Today’s shoppers have grown accustomed to the convenience of online shopping’s instant ordering and rapid delivery. For many retailers, this ‘always-on’ culture is still in stark contrast to the capabilities of many of their legacy systems. Industry analyst IDC recently identified up to US$94 billion of additional revenue available to retailers willing to invest in technology that effectively manipulates their business data. The Record, Microsoft’s quarterly enterprise customer magazine, speaks with Vic Miles, Director of Industry Technology Strategy at Microsoft, to discuss how microservices offer retailers the perfect way to provide customers with a personalised and seamless omnichannel retail experience.

“If retailers truly want to deliver services to their customers in a fluid manner across all current and future channels, they must move away from monolithic legacy systems and on-premise multichannel platforms,” says Miles. “Cloud based microservices are the next evolution of enterprise systems development and they’re ideal for helping retailers create omnichannel platforms that have a full 360-degree view of all customers.”

Partners Episerver, Claranet, Segment of One and Cegid discuss the ways in which they are seeing their retailers leveraging big data, cloud and AI in their omnichannel strategies; they will also discuss the use of Microsoft Azure cloud and the deep learning capabilities of Microsoft’s AI platform to significantly enhance the commerce microservices they provide to retailers.

Download our infographic and discover 5 Ways to Optimize Retail Operations with Artificial Intelligence.

The post Breaking the retail monolith appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

We speak to Microsoft’s Pinar Salk to understand how innovations in point-to point encryption are helping retailers and merchants to provide a more secure POS experience for their customers.

Juniper Research predicts that rapid digitization of the enterprise space will raise the cost of data breaches to US$2.1 trillion globally by 2019, almost four times the cost of breaches in 2015. In fact, British insurance firm Lloyd’s estimated that cyber attacks already cost businesses up to US$400 billion a year, which includes direct damage plus post-attack disruption.

“The growing cost of increasingly sophisticated cybercrime has made security a top priority for retailers at the POS, whether customers are purchasing products online via their smartphone, at an interactive in-store kiosk or a traditional cash register,” says Pinar Salk, Microsoft’s industry solutions director for Retail.

Today, any organization or merchant that captures, transmits, processes or stores any cardholder data must adhere to the global Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which aims to reduce credit and debit card fraud. In addition, financial institutions in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Canada and the US issue chip-and-pin or contactless credit and debit cards that meet Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) standards, while merchants and retailers operate EMV-ready POS devices.

“Although EMV technology confirms that cards and cardholders belong together, it doesn’t encrypt card data passing from the merchant to the payment processor, leaving it vulnerable,” explains Salk. “As retailers and merchants, rather than banks, are now liable for fraud if they do not have EMV-ready POS terminals, they’re looking for ways to protect card data quickly and easily.”

According to Salk, point-to-point encryption (P2PE) is the “most logical route” to protecting the retail environment with minimal cost and effort, particularly as retailers adopt new payment technologies, such as mobile and contactless cards.

“P2PE is a payment security solution that ensures confidential credit and debit card data is encrypted at all times, from the moment the customer inserts or taps their card at the POS, to the moment the payment is authorized by a third-party payment processor,” she explains. “It secures all devices, applications, servers, databases and IT systems involved in the transaction process, and because the card data is instantly converted into indecipherable code, fraudsters are only able to access useless information. P2PE is the quickest, cheapest and most convenient way for retailers to protect their customers’ privacy.”

Most importantly, Salk highlights, implementing a PCI-verified P2PE solution reduces the costs, time and complexity associated with completing PCI DSS audits.

“PCI DSS compliance is required for all systems involved with the credit card processing, so retailers and merchants must typically audit 284 controls each year to prove PCI compliance,” she says. “However, P2PE reduces this to just 19 because they no longer need to evaluate the POS, operating systems and internal networks. Plus, penetration tests and vulnerability scans are no longer required.”

