As we look forward to the New Year, we express our gratitude for the incredible work you're doing to drive your mission forward.
The team at Aksara United thanks you for your support and wishes you and yours a happy holiday!
Monday, December 28, 2020
We look forward to a great New Year together
As we look forward to the New Year, we express our gratitude for the incredible work you're doing to drive your mission forward.
The team at Aksara United thanks you for your support and wishes you and yours a happy holiday!
Happy New Year!
As we look forward to the New Year, we express our gratitude for the incredible work you're doing to drive your mission forward.
The team at Aksara United thanks you for your support and wishes you and yours a happy holiday!
All of us at Aksara United wish you a wonderful holiday season.
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Open up a new line of communication. Subscribe now.
Teamwork is more important than ever for today's businesses--and Microsoft Teams makes it easier than ever for your business to begin realizing the promise of a digital workspace. Subscribe now to stay informed on how Teams, as the hub in Office 365, can elevate and transform communication, collaboration, and teamwork throughout your entire organization.
Just move it to the cloud
This blog outlines the different methods of data migration and use cases. Your method of migrating data to the cloud will depend on many factors. Migrating large amounts of data can be done with any of the methods explained in the blog, including Azure Data Box, File Shares, Site Recovery service, and more.
Satya Nadella On Microsoft's New Age Of Intelligence
"Microsoft was born to do a certain set of things. We're about empowering people in organizations all over the world to achieve more. In today's world, we want to use AI to achieve that."
That's Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, crisply explaining the company's artificial-intelligence vision in an interview with Fast Company. Read the article for a look at how Microsoft aims to tie everything from Cortana to HoloLens to Office to Azure into one amazing AI experience.
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
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Stay up to date on the latest features Windows Virtual Desktop has to offer for remote workers. In this new work environment, Microsoft has adapted and boosted their platforms. Get the newest technology, subscribe now.
Collaborate with Microsoft Teams
This infographic lists the many ways you can use Microsoft Teams to drive workplace collaboration. It also provides statistics on the success and popularity of Microsoft Teams.
Nonprofit helps keep Italy's workers—and their personal data—safer after adopting Microsoft 365
In this case study, the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) adopts Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 to establish a highly secure, collaborative environment for its thousands of employees, including lawyers, doctors, administrators, and engineers.
Driving digital transformation with Microsoft Dynamics 365 to create an integrated, growth-enabling workplace
After growing into one of the largest hotel chains in the U.S., the Red Lion Hotel Corporation (RLH) faced the challenge of combining its internal siloed legacy platforms into a unified system that enabled data-driven decision making.
Leveraging the robust capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics 365, RLH obtained accurate performance data analysis, created a more efficient and productive workplace environment, and gained a revenue-increasing ecosystem that fosters integration and scalability.
Watch the video to learn more about their success story, then contact Aksara United to learn how we can help your organization create its own success story.
A new generation of communication tools for a new generation of Alcoa workers
At the Alcoa plant in the distant coastal town of Fjardaal, Iceland, employees relied on a magnetic board to assign and trade shifts, while standard email was used to communicate critical information from one shift to the next--both of which required people to be physically present to retrieve messages or confirm changes in shift assignments. The adoption of Microsoft Teams transformed these otherwise manual tasks into a workflow better suited to a new generation of digitally savvy Alcoa employees who all carry smartphones. With Teams, company-wide announcements are now made with the confidence that everyone will see them via their devices, regardless of location, while operational information is quickly disseminated and passed along from one shift to the next to improve processes, safety, and efficiency. Watch the video to see how Teams is delivering the future of communication to a new generation of Alcoa plant personnel.
Monday, December 21, 2020
How Modern BI Delivers Insights to Anyone, Anywhere, At Any Time.
By the 2020s, only 25% of companies on the S&P 500 will be ones that exist today. An astounding 75% will be companies not on the index today. Check out this infographic to for an overview of how Power BI helps organizations thrive in a world of change by delivering insights to anyone, anywhere at any time.
View: How Modern BI Delivers Insights to Anyone, Anywhere, At Any Time.
CWPS uses Microsoft Teams to reimagine sales project workflows
How can your organization benefit from Microsoft Teams? Learn from Frank Lusko, the EVP of Sales and Marketing at CWPS, to hear how his sales team has benefited from this collaboration tool through features such as notification alerts and planner scheduling.
Enable remote work faster with new Windows Virtual Desktop capabilities
Windows Virtual Desktop meets the needs of an increasingly distributed and remote workforce. Organizations of all sizes have had to quickly shift focus and support users who need to stay connected from new locations and devices. Learn what new capabilities Windows Virtual Desktop added to make remote work more efficient and secure.
