{"id":234378,"date":"2020-05-14T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T17:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/?p=234378"},"modified":"2022-07-26T06:13:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T13:13:59","slug":"learning-from-customers-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365\/blog\/2020\/05\/14\/learning-from-customers-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning from our customers in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"
Spain has been one of the countries hit hardest by COVID-19. Famous for their crowded caf\u00e9s and lively streets, the social Spanish spent March and April under one of the strictest lockdown ordinances in the world. But it wasn\u2019t enough to keep them apart. \u201cBeing in close connection with our families and our customers is part of our DNA,\u201d says Miguel \u00c1ngel Cervera, who leads Microsoft\u2019s team in Madrid. During the lockdown, Cervera\u2019s team met each morning for virtual coffees, often reconvening in the evenings for online yoga, meditation, and even chess competitions.<\/p>\n
The team also helped customers around the country move to remote work with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams. Even the Royal Family of Spain has been using Teams to connect with leaders and experts<\/a> during the crisis. This month, as the Spanish government has begun lifting restrictions across the country, our customers there reflect on what they have discovered while learning and working apart. Here are some of their stories.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Royal Family of Spain in a Teams conference with <\/em>Juan Roig, CEO of Mercadona<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n In and around Madrid, there are an incredible 35,000 teachers and 650,000 students using Teams every day<\/a>. That\u2019s about 92 percent of public schools. \u201cSince day one, we\u2019ve seen the Microsoft team committed to helping our community continue school,\u201d says Enrique Ossorio, Education Counselor for Madrid. \u201cMicrosoft Teams helps our teachers and students to meet face-to-face virtually, meeting our privacy and security requirements and providing simple ways to follow up after class with tasks, easy-to-find files, and chat conversations all in one place.\u201d<\/p>\n Damian Quiralte, Principal at another Madrid-based elementary institution, CEIP Claudio Moyano<\/a>, says Teams has given the school the opportunity to embrace a digital model while helping teachers and students to continue classes. \u201cThey feel like part of something bigger,\u201d he says. Quiralte creates daily conversations in Teams with the tasks of the day; each student uploads their assignment to the thread. Then they schedule a video meeting where students pitch their work to the class. \u201cIt\u2019s really funny to see six-year-old students continue engaging with each other as if nothing changed,\u201d says Quiralte.<\/p>\n In Spain, the public sector has been slow to make digital advancements, still conducting most business in person. But the Council of Lleida, a small town in the northeastern part of Spain, has led the pack. \u201cWe have been working on a contingency plan for years,\u201d says Carles Gin\u00e9, Computer and Information Systems Director for the Lleida City Council. Since the stay-at-home measures were announced, the council has shifted 1,600 employees to remote work with Windows Virtual Desktop. Each civil servant can now access all internal resources directly from a web browser window on their PC to provide public services to more than 130,000 citizens. And the town hall has used Live Events in Teams to hold important meetings and maintain city operations throughout the lockdown.<\/p>\nEducation<\/h3>\n
Government<\/h3>\n