intelligent Future: How AI Will Impact Business and Ethics?’ 

About the author

Kate currently leads the Data and AI Cloud Solution Architecture team for Financial Services at Microsoft UK, helping organisations shape their data strategies in a scalable and responsible way. Her main focus lies in the intersection between technology and business, how data can shape organisations and AI systems. Prior to joining Microsoft, she worked at start-ups where she focused on leveraging big data and behaviour analytics to augment decision making. Kate comes from a background in scientific research, specialising in neurobiological genetic engineering. During her research, she studied the influence of genetics on behaviour and survival mechanisms. She holds a MSc in Molecular Biology from Bar Ilan University and a MBA from Tel Aviv University.

The post 4 things holding businesses back from AI implementation (and how to address them) appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

At this year’s Future Decoded, Lucas Joppa, Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Officer, told attendees ‘the opportunity for a few lines of code to fundamentally change the way that we monitor, model and ultimately manage earth’s natural systems is potentially transformative.’

That transformative power of the technology is critical to overcoming today’s global challenges. From global environmental issues to unprecedented population growth, the world demands tools that match the scope and scale of the problems we face.

This is also a core message from Anne Radl, at the Social Tech Trust, who told Future Decoded Live that social missions drive real technological innovation, but only as long as the conditions are in place for people to come together, share ideas, and collaborate.

Microsoft’s AI for Good programme is all about creating these conditions. In the UK, Microsoft and its partners are creating a hands-on experience for start-ups to get involved with the AI for Good initiative. During her interview, Anne mentioned that ‘any purpose-driven venture with a demonstrable commitment to social impact can apply. You can be a for-profit business, a social enterprise, a charity – as long as you can show us that your pursuit of environmental sustainability, accessibility, humanitarianism, or the protection of cultural heritage, is driving your AI solution.’

The four-month programme, which  runs between February and May 2020, aims to inspire and educate leaders of such organisations to use AI to enhance their social impact. Each month, participants receive 10-14 hours of workshops focusing on three core areas: business development, AI, and social impact. By the programme’s end, the cohort will have knowledge and resources to help them implement a responsible AI solution into their operations.

First-hand stories

At Future Decoded, we heard from leaders of several organisations that took part in the first AI for Good programme.

Nick Wooley, CEO of ev.energy, recounted that AI for Good helped his organisation ‘unlock its social mission’, whilst also uncovering the true consumer value of the platform. These insights enabled him to build a robust and scalable service with AI at its core, which empowers drivers of electric cars to charge their vehicles more cheaply, using renewable energy.

Agrimetrics’ Chief Scientific Officer, Richard Tiffin, explained how the programme helped better connect the company with the farmers using its tools. According to Richard, ‘the key thing with farmers and any decision-maker is to hide the technology as far away as possible, in order to give simple, usable messages. For example, we have an application with a red or a green light that indicates when you should or shouldn’t spray their crops. That’s how we deliver information to people who are not from a technical background.’ It’s this simplicity and usability which drives meaningful impact.

Both Agrimetrics and ev.energy formed part of the cohort under the AI for Earth pillar, which consists of organisations addressing global environmental concerns spanning agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, and water.

Dr Isabel Van de Keere, founder of Immersive Rehab, explained that her organisation ‘aims to transform neurorehabilitation with virtual reality to improve mobility for patients with neurological conditions.’

Immersive Rehab now uses machine learning and AI to personalise the rehabilitation experience to each patient. Every patient has a different set of conditions and injuries, so programmes must be tailored to their needs. The system can also track how a patient’s condition is evolving, tracking mobility and response times, adapting treatment accordingly. Dr Isabel added that ‘when these people leave the hospital, they have hardly any mobility, which means that they don’t have any independence to live their life at home. It’s our mission to change that.’

Wouldn’t it be great if travel worked equally as well for people with disabilities as it does for the able-bodied? This is the question that CityMaas is addressing – and it’s harnessing crowd-sourced data, AI, and adaptive filtering technology to do it. The startup, a cohort graduate in the AI for Accessibility category, provides disability-friendly directions and transportation links through their digital mapping tool.

‘CityMaas is my vision for a user-centric mobility solution,’ says CEO Rene Perkins. ‘Through the AI for Good accelerator programme, we’ve benefited from business development and personal branding training. Microsoft and the Social Tech Trust have not held back in terms of making introductions for CityMaaS, inviting us to exhibit in a great number of trade shows and providing PR and media opportunities.’