Fortnum and Mason delivers memorable customer experiences with Microsoft Dynamics 365
Fortnum and Mason uses Dynamics 365 to support efficiency and growth for the future. The system provides important insights such as how often a customer shops with them and what their spend is, giving Fortnum and Mason the tools to make sure they are offering customers the products and services they want. Overall speed and usability, as well as closer control on costs, allows Fortnum and Mason to be proactive about achieving goals and serving their customers.
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Protect the Privacy of Your Microsoft Teams Meetings
With the increased usage of Microsoft Teams to conduct virtual meetings, the need for tactical best practices to protect your privacy from intruders is also on the rise. This thought leadership article explores how to protect the privacy of your Microsoft Teams Meetings with easy ways to mitigate the risk of such problems by updating your settings.
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Turn prospects into engaged customers
Today's B2B buyers have high expectations, and those expectations will not be met if B2B buyers are accustomed to sophisticated consumer interactions in their personal lives. Executive B2B buyers are not impressed by marketing driven by large, relatively impersonal data analysis that leads to inconsistent and conflicting interactions or sales outreach that doesn't cater specifically to their needs at the right time. This blog recommends taking a new approach that unifies relationship data across the full customer lifecycle.
Empower your business with Power BI! Subscribe now and never miss a post.
Business data is multiplying exponentially. To put this data to work for your business and gain a competitive advantage, you need an end-to-end analytics solution that's not only fast, secure, and easy to use, but more important, also places this data at the fingertips of everyone in your organization, enabling anyone to transform business data into actionable insights.
Microsoft Power BI and Azure offer an unbeatable combination for analytics that enables your business to maximize the potential of its data by performing real-time analytics, visualizing the results, and leveraging insights to improve business processes, increase productivity, and ultimately gain a more competitive footing. Subscribe now to learn how Power BI and Azure, and other Microsoft solutions, can help your business excel.
View: Empower your business with Power BI! Subscribe now and never miss a post.
Cloud rationalization: Myth busters
The "five Rs of rationalization" (Rehost, Refactor, Rearchitect, Rebuild, Replace) are a great way to frame a potential future state for any workload that's being considered as a cloud candidate. However, this labeling process should be put into the correct context before you attempt to rationalize an environment. This one-page flyer debunks three common myths around cloud rationalization labeling process.
Rolls-Royce and new digital capabilities
With over 13,000 commercial aircraft engines in operation around the globe, Rolls Royce offers comprehensive maintenance services to keep them at peak performance. The company uses the Microsoft Azure platform to manage its massive volume of data coming from multiple types of equipment—all to ensure safety and efficiency for its customers.
Watch this video for insight on what Rolls-Royce achieved with a Microsoft solution for field service.
Cloud lessons learned
Cloud computing offers measurable benefits and solutions to real problems, including aging hardware, barriers to innovation, data center capacity constraints, and even regulatory requirements. But moving Windows Server and SQL Server workloads can be daunting. What follows are actual customer experiences that illustrate both the process of migration and its benefits. This e-book will help you learn from their experiences.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Create and use private channels in Microsoft Teams
With Microsoft Teams private channels, you can have focused, private conversations with specific people on your team. This Microsoft Teams tutorial video will show you how to create private channels as you're working remotely.
Empower employees for secure remote work with Windows Virtual Desktop
Virtual desktops can provide great security to organizations and allow remote employees to access safely confidential organizational data. Learn how Windows Virtual Desktop makes your workflow secure in addition to optimizing services.
Engaging at scale
This infographic represents successful companies' consensus about which sales tools are most effective in enabling their sales teams to engage at scale with target accounts.
Overview of Microsoft Defender ATP
Learn how Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection delivers preventative protection, post-breach detection, automated investigation, and response for enterprise networks. Play this video for an overview.
Taking internal communication to the next level with Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has transformed internal communications for today's businesses, delivering features that allow companies to customize workspaces, connect team members together, provide single-point access to assets, integrate third-party solutions, and more. In this video, you'll see how advanced communications tools and the integration of disparate CRM tools into Microsoft Teams enabled Red Lion Hotels (RLH) to up its hospitality game.
Monday, December 14, 2020
Japanese waitress and self-taught Power BI and Azure developer digitally transforms her restaurant--and the industry
For Akiyoshi Shinobu, a waitress at Ebiya restaurant in Ise, Japan, creating superb dining experience for customers and a great place to work for colleagues has always been a passion. To accomplish both, she enrolled in a nearby computer school, and on her own time, taught herself Microsoft Power BI and Azure, and also became proficient in machine learning and A.I. Her immediate goal was to visualize the data generated by customer visits in order to improve the dining experience, deliver better service, and reduce food waste by the restaurant.
Today, the applications that she developed for Ebiya have been so effective, and become so well respected, that other restaurants and larger enterprises in the food service industry are calling upon Akiyoshi to help solve their problems. Watch the video to learn more about her incredible story.
