Microsoft, a titan in the industry, owes a good chunk of its success to one fundamental principle - Collaboration. Paint a picture of a global partner ecosystem with over 400,000 partners sprinkled across the world, and you get an idea of the scale at which Microsoft operates. These aren't just numbers - each partner holds the torch of innovation, lighting up the pathway for customers in this age where Artificial Intelligence (AI) reigns supreme.
Microsoft's much-awaited Microsoft Inspire event paid homage to these invaluable partners, highlighting their roles in pushing customer success to new heights and unveiling fresh, engaging ways to immerse in the world of Microsoft products.
The 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards! The awards ceremony, which kicked off Microsoft Inspire, was a splendid spectacle, shining the spotlight on the finalists and winners announced late June. The awards stand testament to the ingenuity and innovation within the partner community, showcasing excellence across diverse solution areas, industries, business transformations, and even social impact.
And there's more! This year's Microsoft Inspire didn't just stop at recognizing achievements, oh no! It was all about pushing the envelope, turning AI into a powerhouse tool for both customers and partners. There was a palpable air of excitement as Microsoft unveiled a plethora of AI-driven solutions. Partners found themselves at the heart of a transformative movement, shown how to weave these AI marvels into their organizations. The result? An eclectic mix of AI skilling expansion, innovative products, and services that supercharge customer success. Hold on to your seats, folks, it's a thrilling ride ahead in the world of AI!
Introducing Bing Chat Enterprise
Ever since Microsoft unleashed the revamped Bing in February, the buzz from corporate clientele has been through the roof. They're all charged up to harness the horsepower of cutting-edge AI tools in their organizations. But wait, there's a hitch - data protection. In this digital age, the safety of a company's data is non-negotiable.
Breathe easy folks, Microsoft has got you covered! At our most recent Inspire event, they pulled back the curtain on Bing Chat Enterprise, an innovation that's set to change the game. Picture AI-fueled chat, fine-tuned for work, but with a firm lock on commercial data protection. Every piece of information that enters and exits this platform is securely guarded, offering commercial clients a secure channel to glean better answers, ramp up efficiency, and unlock fresh avenues of creativity.
Here's some more good news: Bing Chat Enterprise has already started to roll out in preview mode to organizations licensed for Microsoft 365 E5, E3, Business Premium and Business Standard, and the best part? It's at absolutely no extra cost! Looking ahead, Microsoft are also planning to offer Bing Chat Enterprise as a standalone subscription for a nominal $5 USD per user, per month. Can't wait to get started with Bing Chat Enterprise? Learn more and find out how to take the first step towards a more secure and efficient workspace!
Announcing Microsoft 365 Copilot Pricing
Microsoft thrilled to reveal the pricing for their next big thing, Microsoft 365 Copilot. Get ready to have this fantastic tool at your disposal for just $30 USD per user per month, accessible to Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium customers upon general availability.
Here's where it gets interesting. While many generative AI apps have a single feather in their cap, be it real-time transcription or copywriting, Microsoft 365 Copilot is a different breed. Imagine having an army of skills at your beck and call, ready to revolutionise your productivity. Microsoft Copilot is firmly rooted in your business data, making sense of your documents, emails, calendar, chats, meetings, and contacts. It then weaves these details with your real-time working context - the current meeting, recent email threads, last week's chats - to deliver responses that are richer, more relevant, and packed with actionable insights.
But wait, there's more! Microsoft 365 Copilot smoothly integrates into the apps you've grown to love and use daily. Need to kickstart your creativity in Word? Copilot's got your back. Looking to analyze data in Excel? Copilot is on it. Designing presentations in PowerPoint, managing your Outlook inbox, summarizing Teams meetings whether you were present or not - Copilot is your go-to sidekick. And that's just scratching the surface. Stay tuned for more as Microsoft continue to redefine productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Empowering sellers and customer service agents with AI
In the dynamic world of sales, having a multi-functional toolbox is not just a plus, it's a must. Good news! Microsoft are enhancing the ever-so-powerful Microsoft Sales Copilot within Dynamics 365 Sales. Expect to see AI-generated opportunity summaries, contextually crafted email drafts, and thorough meeting preparations at your fingertips. This move amplifies sellers' prowess to notch up productivity and clinch more deals, thanks to the wonders of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) task automation (yes, including Salesforce), actionable real-time insights, and AI-backed content and recommendations. These tools allow personalising customer interactions at scale to be a breeze.
And that's not all. If you're already loving the AI capabilities present in Microsoft Sales Copilot, like Teams calls summaries and email thread summaries, brace yourself for more! Recall Viva Sales, Microsoft's brainchild announced back in June 2022? It kickstarted their journey to revolutionise seller experiences. Now, they have bundled these exciting capabilities as part of Sales Copilot. Want the full scoop on Microsoft Sales Copilot? Read more here.
Switching gears to the recent Microsoft Inspire event, Microsoft are beaming with pride at how customers like Virgin Money are bolstering their customer service departments with tailored chatbots built with Copilot in Power Virtual Agents. With this tool, businesses can whip up a chatbot trained in natural language, capable of referencing internal and external knowledge sources, customer service applications, and web data via Bing Search - all within minutes! Virgin Money's chatbot handles an astounding 195,000+ customer interactions each month, freeing their service agents to tackle more intricate customer queries. The future of customer service is here, and it's AI-powered!
Azure OpenAI expanded availability
Microsoft are bursting with excitement with the large business uptake of their Azure OpenAI Service. With a whopping 4,500+ customers diving into the product! Microsoft has been observing clients doing incredible things, like crafting chatbots using organizational data, summarising text, and churning out content, is nothing short of a roller coaster ride of thrill.
And here's the grand news - they're widening their horizon, bringing this service to a myriad of organisations worldwide. Last week marked a landmark expansion for Azure OpenAI Service. Microsoft ramped up its availability in North America and Western Europe, and the cherry on top - they've hit the shores of Asia for the very first time! It's a global embrace of AI, and they're proud to be at the helm. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting journey!
The new Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program
Another huge milestone unfolded at Microsoft Inspire as they unfurled the red carpet for the launch of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. Think of it as their partner program 2.0, crafted meticulously to enable every partner to deliver superior customer value while leveraging the might of Microsoft AI and the Microsoft Cloud. With this program, they're equipping partners with a comprehensive investment portfolio, tailor-made to suit all partner business models across various stages of maturity.
The beauty of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is its holistic approach. It takes into account the entire partner lifecycle, from onboarding and skilling to go-to-market strategies, incentives, and co-selling. So what's in it for our partners? You get all the perks and benefits of the previous program, plus exclusive access to new offerings and advantages centered around AI. The cherry on top? Transition to this new program is a breeze. Microsoft has automatically migrated all existing partners to the new program, ensuring they retain their existing benefits and designations. No hassle, no fuss! Keen to know more about the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program? Dive in and read more here.
Craving more juicy details on all the exciting unveilings at Microsoft Inspire? Fret not! Make sure to dive into Microsoft's treasure trove of on-demand content right here for a comprehensive scoop.
