Lessons from Microsoft Inspire: How Digital Perseverance Pays Dividends Amid Uncertainty

It is fair to say that we are living in uncertain times characterized by inflationary pressures, supply chain constraints, and conflict in Europe, to name a few. 

Yet we have also seen incredible stories of perseverance and innovation as customers and partners around the world lay a digital foundation to solve challenges today while positioning themselves for tomorrow.

Last week, at Microsoft Inspire — our biggest partner event of the year — I wanted to convey one message: the only pathway through uncertainty is continued and accelerated innovation. Our customers and partners are bringing this notion to life, and I want to highlight a few of their stories here.

Companies are shifting from building resilience to digital perseverance.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that no business is 100% resilient. But businesses that are fortified with digital capability are more resilient than those that are not. If we take this a step further, continuing to innovate through uncertain times can prepare an organization for the future.

I like to think about this as a pivot from resilience to perseverance. If resilience describes how you respond to new challenges, then perseverance is something more. It is about envisioning the future and readying yourself for whatever might come next. 

Our customers are building their own future today.

To illustrate this concept, we invited three companies to Inspire to discuss our partnership and how they are tapping into the unique value of the Microsoft Cloud to achieve their respective business goals.

Organizations are grappling with questions related to the future of work by balancing employee productivity and wellbeing. Canadian financial services provider Manulife, in partnership with Microsoft, is achieving this balance today with tools that empower its employees to work together no matter where they are located.

Supply chain constraints are impacting almost all industries, including the consumer packaged goods that we frequently buy at the supermarket. Digital technologies are bringing far greater visibility and predictability into supply chains — while also helping them operate much more sustainably. Case in point: we are collaborating with Coca-Cola HBC Austria, one of The Coca-Cola Company’s most innovative bottling partners, to make its supply chain both more resilient and sustainable.

Finally, the need for cybersecurity remains constant, as threats from bad actors have only grown over time. In an increasingly digital-first world, we have to create a foundation of trust for everyone to navigate it safely. That is why Grupo Bimbo is partnering with Microsoft to create a secure environment that protects its people and data in a much more distributed working environment. 

We are moving from best-of-breed to best-of-suite with integrated, industry solutions.

Industry solutions matter. In today’s climate, organizations will not have the luxury of selecting multiple best-of-breed applications and undergoing lengthy integrations. We have to bring a best-of-suite approach that consolidates and enables an integrated future. Integration also means interoperability, because no one company can provide everything that every customer needs. We must work closely together with partners, even if they happen to overlap with Microsoft’s portfolio.

Amid the risk and uncertainty of this past year, I am thrilled to see how our customers and partners have embraced digital innovation and persevered. If you missed Inspire last week, you can watch it below. In addition, over the next several days, I will share more posts on our partnership with organizations advancing employee engagement and collaboration, sustainability, and supply chain resiliency through digital technologies.