Cloud Security and Windows Virtual Desktop
Keeping your work secure is paramount. Windows Virtual Desktop can help. Learn the protocols Microsoft takes to ensure data privacy, network protection, and more.
Worldwide logistics provider connects the dots, boosts ROI with Dynamics 365 Marketing
How does a global company connect its salespeople to customers in an efficient yet personal way? Rotterdam-based Broekman Logistics decided to add the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing app to the company's existing Dynamics 365 Sales app to make it even easier and more efficient to find and develop high-quality leads and nurture customer relationships. As a result, Broekman Logistics not only increased its sales, but also gained valuable insights that it uses to sharpen sales management. The real engine behind global logistics? It's all about a smooth collaboration between sales and marketing.
Fortify your data against threats
Maximize threat detection during attack stages with Microsoft's comprehensive suite of security solutions. Unmatched volumes of data inform Microsoft security solutions. Learn how you can harness decades of security experience with Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection.
Thursday, December 10, 2020
4 Keys to Satisfying 21st Century Customers
American Express data shows that nearly 60 percent of customers try a new brand or a company just to find better customer service. In fact, 89 percent of customers often swap to a company's direct competitor after bad service. These findings easily transport customer service from the category of business afterthought to the category of business priority. Read this article to discover four tips to building customer loyalty, and contact Aksara United to learn how Microsoft solutions like Dynamics 365 for Field Service can support your efforts.
Expand Collaboration
Customize and expand your remote collaboration with @Microsoft Teams, keeping your team engaged, connected, and secure. Subscribe now!
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Digital selling insights
Orchestrating data from multiple sources is important when compiling an accurate "big picture" to inform strategic action. This infographic offers 5 keys to provide insights and recommendations to your team.
Leveraging Your Microsoft Assets in this Remote Access World
More of the workforce is working remotely than ever before. Organizations are adapting and implementing new remote access solutions to keep employees, volunteers, and beneficiaries secure and compliant. Now is the time to evaluate the @ Microsoft tools you already have at your fingertips and leverage the built-in remote work security features and capabilities. Learn more in this article from National Law Review.
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Digital transformation is causing a tsunami of data; and adhering to the compliance standards being put in place to protect it is complicated. Subscribe today to stay informed about the Microsoft Cloud and Microsoft 365 solutions we offer to assess and manage compliance risk, protect sensitive data and respond efficiently to data discovery requests.
Cloud migration checklist
Start planning your cloud migration today! This checklist walks you through the steps to plan, assess, and begin your cloud migration, and it offers resources to help you move to the cloud with Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise BI Platforms
In a crowded field of BI solutions providers, how can customers reliably identify an industry leader? By what criteria should they make such a judgment? In this Power BI blog entry, we address both questions by citing and linking to The Forrester Wave report for Q3 2019 that recognizes Microsoft as a leader in enterprise BI platforms, where we receive the highest score in the two categories of strategy and market presence. From the blog, customers can download the full Forrester report and see how Microsoft Power BI stacks up against competing solutions, as well as explore the differentiated features in the current enterprise BI market.
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Microsoft Teams at 3: Everything you need to connect with your teammates and be more productive
Microsoft Teams continues to invest in experiences that will make it easier for teams to communicate and collaborate. This article by Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, informs how new capabilities reflect commitment to two things: building the very best online meeting experience for customers and bringing technological solutions to traditionally underserved professionals, including Firstline and healthcare workers.
The latest features include new integration between Teams and RealWear head-mounted devices, real-time noise suppression during meetings, booking apps, pop out chats, the raise hand feature, and more
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Stay up to date on ways to boost your productivity and security. Apply these practices and learn more about Windows Virtual Desktop by subscribing today.
Cloud rationalization: The five Rs
Cloud rationalization is the process of evaluating assets to determine the best way to migrate or modernize each asset in the cloud. The five Rs of rationalization are a great way to frame a potential future state for any workload that's being considered as a cloud candidate.
Microsoft security & compliance adoption guide
With remote work as the new normal, organizations must rely on employees and volunteers who are working outside traditional organization borders. This guide will help you implement the Security and Compliance capabilities of Microsoft 365 for your organization that can help you identify and manage potential risks while keeping staff connected and productive.
Monday, December 7, 2020
Simplify your compliance journey with Microsoft 365
We live in a time where digital technology is profoundly impacting our lives, from the way we connect with each other to how we interpret our world. To thrive in this privacy-focused era, you need a trusted partner who can help you not only overcome the challenges but make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. The Microsoft Cloud and Microsoft 365 are uniquely positioned to help you meet your compliance obligations. It offers a rich set of integrated solutions that leverage AI to help you assess and manage compliance risk, protect sensitive and business-critical data and respond efficiently to data discovery requests.
