{"id":8822,"date":"2024-07-20T09:16:41","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T16:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=8822"},"modified":"2024-10-26T14:50:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-26T21:50:50","slug":"inside-the-transformation-of-it-and-operations-at-microsoft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/inside-the-transformation-of-it-and-operations-at-microsoft\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Microsoft\u2019s digital transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MicrosoftOur Microsoft Digital Employee Experience (MDEE) team builds and operates the systems that run Microsoft, and as such, we\u2019re leading the company\u2019s internal digital transformation. We\u2019re doing this by rethinking traditional IT and business operations, and by driving innovation and productivity for our 220,000-plus employees worldwide. Fueling Microsoft\u2019s digital transformation is improving our ability to empower our employees, engage our customers and partners, optimize our operations, and transform our products.<\/p>\n

The need for digital transformation<\/h2>\n

The need for our digital transformation is evident\u2014the global pandemic has created challenges for every organization, from employee placement to supply chain management, to continued retail operations. The investments that Microsoft has made in digital transformation have helped us respond quickly and efficiently to the frequent changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Our continued digital transformation will enable Microsoft to further its mission of empowering every person and every organization of the planet to achieve more, and it starts right here at home, with MDEE. Every new challenge presents an opportunity to assess our role in the organization and how we can put Microsoft in an even better position to take on new challenges.<\/p>\n

Disruptions have always been a catalyst for business transformation. To lead on the forefront, we\u2019re becoming more agile, efficient, and innovative. This means changing our systems and processes to support and quickly adapt to new products, services, business models, regulations, and anything else that comes our way.<\/p>\n

Leading with vision and world-class execution<\/h2>\n

Leading with vision is the primary driver of our digital transformation. MDEE powers the company, and we are critical to both internal and external customers. To lead with vision, we need a clearly articulated view of where we want to take things and what we need to get there. Aligning our work to a larger vision of what we want to accomplish pushes us past day-to-day fire drills and comfortable routines to deliver something truly great for Microsoft. \u00a0Each one of our groups has a clear, targeted vision grounded in what our customers need and what we need as an organization. However, articulating the vision is not enough. An inspired and productive vision must accurately reflect what we actually do.<\/p>\n

Vision is the foundation for the major decisions we make, not a document that we write once a year and put on a shelf. Building a strong connection between vision and work can be clarified by telling a story. The vision should create a narrative that informs our day-to-day decisions at every level. Each choice, no matter how granular, should connect itself and contribute to the broader vision. In turn, the vision inspires these choices, supporting aspirations for the business and energizing our employees. Telling the story this way makes us think carefully about how a piece of work fits into the broader vision\u2014or if it doesn\u2019t. It also helps us define our work in a way that\u2019s consumable by our various stakeholder audiences, which is critical if we want them to support and partner with us. If we tell the story well, our stakeholders should be able to tell the story of how our work supports them to others.<\/p>\n

[<\/em>Discover how we\u2019re reinventing Microsoft\u2019s Employee Experience for a Hybrid World<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Learn more about Microsoft\u2019s cloud-centric architecture transformation<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Find out how we\u2019re enabling a modern support experience at Microsoft<\/em><\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Making hard choices<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being vision-led means making difficult and specific choices about where we will focus our efforts, and which work we will need to postpone or simply not do. We ruthlessly prioritize, focusing on what to stop investing in as much as what to invest in next. We set a high bar for quality, delivery, cost, and compliance. Our approach includes observing important guidelines for how we implement our vision and how that informs our operations. This includes:<\/p>\n