Microsoft’s go-to-market P2PE partner is FreedomPay, which has developed the world’s first PCI-validated P2PE payments solution with EMV, NFC and real-time data capabilities on Microsoft Azure. The Freedom pay Commerce Platform safeguards sensitive card and customer data

“Card data from a retailer’s POS is encrypted and then decrypted inside the FreedomPay Commerce Platform’s hybrid cloud infrastructure before it is securely transmitted to payment processor for authorization,”

To date, the platform has helped multiple retailers, hospitality providers and other organizations to protect customers’ data. Food service provider Compass Group, for example, now relies on FreedomPay’s solution to securely process customers’ mobile transactions via its EMV-ready payment terminals at dining venues in more than 50 countries worldwide, including at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, US. Not only have the card data tokenization capabilities increased Compass Groups’ transaction capacity and made payments secure, but they have also boosted sales and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Salk expects payments to become even more secure over the next year as more retailers continue to adopt POS systems powered by Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system, launched in July 2015.

“Windows 10 provides maximum protection against malware – today’s biggest cybersecurity threat – while the built-in mobile device management features and the multi-factor identification and authentication capabilities make it easier for retailers to secure POS devices. Together with our partners, Microsoft is leading the way in P2PE and significantly enhancing POS security for our retail clients and their customers.”

The post Protecting customer data at the POS appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

We find out how Microsoft and its partners are leveraging new technologies to help retailers create modern shopping experiences and empower employees to deliver a new level of customer service

In Pennsylvania, US, Gerrity’s Supermarkets has deployed a mobile app that enables customers to scan and bag groceries as they shop, and pay at an express checkout. Elsewhere, global snacks manufacturer Mondelez International has developed a Diji-touch vending machine powered by Microsoft Kinect, Windows 10 and Azure IoT to allow customers to interact with products in 3D.

These are just two of the retailers worldwide that are harnessing the power of newly affordable technologies – such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the cloud, analytics, beacons and touch-screen devices – to transform how they engage with individual consumers both in store and online.

“Retailers are switching from an onmnichannel business model to a unified commerce approach where the online and physical stores are merging and mobile is playing an increasing the integral role,” says Marty Ramos, Microsoft’s chief technology officer of retail, consumer products and services. “Today’s consumers want to be able to start their shopping trip on their laptop at home, continue on their mobile and then pick up where they left off when completing their purchase in store.”

To facilitate this, notes Susan Olivier, vice president of consumer goods and retail industry at Dassault Systèmes, retailers must provide customers with the same information and quality of service at all touch points.

“It’s essential that retailers replicate the same efficient and interactive experience they provide online in their high-street outlets,” she says. “In future, physical stores will feature self-serve kiosks, digital shelves and interactive touch screen displays where consumers can access detailed product information, view extended product assortments, or even order products.”

Juan Guitierrez Botella, director of the Avanade Retail Center of Excellence, adds that retailers must also merge previously separate e-commerce and in-store systems, and use the same customer and product data to support both online and in-store customer interactions. “Although physical stores will continue to play a vital role in the shopping journey, from an IT perspective, the concept of separate digital and physical stores is obsolete,” he comments.

It’s also imperative that retailers equip store associates with the tools they need to know everything about individual customers the moment they walk into a store.

“The simple trick to improving conversion rates is to use data about customers’ preferences to personalize their shopping experience,” advises Ramos, adding that CRM platforms, in-store sensors and analytics tools are vital for capturing data from all customer touch points. “For example, if a store associate can see that I’ve looked at a particular shirt online, they can take me straight to it and then analyze my purchase history to recommend related products. Meanwhile, in-store sensors can help retailers to track customers as they pass through the store, identifying prime opportunities to drive sales by delivering additional product information or tailored discounts directly to their smartphones.”

Ramos adds that store associates should also be able to complete all tasks – from collaborating with colleagues, to checking inventory and serving customers – via one device and one operational system.

Avanade’s Botella agrees: “Physical stores will expand to become customer service hubs that offer online order fulfilment and post-sales support, so retailers must invest in technologies that empower store associates to become customer service representatives, fulfilment experts and product researchers that are adept at solving any customer issue.”

To help its clients explore how Microsoft technology can be deployed to transform in-store business processes and customer experience, Avanade has recently founded a Retail Center of Excellence.

“We’ve used Microsoft Kinect to develop interactive displays and Microsoft SharePoint to build Digital Pinboard solutions that deliver information and training directly to store associates,” explains Botella. “We’ve also adopted Microsoft Modern POS to help retailers explore the next generation of in-store POS.”