Why Integrated Technology Systems is choosing Windows Virtual Desktop for their customers
Customers have been asking for a user-friendly Remote Desktop Service for years, and Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) is it. As the only affordable virtual desktop solution that allows you to deploy a native Windows 10 experience, it's been identified as one of the biggest partner opportunities in 2020. Read more in this blog post.
Bringing remote patient care to remote patients with Microsoft Power BI and Azure
How do you deliver expert healthcare to the most remote towns and villages in South Africa, to the people who need it most? Dr. Raymond Campbell, founder of Phulukisa (which means "to heal" in the local language), turned to Microsoft for the answer. His solution: a cloud-enabled backpack that field doctors can take into remote areas across South Africa and use to screen patients for common diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, diabetes, and heart disease. The data is then collected and uploaded to MySQL database in Azure, and the results are pushed back into Microsoft Power BI and delivered to doctors on the ground--all within a matter of minutes. Presented by Satya Nadella at the 2019 Inspire event, this short video illustrates how Microsoft solutions are enabling ordinary people with a vision to accomplish extraordinary things--and help save lives in the process.
Sell smarter with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Office 365
In this video, you'll see how Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales and Office 365 go beyond sales force automation to leverage CRM, engagement data, and insights to help your enterprise break down silos, drive more efficient sales, and win more revenue.
Friday, December 4, 2020
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Don't miss another post! Subscribe now to get all the latest updates on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service solutions. An experienced Microsoft provider, Aksara United can help your company transform by improving productivity and creating remarkable customer experiences with Dynamics 365 for Field Service.
Compliance Is The New Normal -- It's Time To Lock Down The Data
The recent anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)'s implementation commemorated the first full year that businesses dealing with EU resident data have spent operating in this new regulatory environment. This article from Forbes highlights the broadening recognition and acceptance that privacy regulations aren't going away, and presents data showing that accelerating privacy regulation is a top concern of executives in 2019. It makes a case for using GDPR as a catalyst to establish broader data protection strategies and adopt technology that has a meaningful impact on data security.
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Saving time with Microsoft Teams
This infographic displays stats on how Microsoft Teams reduces the total number of meetings as well as their duration from improved collaboration and information sharing.
The power of relationship selling
In this report—a collaboration between Microsoft and Heinz Marketing—you'll find insights gleaned from over 200 in-depth surveys with top sales leaders. Learn how to achieve desired sales goals, maximize the effectiveness of customer data, and take more strategic steps toward building personal relationships using data-driven engagement tactics.
Webcast: Microsoft 365 security management
Microsoft is committed to helping organizations keep their data secure. In this free webcast, you will learn about how Microsoft 365 has a three-tier approach to managing your organization's security.
10 reasons to use Azure SQL in your next project
There are many database technologies available on Azure that you can choose from. Why would you use Azure SQL? Find out in just 10 simple points.
The top 9 ways Microsoft IT is enabling remote work for its employees
As employees continue working remotely, Microsoft continues to provide productive and secure experiences to users around the world. Learn what steps Microsoft took to make remote work more productive and flexible.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Understanding the Virtual Environment
Microsoft continually innovates to empower best-in-class experiences, no matter where you're located. Learn how you can maximize productivity in the virtual environment with Windows Virtual Desktop.
Data-Minded Or Data-Blinded?
Collaboration and networks are about people not data. In this Forbes article, the CEO of Brainpool.ai, a worldwide network of AI and Machine Learning experts, explores opportunities and concerns around the use of network data analysis to transform organizations.
Mercy Housing keeps residents safe at home using Microsoft Teams
When the pandemic ushered in a new reality of social distancing, Mercy Housing was able to continue supporting the residents and communities it serves while keeping everyone safe using Microsoft Teams. This customer story video outlines when COVID-19 created a tremendous need for a tool that can maintain personal connection, Teams has allowed the company to maintain reaching residents and serving its communities, growing the business while working remotely, all while supporting highly secure environments for remote work.
Solution overview video
This video highlights the benefits of using Activate Digital Selling solutions from Microsoft. Make the digital buying experience rich, personal, and efficient with predictive AI and unified customer data.
Securing your systems with smart solutions
Securing your systems with a data driven, human-guided security approach allows you to detect and respond to attacks more quickly and accurately. This infographic outlines how the global network of real-time threat intelligence from Microsoft continues to evolve, anticipate, and stay ahead of risks.
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Unbeatable offers for migrating Windows Server and SQL Server to the cloud
While innovation has supplanted cost savings as the primary driver of cloud migration for many organizations, moving to the cloud needs to make sense for your budgets and resources. Learn about the unbeatable costs offers and benefits of migration to Azure cloud.
View: Unbeatable offers for migrating Windows Server and SQL Server to the cloud
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Field Service Customer Success Story: Yougenio
See how the field service capabilities from Microsoft Dynamics 365 have allowed Yougenio -- an e-Digital Services company -- to optimize field service operations and provide timely, outstanding service to customers. Learn how you can improve productivity and create remarkable customer experiences with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service solutions.