Get involved

If your organisation has an AI-driven solution and is looking for support in taking it further, there’s still time. We’re currently accepting applications for the AI for Good accelerator programme until 22 November.

Make a societal impact – visit our website for more information and application guidelines.

About the author

Chester Broad is a new Microsoft Aspire Experience hire who recently graduated from the University of Bath, where he studied Management with Marketing. Now part of the Experiential Marketing team, Chester’s focus is on skills-based and internal events, through which he takes a keen interest in how the Microsoft brand can be communicated as an experience. Prior to this, he spent a year as an intern in the PR team.

The post How start-ups are tackling society’s challenges using AI – and how you can join them appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

One last look at my notes. “Ten seconds guys.” Deep breaths. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a big, bold logo appear on the studio monitor showing the livestream, which meant the ad break must be wrapping up. Okay, just one more look at my notes. Head back up, looking straight down the lens now. “Three, two,” – start smiling like you’re on BBC Breakfast – “one…”

Going live

Four weeks ago today, I joined the Experiential team at Microsoft, which oversees events and brand experiences in the UK. Perfect timing, then, given that our biggest annual event, Future Decoded, was just three weeks away.

Every year, over two days, Future Decoded draws in thousands of attendees to the ExCeL in East London, who come to find out what new and exciting things Microsoft and its partners are up to. This year, the exhibition floor featured a 15ft-high ‘digital waterfall’, where a number of environmentally focused organisations were stationed, all of which had received grants through Microsoft’s AI for Earth programme. Alongside Microsoft UK CEO Cindy Rose and Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie, keynote speakers in the auditorium included astronauts Major Tim Peake and Dr Helen Sharman, and Christian Horner, Red Bull F1 Team Principal.

So, towards the end of my first week in role, I heard that I would spend the next two working on ‘Future Decoded Live’. FD Live, as I soon learned, is a live-stream that runs throughout Future Decoded from a studio space on the Expo Floor, consisting mostly of breakfast TV-style conversations with a variety of partners, event sponsors and keynote speakers.

My job was to work out who was going to speak when, manage our own schedule against those of each guest, and then – the fun part – come up with a set of interview-style questions to guide the discussions. This meant I got to spend a lot of time researching and reading about some of the most interesting people and organisations at the event: the AI for Earth cohort, Channel 4, Adobe, the British Heart Foundation, Microsoft itself, and many more. Minus the keynotes, we had 12 hours of live video content to conjure up.

Embracing uncertainty

This would probably still feel like a fairly challenging task if I was given it in my second year – so, the prospect of taking it on in my second week felt adequately daunting. After sitting down with the FD Live lead for about an hour, I spent the rest of the day trying to get my head round the scope of the project, and how best to approach it. I had five documents to track and keep up-to-date, dozens of email threads to take over and who-knew-how-many questions to write.

I’m someone who likes structure and detail. I don’t like to begin working on something until I get a clear sense of how the whole thing fits together. Sometimes, this is great: a broad, yet in-depth understanding of a project helps me make sure everything is consistent and well-orchestrated from the bottom up. Other times, this is not so great: when progress is needed sooner rather than later, with details yet to be carved out. FD Live was an example of the latter, and the uncertainty I felt was only made bigger by the unshakeable fact that I was still just one week into the job.

I had to force myself to embrace this uncertainty, which – at first – felt unnatural, and sometimes stressful. I wrenched myself away from the need to have a clear, 360-degree view, and started work in the hope that some things would fall into place later. As it turned out, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. I felt able to work faster and with more focus, forgetting about the overall state of the project for a while and taking on one task at a time.

On reflection, this was one of the most valuable things I learned: to view projects as a jigsaw, rather than a painting. I don’t always need to paint the ‘big picture’ myself before making a start. The final image can come together gradually, piece by piece, and with the help of others.

Saying yes

A week later, things were coming together. Confirmations were coming in, the schedule was filling up, and I’d written questions for many of the speakers. I knew there was a lot more to do, but I had found a solid routine and felt nicely on top of things. I was responsible for something, I knew what I was doing. It felt good.

On Tuesday morning, with one week to go before the event, I had a call with the live-stream presenters to run through the questions I’d written so far. We were about halfway down the document, when we reached a session with WPP, on ‘creativity in AI’.

“These are probably my favourite questions. It’s a really cool topic”, I remarked. The call went quiet for a second or two, before someone asked – “Do you want to ask them on the day?” Before I’d even processed the question, my instincts told me to say no. I get painfully nervous before public speaking – although I’m usually pretty good at hiding it – and every time an opportunity comes my way, I know I’ve got a big mental battle on my hands. I bought myself a few more seconds with an “Oh, ummmm…”, as I increasingly sensed how much I wanted to do it, deep down. “I’ll have a think about it.”