Similarly, Dassault Systèmes is helping retailers to use 3D visualization technologies and touchscreen devices that could power digital fitting rooms, interactive product information displays and self-serve kiosks. In addition, the company has developed ‘My Store’, a visual merchandising and assortment planning solution to enable retailers to simulate retail displays 3D product images and create flexible store planograms that are informed by real-time business analytics.

“Often, retailers need to display a lot of products in a limited space, so it’s vital that they can quickly trial different store layouts in a virtual environment and make more informed decisions about everything from where to place products to maximize in-store sales, to the location of changing rooms,” says Olivier.

Certainly, technology will enable retailers to transform both their physical outlets and store associates into intelligent entities that work cohesively with their online and mobile channels to offer customers a personalized and seamless shopping journey across all touch points.

“Whether we’re installing on-premise edge servers, providing in-store beacons and analytics technology, or simply equipping store associates with personal devices, Microsoft and our partners are creating the homogenous technology ecosystem that will support the store of the future,” says Ramos. “Together, we’ll help retailers to offer customers memorable, immersive experiences that build loyalty and engagement, and drive new revenue opportunities.”

“From an IT perspective, the concept of separate digital and physical stores is obsolete” JUAN GUITIERREZ BOTELLA, AVANADE RETAIL CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Profiled:
Building the supermarket of the future

Last year, Avanade joined with Accenture, Intel, Microsoft and Italy’s largest supermarket chain, COOP Italia, to bring a Supermarket of the Future concept to Expo Milan. The concept, which was also exhibited at the National Retail Federation show this January, uses internet of things technologies, augmented reality capabilities, Microsoft Azure, Kinect and motion- and touch-sensitive devices and shelves to give customers additional information about products. This includes everything from where it was sourced, to allergen information. “Customers were impressed by the possibility of exploring all the possible details of the products with a simple hand gesture,” enthuses Juan Guitierrez Botella, director of the Avanade Retail Center of Excellence. “We’ll use this experience to help other retailers explore how digital interactivity can create a more informative and convenient in-store shopping experience.

Solution Spotlight:
Personalizing products
Dassault Systèmes has recently launched ’My Retail Theatre’, a solution for retailers to provide consumers with the chance to customize their products via a 3DEXCITE configurator. Built on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, it creates photo-realistic 3D models of products to enable customers to personalize products by changing colors, materials and textures via touch screen devices in a physical store or online. “Replacing physical stock with 3D digital photo-realistic images allows retailers to offer consumers an extended product assortment without increasing inventory or compromising on the quality of store displays,” explains Olivier. “In addition, retailers can gain insight into consumers’ tastes and trends and maximize their online engagement.” Last year, FashionLab by Dassault Systèmes joined with Julien Fournié, founder of France-based Couture House, to use the technology to design and customize a footwear collection using Microsoft Surface Pro devices.

The post Equipping the store of the future appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

As the industry gears up for the Insurance Accounting & Systems Association event, we speak with Microsoft’s Tony Jacob to find out how mobile applications are transforming processes for insurance agents and their customers.

At a time when there are more mobile devices than humans on the planet, it’s unsurprising that most individuals prefer mobile as their number-one way to be reached and interact. It’s also helping them to be more productive at work, and it’s creating a more engaging and convenient way for companies to communicate with their customers. With this in mind, a growing number of insurance carriers are exploring how they can use both B2B and B2C mobile applications across their businesses – applications that are capable of running on multiple devices.

“Many people, particularly in the emerging markets, access websites from their mobile devices and expect to be able to choose, buy and amend insurance policies or interact with their insurance carriers in the same way,” explains Tony Jacob, managing director of Worldwide Insurance at Microsoft. “Providing mobile applications is also an effective way to attract the ­younger ­generation of potential policyholders, and to supply agents, brokers, claims adjusters and risk engineers with mobile applications and devices that can increase their productivity and allow them to provide an enhanced customers experience to their policyholders.”