Day in the life of a GDPR-ready DPO
Microsoft 365 and supporting tools help simplify compliance. This infographic takes you through a scenario using Microsoft 365 applications and integrated tools to implement updates required to comply with a regulatory change made in response to a data breach. Check it out to discover how your company can use Microsoft 365 controls to keep data safe and more easily comply with GDPR requirements.
SQL Server 2017
SQL Server 2017 is now available on Linux and Docker! This infographic provides an overview of the SQL Server 2017 features that drive industry-leading performance and security. Check it out for an at-a-glance look at the benefits to your business.
Windows Virtual Desktop Solution Overview
Get all the tools and resources you need to migrate your apps, data, and infrastructure at your own pace with confidence. Learn how Windows Virtual Desktop expands capabilities with the best virtualized end-user experience in the video below.
Monday, November 30, 2020
Modernize digital processes to accelerate innovation and ensure data security
This one-slide introduces the benefits of using Windows Server and SQL Server with Microsoft Azure. Features include reducing costs and streamlining IT resources; modernizing by migrating to a flexible, open cloud; innovating new apps or managing existing server apps with unlimited flexibility; and ensuring data protection, security, and business continuity.
View: Modernize digital processes to accelerate innovation and ensure data security
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Five Ways Big Data Can Help Your Business Succeed
According to Harvard Business Review, 99% of businesses surveyed reported they intend to implement big data analytics and AI in the near future. On the flipside, only around 30% have succeeded. This article makes a case for accelerating plans to integrate big data analytics and AI into business practices. With the Microsoft Azure cloud, Aksara United helps turn plans into action by using Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Dynamics to gain the deep data insights needed to spark innovation and growth.
Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches
Manning publishes high-quality books and videos for technology professionals like you. Use this special discount code to save 40% on all eBooks, pBooks, MEAPs, and liveVideo courses at manning.com--
including Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches. Just enter azuremsft in the Promotional Code box when you check out.
Empower security teams to coordinate
Stay connected to empower your team. Learn more about unifying your workplace collaboration with Microsoft Teams! Subscribe now!
Gartner Peer Insights 'Voice of the Customer': CRM Lead Management
Gartner Peer Insights compares vendors' customer relationship management (CRM) systems, which can then be used to determine best practices for your own business. This study in statistics provides insight on the best ways to capture and manage leads.
Cloud security advice for nonprofit leaders
Need help identifying and categorizing data? Want to respond effectively to security and compliance issues? This free e-book provides nonprofit leaders with advice on how Microsoft 365 can help with cloud security.
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
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As you embrace the opportunities presented by cloud and mobile computing to connect with customers and optimize operations, you take on new risks. Subscribe now to stay informed on digital transformation challenges and how Aksara United can help ensure security, privacy & compliance with Microsoft 365.
Seattle Against Slavery combats human trafficking and saves lives—at cloud scale
Human trafficking is a growing, global industry. Seattle Against Slavery, a nonprofit organization, is using Microsoft Azure to help empower survivor support organizations and law enforcement agencies to achieve ten times the impact with the same resources.
Now is the time for Microsoft Teams
This infographic outlines how you can stay in touch with the hub for
teamwork in Office 365. With Microsoft Teams you can connect, collaborate, and come together securely by meeting with your peers and getting work done anywhere - even remotely.
End User Experience
Windows Virtual Desktop provides versatility and adaptability for unique businesses. Learn how your business can leverage this program to assist and address specific needs. Subscribe now.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Security beyond Microsoft products
With Microsoft, security can be simple once again. Microsoft 365 provides an intelligent security hub that works seamlessly across platforms, going far beyond Microsoft—to Linux and Mac, to AWS and beyond, so you can manage mission critical workloads with the right tools at your fingertips. Play this video to learn more.
Azure SQL Database: Intelligent databases that are always up to date
Azure SQL Databases are intelligent and always up to date. It is the only cloud with evergreen SQL which never needs to be patched or updated. This infographic presents the benefits of Azure SQL Database and Azure Advance Threat Protection.
View: Azure SQL Database: Intelligent databases that are always up to date
Cloud App Security integrates with Windows Defender ATP
Based on our findings, enterprises today have an average of 1,100 cloud applications in their organization, with IT unaware of 61% of cloud services accessed. Sourcing from a cloud app catalog of more than 16,000 applications, Discovery in Microsoft Cloud App Security (MCAS), Microsoft Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) solution identifies the cloud apps being used in your organization, provides risk assessments, ongoing analytics and lifecycle management capabilities to control the use.
Microsoft Cloud App Security now uniquely integrates with Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) to enhance the Discovery of Shadow IT in your organization and extend it beyond your corporate network. Watch this video for a look at the integrations, what they enable and how your organization benefits from a more complete view of cloud app- and services usage.