I thought about it all evening. I knew how easy it would be to say ‘sorry, I don’t think I’m ready for this yet, but thanks for the opportunity. Maybe next year.’ But I knew I could do it. I probably wouldn’t sleep for 72 hours or so beforehand, but I could do it.

So I counted all the reasons why I should say yes: great exposure, hugely rewarding, a whole week to prepare, people around me who I knew would support me, and a really good topic for a LinkedIn blog post afterwards (…just kidding).

Then I counted the reasons why I should say no: because I felt scared… that was it. Once I had broken it down like that, I knew how much I would regret saying no. So, I sent a late-night IM and confirmed, before I had a chance to change my mind.

Learning from new experiences

I saw a tweet once which said something along the lines of ‘if you’re thinking about something that makes you quite excited, but very nervous, then you should probably do it.’

The best opportunities to learn and grow are nearly always found outside of our comfort zones. Sometimes, a little push is all that’s needed to take that step; this may come from our teams or ourselves, in our personal or professional lives.

The way I like to think about this is – if a friend came to me and said, ‘I’ve just got this really big opportunity, but I’m not sure I can do it because…’, I would try my very hardest to convince them that they could. If that’s the case, why should I behave any differently towards myself?

On the day of the interview, as I sat down on the studio sofa and looked at the camera, I felt a tide of nerves flowing around my chest – just like usual – but, for the first time in my life, I actually enjoyed it. This time, I embraced the nerves as a signal that I must be about to do something really worthwhile, something I had never done before.

“Thirty seconds guys…”

Find out more

‘How AI and satellites combat illegal fishing‘ – An interview with Nick Wise, CEO of OceanMind,

‘Creativity in AI‘ – An interview with Perry Nightingale, SVP Creative AI at WPP

Watch all the highlights from Future Decoded at FD Live

About the author

Chester Broad is a new Microsoft Aspire Experience hire who recently graduated from the University of Bath, where he studied Management with Marketing. Now part of the Experiential Marketing team, Chester’s focus is on skills-based and internal events, through which he takes a keen interest in how the Microsoft brand can be communicated as an experience. Prior to this, he spent a year as an intern in the PR team.

The post Going beyond your comfort zone: Why embracing uncertainty and saying yes matters appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Now in its second year, the Accelerator builds on last year’s success, which saw 11 organisations graduate, all of whom reported positive impact on their business following the programme.

Launched by our Chief Environmental Officer Dr Lucas Joppa, the UK AI for Good Accelerator will be run by Microsoft for Startups and the Social Tech Trust from our accelerator space in Shoreditch, London. At launch, Joppa said:

“AI is one of the most important tools we have to accelerate innovation at the speed and scale we need to address climate change and other important societal challenges. It’s exciting to see Microsoft’s AI for Good initiative evolving to engage new partners and help catalyse social impact organisations across the UK.”

An equally enthusiastic Ed Evans, CEO of Social Tech Trust, said:

“We have an exciting opportunity to help more social tech ventures to shape the future we want to see, using AI. I’m inspired by the growth we’ve seen from the 11 ventures in our first cohort and can’t wait to see the very best UK social tech innovations that emerge as we open applications for our second AI for Good programme, in partnership with Microsoft.”

AI’s positive impact

41% of UK business leaders believe AI is set to have a positive impact on the UK economy. These findings, drawn from our research report ‘Accelerating competitive advantage with AI’, indicates the UK is starting to see the benefits of AI in practice.

Aligning with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organisation to achieve more, previous cohort members all have a fundamental commitment to driving positive societal impact in four key areas:

• AI for Earth, designed for organisations using AI to build a sustainable future and address global environmental concerns spanning agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, and water.
• AI for Accessibility, focused on organisations with AI solutions that help everyone in their daily life, employment, and communication and connection.
• AI for Humanitarian Action, for non-profit and humanitarian organisations providing disaster responses, human rights protection, and support for refugees, displaced people or children.
• AI for Cultural Heritage, our newest category, aims to empower people and organisations focused on the preservation and enrichment of cultural heritage. This includes celebrating the people who have made significant impact throughout history, developing digital tools to preserving important monuments for the future generation, engaging with communities for language preservation, and creating ways for collections and archives to be more easily accessed and enjoyed.

Organisations can apply to join our programme from now until November 22 2019, telling us how they’re developing an AI solution for good in any of the four categories.