While many insurance carriers recognize the benefits mobile applications bring to both their employees and customers, developing and maintaining applications that can be used on multiple operating systems and devices can be challenging. “Our customers and partners find it difficult, time consuming and expensive to develop and support multiple versions of their mobile applications. This requires that they maintain skills in several architectures and support excess infrastructure,” says Jacob.

When Microsoft launches Windows 10 this year, developing mobile insurance applications for various form factors will become easier and more cost effective. Designed to increase interoperability, Windows 10 consolidates the various versions of Microsoft’s operating system to provide a consistent user experience across all devices including mobiles, tablets, laptops, desktops and the new Surface Hub.

“Windows 10 users will be able to develop one application with a context-sensitive interface that will automatically render itself to fit the screen size and input model of whichever device the customer or insurance agent is using,” explains Jacob. “Customers will also be able to build both online and native Windows applications and quickly and easily reconfigure them to run on iOS or Android devices. Meanwhile, new on-ramp tools will enable developers to convert iOS and Android applications to Windows.”

In addition, developers will be able to integrate Microsoft Azure cloud services into their applications, or use that cloud platform to support, provision and deploy their applications. “Using the cloud as an application platform could be a real game-changer for insurance customers and partners because it will enable them to efficiently deliver applications to remote employees, such as independent or captive agents who are distributed widely across a market or region,” says Jacob.

Currently, Microsoft is working with several of its partners to develop a broad range of mobile applications, products and services that are designed to help insurance customers manage their daily insurance needs more conveniently and flexibly.

For example, Insuresoft has launched a new Diamond application to enable property and casualty insurance policyholders to make premium payments, check their policy status, show proof of coverage and print hard copies of their policies directly from Windows Phone or Windows 8.1 devices. Avanade, meanwhile, offers a range of mobile applications to help agents and customers manage life, non-life, and even usage-based insurance scenarios in a more convenient and flexible way.

“The new generation of more responsive mobile applications provides our insurance customers with the opportunity to improve the work style of their remote employees including agents, brokers, financial advisors, claims adjusters and risk engineers,” says Jacob. “Microsoft’s Developer Experience team aims to help our partners develop and deliver mobile applications quickly and in a way that helps them to build their skill sets in areas such as responsive web applications, touch interfaces and cloud as an application platform. We’re currently helping many of our partners to extend their traditional insurance solutions so that they can be used on mobile devices.”

Improving the accuracy and efficiency of claims processing is also high on Microsoft’s agenda. This year, the company has worked with StoneRiver to help it develop and launch a mobile claims adjuster application that enables adjusters to easily gather loss information, add related information and process claims more quickly. Similarly, Microsoft has helped Accenture Duck Creek to develop a Windows-based mobile claims adjuster application to help insurers access claims information and additional data while completing loss inspections in the field, using their Windows Phone and tablets such as the Surface device.

“We’re seeing a new wave of claims adjuster applications that either integrate with, or extend, insurance companies’ back-office claims processing solutions so agents can complete forms on their mobile devices, tablets, laptops or desktops,” says Jacob. “In future, we expect these applications to become better integrated with claims estimating applications and the calculators used in automotive and homeowner adjusting. Developers will also make better use of the peripheral features of Windows devices such as the camera and voice recorders.”

Several Microsoft partners have also developed mobile applications that will boost the productivity of insurance agents and brokers, or help these providers to improve the experience for policyholders and prospective customers.

For example, CSC has created a Windows mobile and touch application with RiskMaster, an integrated claims and risk management mobile application to help property and casualty insurance carriers and self-insured customers to evaluate claims, control legal costs, identify potential fraud and automate policy administration more quickly. Meanwhile, US-based insurance agency management system provider Vertafore has launched initiatives to provide insurance agents with mobile applications that will help increase their productivity, regardless of the device they are using.

Other Microsoft partners have developed mobile ‘pitchbook’ applications to provide sales representatives with real-time access to model sales presentations and all of the product information they need to explain simple and complex insurance products to customers.