Microsoft Super Bowl Commercial - Braylon O'Neill
Answering the question, "What is that we can do that is unique; that is impactful," guides the development of everything Microsoft delivers. In this video showing a Super Bowl commercial, discover how Microsoft technology empowers young Braylon O'Neill to do more, achieve more and experience courage in the face of opportunity.
Create instant remote work meetings with Microsoft Teams
Stay connected with Microsoft Teams while working from home with the help of the "Meet now" feature. In this video, you'll learn how to use "Meet now," which gives you the ability to turn a team chat conversation into an instant remote meeting.
Monday, November 23, 2020
Buying is a journey
Go beyond transactions and interactions to give your buyers unique experiences that build trust. Transform the sales experience with Dynamics 365 Sales. Features include enabling smarter selling with contextual AI, increasing sales profitably with advanced insights, and improving coaching and sales performance.
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Enabling your remote workforce infographic
More organizations are using virtual environments to increase productivity and save money. Learn about the benefits of Windows Virtual Desktop below.
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SQL Server 2017 and Azure Data Services offer an industry-leading data platform with built-in security, enhanced performance and data analytics to modernize your business.
Migration to Azure SQL: An Introduction to Data Migration Assistant and Data Migration Service
Nonprofit organizations often operate in a world of highly constrained resources. Doing more with less requires changing how you work. Microsoft is committed to helping you make a greater impact through digital transformation enabled by secure and trusted technology. This webinar walks you through how to move your data to Azure.
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Machine Learning Is Helping To Stop Security Breaches With Threat Analytics
Machine learning is enabling threat analytics to deliver greater precision regarding the risk context of privileged users' behavior, creating notifications of risky activity in real time, while also being able to actively respond to incidents by cutting off sessions, adding additional monitoring, or flagging for forensic follow-up.
What is Teams?
This video shows how you can pull together a team with Microsoft Teams on your PC, Mac, or mobile device. Use chat instead of email, securely edit files at the same time, see your likes, mentions, and replies with just a single tap, and have the freedom to customize it all by adding notes, websites, and apps.
Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels serves and nourishes community members across the country. When Meals on Wheels in Greenville County wanted to reach more people in need, the organization's leaders knew they needed a way to keep company data safe and to improve communication among team members.
With Microsoft 365 for Business, Meals on Wheels of Greenville transformed internal processes and went above and beyond the call to serve their community.
Using the Cloud to Build and Maintain Smart Buildings
MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions is shaking up the tradition-bound construction industry. Using Internet of Things and data analytics technologies, MacDonald-Miller helps customers build energy-efficient buildings and keep them operating at peak efficiency. Here, Bradd Busick, the company's Chief Information Officer, talks about how MacDonald-Miller has gone all in with the Microsoft Cloud to design cutting-edge smart-building systems that save customers money, give MacDonald-Miller new growth opportunities, and help save the planet, one building at a time.
GDPR is here -- are you ready?
With data being the center of everything in the modern digital era, data privacy and security have become a major business and social issue. To address the issues, GDPR has come into effect to require organizations all over the world to make significant changes in how they manage and protect personal data. Download and customize this infographic to give your target audience a view of what GDPR means to organizations, what the regulations include and how Microsoft solutions enable organizations to stay in compliance.
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Ignition Ai makes online advertising more human with Microsoft Azure
Ignition Ai is at the forefront of evolution within data-driven marketing. They integrate the emotion and psychology of shopping with powerful real-time data to predict trends in consumerism. In other words, it analyses what's making today's online shoppers think. In this case study, discover how a fully connected Microsoft Azure ecosystem helps Ignition Ai compete with blazing-fast real-time analytics and built-in security to remain GDPR compliant, drive value and gain peace of mind.
Windows Virtual Desktop
Get all the tools and resources you need to migrate your apps, data, and infrastructure at your own pace with confidence. In the video below, learn how Windows Virtual Desktop expands capabilities with the best virtualized end-user experience.
How to accelerate digital selling with Dynamics 365
This video provides an overview of the sales accelerator in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Insights. You will learn how to maintain business continuity with the sales accelerator, a digital-first experience that enables salespeople to work remotely.
Secure the future: Four key areas of intelligent security
Identify and repel more threats than ever before with Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection, Azure Security, and Azure Sentinel. Learn more about intelligent security solutions for your entire enterprise.
View: Secure the future: Four key areas of intelligent security
How Senegal and Microsoft have worked to expand educational opportunity
Because of the partnership it formed with Microsoft four years ago, the Senegal Ministry of Education was able to efficiently transition to a remote learning environment for its more than 3.5 million students. Read this customer story to see how strategic partnerships improve outcomes and prepare schools for any type of disruption.
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Unify workplace collaboration
Subscribe now and unify your workplace collaboration with @Microsoft Teams.