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An expert-led curriculum for purpose-driven UK ventures

For four months, beginning in February 2020, your organisation will benefit from the resources, advice, and one-to-one support you need to help scale your AI project with Microsoft, Social Tech Trust and our other key partners.

Our expert-led curriculum covers technical guidance to business development and marketing; it’s packed with workshops, seminars, and tightly focused modules on topics including AI and social impact frameworks.

Last year, we saw some truly inspiring successes across each of our social programmes, with organisations focused on optimising not just their solution, but their entire business structure.

Reflecting on her time on the accelerator programme, Isabel Van de Keere, CEO of Immersive Rehab, which uses virtual reality to improve the effectiveness of physical and neurorehabilitation, said:

“The programme has been and still is extremely valuable for Immersive Rehab. Not only did it give us the opportunity to define our AI strategy further, we are also still in touch with experts in the field of AI, Immersive Tech, and Healthcare at Microsoft to take our solution to the next level.”

Microsoft strongly believes that when built with people in mind, AI technology has the power to extend our capabilities well beyond our limits, amplifying human ingenuity and empowering us all to achieve more.

Our AI for Good programme not only helps local businesses bring AI solutions to market, but also creates a global consensus about the need to develop responsible, ethical AI. Given there are around 70,000 social enterprise businesses in the UK contributing over £24 billion to the economy, this means that the country can lead the development of responsible AI solutions, for the good of everyone.

According to Hugh Milward, Microsoft UK’s Director, Corporate External and Legal Affairs:

“It’s not enough that AI has the power to transform the way we do things. We must also make sure we use AI as a tool for social good. I’m thrilled that we’re going to welcome another cohort of organisations creating social change in the UK. Having seen first-hand the impact last year’s group had, I hope that this year we can help even more organisations to make a difference.”

We’re excited to welcome the next group of ventures, start-ups, and social enterprises harnessing the power of AI to transform the world for the better.

Applications have now closed for our AI for Good accelerator programme – watch this space as we announce the 12 selected startups for our 2020 cohort!”

The post Make a difference with our AI for Good Accelerator Programme appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Ever since the first commercial emergence of mainframes in the 60s – generation 1 IT – the battle lines between IT and ‘the business’ had been drawn and the war between innovation and governance has waged without respite. Informing and achieving change in the early days of IT was glacially slow, and hellishly expensive. Control was managed by men (and the odd woman) in white coats behind locked doors who appeared to speak a foreign language. If the business were lucky, very lucky, they eventually got some of what they wanted, 6 months after they wanted it, and far too late for it to be of any use.

Newfound freedoms

The Windows PC, and with it Microsoft’s generation 2 distributed computing model of the 80s, initially saw the battle swing wildly in the favour of Agility. The businesspeople celebrated their newfound freedom with the rampant and unbridled spread of Access databases, Excel spreadsheets, and personal laser printers. The IT people sulked, pining for the days of the dominance of control. Business had agility, but now realised they needed help. No-one was happy.

By the early 1990s, this distributed IT model (and its associated, often devolved IT budgets) had resulted in a somewhat out-of-control and completely un-coordinated IT function. You could easily call it chaos. Data could be found (and lost) everywhere; duplication and waste were rife; complexity exploded; never-ending technical refresh became the norm; and unreliable and badly deployed IT became commonplace.

Total cost of ownership

To aid the plight of the miserable Head of IT, and to help put a name to his or her pain, Gartner Group famously coined the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model to put some metrics around the concept of “hidden” IT costs, and so a move toward centralising the management of the organisation’s IT investments began. Slowly but surely, security and risk arguments and spiralling costs led to “best practice” IT operating models, and the tensions of a hampered agility returned. Superficially, there was peace, but the relationship was dysfunctional, and at times even adversarial.

The turn of the millennium inspired the massively expensive, red herring, no-material-benefit-achieved, IT-centred hype-storm known as Y2K. The sage commercial wisdom and credibility that the TCO concept had begun to help build for IT in the eyes of the business was damaged. Hot on the tail of Y2K, came a second IT-driven hype storm promising to the business-people massive changes to the entire way we do business, a gold rush of instant fortune – but in an instant, the “dot-com” bubble had boomed and burst. IT’s last shreds of credibility, and a decade of its future potential budgets, evaporated.