“Curated sales content applications are delivered directly from the cloud to a web or native application on the agent’s mobile device, so that sales content can be accessed easily regardless of the user’s location,” explains Jacob. “Microsoft has also worked with agency management system providers to integrate insurance companies’ customer relationship management (CRM) systems with individual agents’ mobile devices to provide them with additional customer insight and facilitate effective case management.” For example, Seismic’s app, which is hosted on Microsoft Azure and can be integrated with an insurance company’s CRM system, allows sales agents to share sales documents and presentations, gain a 360-degree view of customers, automatically populate documents with data and more.

Similarly, LIA has developed a curated sales content application that can be used on Windows tablets. Used in 47 countries, LIA allows insurance sales representatives to access relevant content on their mobile devices when dealing with customers in the field. The application also analyses individual employees’ prospects and sales, and then feeds this data back to the management team so they can track performance.

“LIA provides an efficient and effective tool for insurance companies wanting to achieve compliance because management can also ensure version control and provide an audit trail for each sales representative and prospect engagement,” explains David Warren, CEO of LIA. “Plus, customers can now purchase our flagship Windows app using their existing Microsoft budget, enabling them to derive increased incremental value from their investments in Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and Microsoft Azure.”

In addition, Microsoft is collaborating with e-application developers such as iPipeline to provide agents with the mobile tools they need to quickly complete insurance forms when they are closing new deals. The company has also partnered with both AssureSign and DocuSign to ensure that e-signature capabilities are included in its devices, its productivity applications such as Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Looking ahead, Jacob expects more insurance providers to harness mobile technology to cater to the needs of their employees and customers. He also predicts that more insurance carriers will leverage the internet of things, telematics, usage-based applications and home automation devices.

“Smart devices are becoming increasingly popular as insurance carriers explore how they can capture insights about customer behavior to better price policies, improve underwriting performance or reduce claims loss ratios,” explains Jacob. “The explosion of wearable devices in the marketplace is also prompting companies to explore how data about the wearer’s health and fitness activities can be used to develop life, group and employee insurance programs and products. Over the next few years, insurance providers will need to ensure they can tailor their existing solutions or develop new applications and products to cater for today’s more mobile workforce and consumer base.”

The post Making insurance more mobile appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

The launch issue of OnWindows is out now, providing you with everything you need to know about enterprise technology on the Microsoft Windows platform.

Technology accelerator programs, which provide start-ups with the technology, funding and advisory resources they need to speed up their entry to market, are fast becoming a staple in financial services markets across the globe.

“In the past, start-ups would spend a lot of time building their company’s IT infrastructures which left them little time to focus on developing the high-quality products, profitable business strategies and effective marketing campaigns they needed to enter the market successfully,” explains Richard Peers, director of the financial services industry at Microsoft. “Today, fintech accelerator programs enable entrepreneurs to experiment with different ideas and quickly develop breakthrough products that have the potential to revolutionize the financial services industry.”

Microsoft offers various accelerator initiatives, including seven global Microsoft Ventures programs and the BizSpark program, which gives start-ups access to its technology stack, partners and marketing engines.

Finlytics, which was established in 2006 as a joint venture with a tier-one investment bank, is one financial solutions provider that has benefited from Microsoft’s BizSpark Plus program.

The company joined BizSpark to help it save operational and development costs by offering its business intelligence solutions via the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, rather than on its clients’ on-premises servers. BizSpark’s team provided free access to Microsoft’s software development tools, servers and Azure cloud platform, as well as provided expert guidance.

“Microsoft reviewed our architecture and initial business strategies, and gave us the planning advice and software resources we needed to successfully transition from our old model in a shorter period of time,” explains Nick Simpson, the founder of finlytics. “We have eliminated our monthly development costs and can now deliver the same reporting and business intelligence applications via a more cost-effective and scalable model on Azure.”

Working in collaboration with BizSpark and its Microsoft partner Level 39, a fintech accelerator based in the UK’s Canary Wharf, enabled finlytics to interact with major banks, insurers and other financial services institutions.

“Even if a start-up had an unlimited supply of money, it would still benefit from being a member of the BizSpark program,” concludes Simpson. “Deploying cloud solutions in the financial services sector can be challenging due to the strict regulations, but the Microsoft Ventures and BizSpark accelerator programs are really helping startups to navigate these compliance issues, build viable business plans and bring their solutions to market quickly.”

The post Accelerating speed to market appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.