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Drive smarter selling and optimize engagement. Microsoft has the tools to make it happen. Subscribe now!
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Cerner drives customer confidence, improves security and compliance posture with Microsoft 365
Cerner's life blood is healthcare information—data that is subject to some of the most stringent security and privacy regulations in the world. Working at the intersection of healthcare and information technology, Cerner helps shape the industry by delivering solutions to providers—from physicians to integrated delivery networks and large hospital systems—that empower them to transform healthcare delivery. Cerner turned to Microsoft cloud technologies to meet their own high standards and to assure clients who have concerns about the use of public cloud services for processing and storing their health information. Read more here.
10 tips for enabling Zero Trust security
Getting to a Zero Trust model can take years of effort and require collaboration across the enterprise. If you are committed to deploying a Zero Trust model, or even if you're just considering it, here are 10 tips to help make your journey a bit smoother.
Windows and SQL.mp4
Learn about the features and benefits of migrating to Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure. This video discusses key aspects such as preventing the loss of valuable data and getting the lowest cost of ownership.
Using AI To Augment Customer Service Agents
There is seldom a sector or field that is not undergoing some form of transformation driven by a wave of digital technologies that are upending traditional ways of doing things -- including customer service. While many of claims of disruption suffer from over-hype, the way companies engage with customers is one domain where claims are justified.
A recent report from Deloitte highlights how customer service has transitioned from the cost centers of old to create experiences that delight customers and turn them into brand devotees. Read this blog for insight on the various ways enlightened organizations are using technology and automation to empower humans to augment and enhance customer experiences.
Chief Data Officers Struggle To Make A Business Impact
Data continues to proliferate. Digital transformation initiatives are driving intensified competition. In this thought leadership article, an experienced strategy consultant suggests harnessing the full power of data is the key to driving successful transformation. More than a one-shot effort, data-driven transformation is a long and sustained journey which requires commitment, steadfastness and adaptability. A Microsoft partner and Azure solutions provider, Aksara United delivers the cloud, security and AI technology needed to build and sustain an effective, agile data estate.
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
How strong identity management provides a foundation for 'Zero Trust' security
Zero Trust is a journey, not a destination. Moving from an access model based on implicit trust to a Zero Trust model based on explicit verification requires careful planning and time. This eBook outlines the critical steps in the journey to Zero Trust for your nonprofit.
View: How strong identity management provides a foundation for 'Zero Trust' security
Discover and protect sensitive data with Windows Defender ATP and Microsoft Information Protection
Get a high-level understanding of how Windows Defender ATP helps discover, protect and monitor sensitive data on Windows Devices -- an integration that's enabled with just a few simple clicks!
Discover and protect sensitive data with Windows Defender ATP and Microsoft Information Protection
Get a high-level understanding of how Windows Defender ATP helps discover, protect and monitor sensitive data on Windows Devices -- an integration that's enabled with just a few simple clicks!
Windows Virtual Desktop intro
Windows Virtual Desktop creates best-in-class productivity across various devices and platforms. In this video, learn what these features can do for you and how they are important in an ever-changing work environment.
Rapidly-growing UK restaurant chain migrates key business processes to Microsoft Dynamics 365
TGI Friday's popular and rapidly growing restaurant franchise in the UK wanted a more scalable, flexible platform for core business processes. To support its ambitious growth, the franchise is consolidating business operations starting with financial management on Microsoft Dynamics 365. Built-in functionality and ease-of-use mean that TGI Friday's can continue to onboard more business processes while expanding its franchise. Benefits include lower costs, easier access to data, and better insight.
Better on Azure: The benefits of using Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server workloads
Azure is a logical choice for Windows Server and SQL server workloads. This whitepaper examines how Azure supports applications that rely on SQL Server or Windows Server in four key areas: security, rapid innovation, hybrid solutions and cost advantage.
View: Better on Azure: The benefits of using Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server workloads
25 Latest Teams Updates in time for Back to School
Whether your school is learning remotely, adopting hybrid learning, or adjusting plans as you go, you won't want to miss these new features—all designed with the current education systems in mind. For example, are you looking for help nurturing social and emotional wellbeing outside of the classroom, or need information on deploying and managing Teams for your school or changing up your Teams assignments? Check out new features organized by these topics, plus additional ones. You'll want to bookmark this blog!
Monday, November 9, 2020
What is AI?
AI has the potential to shorten--or even eliminate--the gap between data generation and decision making. In fact, 69% of companies improved performance with AI beyond what existing analytic techniques were able to deliver. Companies have begun to see the value AI can bring to their customer interactions. Check out this infographic to learn more about how and why companies are turning to AI to reimagine business and customer management.