Us vs. them

As a result of the earlier rampant uncontrolled demand, the loss of trust in IT and its associated TCO centric expenditure management model, the IT function was sentenced to reside in the “central services” half of the organisation chart, alongside the HR, Operations, Legal and Accounting teams, and firmly in the Cost Centre columns of the accounts that the latter maintained and closely scrutinised. IT spend was perpetually under pressure, controlling priorities for satiating demand was often IT’s problem, and IT’s lack of responsiveness or ability to meet all demand was often cited as the reason for a given business’ lack of success against competitors.

An “Us and Them” culture had again emerged, and since around 2003 IT had found itself largely being seen as a necessary yet misunderstood evil, while the consumer market’s appetite for technology seemed to know no bounds.

But against this backdrop, over the past 15 or so years, things in the marriage have gradually improved. Our ideas of best practice for an IT Operating Model that works for the business too have solidified and become broadly accepted by consensus. Life has improved, and IT is again more valued than it was in the dark millennial days, but something was still not optimal. Today, we find that all the process and procedure to coordinate this fragile working relationship takes a considerable amount of effort and time. And all the while, the speed of change in the business market is accelerating around us.

Dreaded disruptors

The lunch of the huge dominant incumbent market forces is suddenly being eaten by the dreaded “disrupters” – and entirely new business models are changing the macroeconomic landscape seemingly overnight. These new businesses can scale massively in no time because of the availability of the apparently bottomless availability of ‘Pay as You Grow’ cloud. But it’s more than even just that. These new business models are almost entirely enabled – and are often completely created by – the innovative development of new applications of technology.

The business, having for many years labelled corporate IT as an overhead that needed to be delivered as cost effectively as possible, sat up and realised that the opposite was now true. IT could be their saviour and something to covet, not something to despise.

And at the exact same time, the corporate IT guys realised that a ‘good, but not great’ corporate IT Operating Model (ITOM) that has been controlling a carefully centrally managed ‘Buy and Build’ IT platform was too just slow to provide the agility that the business need for their Business Operating Model (BOM) to be competitive.

Both business and IT both seemingly arrived at the same destination. That they needed a new ‘OM’. One that linked an ITOM with a BOM more tightly allowing the best of agility and control. This new operating model we describe as a DOM. A Digital Operating Model. Powered by the cloud.

The digital operating model

So, where does our story take us from here? If we accept that organisations need a new kind of operating model. A digital operating model. How does one go about creating such a thing?

The answer is the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure. Following a structured and methodical framework is the best way for you to achieve this ambition. Covering everything from Strategy, Planning, Readiness, Migration, Innovation through to Governance, Management, and Operation, it’s the most detailed and most comprehensive cloud adoption framework ever written.

Do you want to discover what the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure is and how it can help your business create a digital operating model to once and for all settle the battle between agility and control?

Book your place at one of my sessions at Future Decoded.

How to design a methodology for adopting and governing the cloud

01 Oct 11:30 – 12:30 | L3 Session Room 7

01 Oct 14:30 – 15:30 | L3 Session Room 8

02 Oct 14:00 – 15:00 | L3 Session Room 8

Also, keep your eyes peeled for a new book “Thinking of Building a Digital Operating Model with the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework?” written by myself and three colleagues, which is launching at Microsoft Ignite in November.

You can also explore more about the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure – from getting started to becoming fully operational in the cloud. You’ll find tools, guides, and narratives designed to help you identify business outcomes that will ease your adoption journey.

Find out more

Watch Dan’s session from Future Decoded

About the author

Dan Scarfe is the UK Founder and EVP Global Solutions for Microsoft UK’s Partner of the Year New Signature. Dan is part of the global strategy and portfolio function, which sets forward direction, product and service definition and go to market activities globally. This work has included envisioning and launching New Signature’s FY20 GTM. Dan is well known for his subject matter expertise around the Microsoft Cloud, with operating models and the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework as specialist subjects.  He sits on the global Azure Partner Advisory Council and is the author of two books. A technologist at heart, there is nothing Dan likes more than talking in front of people extolling the virtues of how technology can deliver meaningful impact to help organisations around the world go digital.

The post The Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure: Settling the six-decade war between Agility and Control appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Future Decoded is the flagship Microsoft event designed for business leaders, and we can’t wait to bring you some unforgettable moments you won’t want to miss out on.

I’m fascinated by the trajectory of today’s technology. It’s a story of commitment and creativity unfolding before us – from the industry’s thought-provoking work on AI to the genius cast of characters who persist in empowering us all. Two action-packed days of keynotes and breakouts to help you uncover how best to leverage the latest technology trends. You’ll leave the event with practical advice to prepare your business and employees for the future of work, in this AI-driven era.

If you haven’t signed up to join us at ExCel London on either October 1 or October 2 (or even both days), you can register for free at the Future Decoded site.

And if you still need more reasons to come, how about:

1. Unique perspectives from astronauts Major Tim Peake and Dr Helen Sharman

Future Decoded is all about seeing things differently – and few have seen things as differently as great British astronauts Major Tim Peake and Dr Helen Sharman.

Sharman has the honour of being the very first British astronaut. After beating out 13,000 other applicants, she launched in 1991, working on the world-famous MIR space station on her very first mission.

Meanwhile, Peake, the first European Space Agency’s British astronaut to board the International Space Station. During his time there, he became a national hero after using social media to communicate with us Earth-bound citizens.

On Day One of Future Decoded, Sharman and Peake will expand your horizons in a fascinating conversation with Microsoft UK Chief Operating Officer Clare Barclay.

2. Unrivalled AI research

Artificial intelligence promises to be as integral to our way of life as the mobile phone is today. To celebrate our AI-driven future, you’ll be free to join sessions across the event that explore the impact of AI on specific industries, including health, finance, and commerce.

Microsoft UK CEO Cindy Rose will kick off Future Decoded alongside Clare Barclay, COO, revealing ground-breaking research and insights into how AI fits into our modern world. Then join Lucas Joppa, Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Officer, on the topic of using AI for good.

Of course, you only have to look at modern science fiction to see the myths, hype, and lies surrounding artificial intelligence.

Thankfully, on Day Two, Professor Chris Bishop, Technical Fellow and Laboratory Director at Microsoft Research Cambridge, takes to the stage to deal with science fact in a fascinating exploration of the opportunities that AI really presents.

3. Changing the way we work

Technology is transforming the way we work and the work we do. The result is an ever-changing, ever-modernising workplace, and throughout the event, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to hear directly from Microsoft customers and partners who power their workplaces through Microsoft tools.

Oxfam CTO Nick Mitrovoc will be on hand to share the story of the charity’s migration to the cloud – a move that has empowered employees and volunteers across the organisation.

Microsoft partners KPMG and Phoenix Software will tackle one of the biggest issues of the day: mental health and well-being in the workplace. In the ‘How to manage mental wellbeing in the digital workplace’ session, which aims to raise awareness of mental health, you’ll discover how technology is being used to enable employers and employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

If you’d like to explore the topic of workplace inclusion before the event, Phoenix Software’s Modern Workplace and Accessibility Lead David Brown has discussed the issue on the Microsoft blog. It’s bound to give you inspiration and practical advice for creating your own modern workplace.

4. Making positive social transformation

Today’s technology is transforming lives in a positive way – particularly in the realm of healthcare.

This is the perfect chance to hear inspiration stories, like the British Heart Foundation’s launch of the National Defibrillator Network and Project Fizzyo’s innovative gamification of medicine to combat cystic fibrosis.

Dr Isabel Van De Keere of Immersive Rehab discusses how the AI for Good graduate is improving the effectiveness of physical and neuro-rehabilitation using virtual reality.

And you won’t want to miss Mike Culshaw’s talk on driving digital change in the NHS. The Chief Technology Officer for NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group, which oversees 26 GP practices, is empowering medical staff with the right tools to improve patient care and outcomes.

5. Networking opportunities

Future Decoded brings together everyone with a passion for technology, and using it to gain the competitive edge.

It’s an ideal setting for networking with peers. That’s why we’ve created a relaxed hub for you to hold impromptu meetings with customers and clients.

You’ll also have the opportunity to chat to the Microsoft team and selected partners in the lounge and across the expo.

And that includes me. I’ll be attending the event on both days, so you can find out more about Microsoft’s approach to marketing, storytelling, and building brands. I’d also love to answer any questions you may have about bringing your own brand to life. Find us in the lounge.

Bring your business cards – you’ll need them.

Register for Future Decoded

We’re almost full for this free event. Make sure you don’t miss out on Microsoft Future Decoded 2019. Register now for free and get ready to see the future of technology in action.

Book your place today

About the author

Great stories demand heroes, emotions, and insight. As Storytelling & Digital Destinations Lead at Microsoft UK, Victoria Oakes places these principles at the heart of Microsoft UK’s content output. In this role, she’s driven to unify messaging and content across Microsoft using insights at the heart. Through her passion for engaging copy, visual storytelling, and data-driven insights, she truly cares about content being useful, interesting and easy to digest.

The post 5 moments you don’t want to miss at Future Decoded appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.