The Company Of The Future Has A Soul
Blake Morgan, author and speaker on customer experience, companies, and the future, states that it's clear that the most successful companies will be the ones that focus on enriching the lives of the people associated with it. It's not just about profits—it's about caring for other humans and our world. She says that people are frustrated by governments and their inability to make change as quickly as people want, and that instead people have turned toward corporations and businesses to make a greater, more efficient impact on society. "The company of the future has a soul," writes Morgan, "it has a purpose and contributes to the well-being of its customers, employees and community." Read her entire article and watch her short video, "The Company of the Future Has a Soul" for a richer understanding of what the best companies of the future embody.
Imperial College London uses Teams to teach and connect in a time of COVID
A world top ten university, with an international reputation for excellence in teaching and research, Imperial College London now uses Microsoft Teams to teach and connect in a time of COVID-19. In this video, see how the college is now relying on Teams for the delivery of its lectures and its remote labs, as well as a "virtual common room" where students and faculty can interact. Staff now have the fluid integration of shared files, scheduled events, and the students' use of the virtual learning environment, providing opportunities to respond to students in a way never done before.
Friday, November 6, 2020
City speeds emergency services, controls spending with Microsoft 365
The City of Corona, California, had an aging IT infrastructure that didn't adequately serve the government's or the public's needs. To address the issue, Corona deployed Microsoft 365, which includes Windows 10, Office 365, and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security. With its modern solutions in place, the city now resolves many IT issues in 10 to 20 minutes versus four days, saves up to $1,000 in IT maintenance per incident, and has a foundation for future improvements. Read more here.
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Is Your Computer Being Held Hostage? What to Do.
Ransomware attacks happen more than you think. Back up data; keep security up to date and take on those hackers! These are just a few of the tips you'll get when you read this blog by security, privacy and identify theft expert, Robert Siciliano. Advanced threat protection is important, too.
Security Solution Overview
With data growing increasingly valuable and harder to protect, Microsoft provides security solutions across identity and access management, information protection, threat protection and security management. Harness integrated, comprehensive security with Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection, Azure Security, and Azure Sentinel to identify and repel more threats than ever before and safeguard your organization, without sacrificing productivity.
Greater security at lower cost with the expertise and power of Microsoft Security solutions
Securely harness the power of the cloud with Azure Advanced Threat Protection. This infographic outlines how your organization can trust Azure Advanced Threat Protection as it provides real-time security at enterprise scale, detect threats quickly, and allows your organization to stay focused on what's important.
View: Greater security at lower cost with the expertise and power of Microsoft Security solutions
Greater security at lower cost with the expertise and power of Microsoft Security solutions
Securely harness the power of the cloud with Azure Advanced Threat Protection. This infographic outlines how your organization can trust Azure Advanced Threat Protection as it provides real-time security at enterprise scale, detect threats quickly, and allows your organization to stay focused on what's important.
View: Greater security at lower cost with the expertise and power of Microsoft Security solutions
Disruptions and opportunities: Navigating hybrid education
In the spring semester of 2020, schools were forced to pivot to remote learning due to COVID-19. The questions that arose also prompted system and school leaders to reexamine education in broader terms.
Barbara Holzapfel, VP Microsoft Education, addresses some of the shifts that are happening right now. She also highlights key findings in a new whitepaper titled, "Disruptions and Opportunities: Lessons from the spring of 2020." Have a look at this blog, which includes links to additional remote and hybrid learning resources.
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Make-A-Wish Foundation finds efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic—and beyond
Make-A-Wish continues to drive their mission regardless of the pandemic. Leveraging technology tools enabled their team to connect wish families with wish granters.
Avoid security breaches: How to protect your data
Updating your security measures can be tricky, especially if you don't know where to start. Luckily, securing your sensitive data is easier than you think.
With these tips on how to protect your valuable company data, you can create a customizable plan of attack to ensure that your information is always protected, no matter the size of your business.
Avoid security breaches: How to protect your data
Updating your security measures can be tricky, especially if you don't know where to start. Luckily, securing your sensitive data is easier than you think.
With these tips on how to protect your valuable company data, you can create a customizable plan of attack to ensure that your information is always protected, no matter the size of your business.
Igniting SMB Growth with Exceptional Customer Experiences
Today's customers have higher expectations for buying experiences. They interact with businesses across many touchpoints, and they expect those experiences to be seamless and easy. Are you thinking about customer experiences from a customer-centric perspective?
In this productive webinar, you'll hear from a Director of Product Marketing at Microsoft and a Vice President and Principal analyst at Forrester. Together, they discuss why the customer experience is so important and the effect it has on top line revenue.
Additionally, you'll learn how the right CRM enables you to deliver on your customer's expectations. Now, you can keep the customer at the center of your conversation and focus on the hottest leads and most important deals. Empowered with data and insights, sellers can now exceed the highest expectations.
Securely harness the power of the cloud with Azure Advanced Threat Protection
Securely harness the power of the cloud with Azure Advanced Threat Protection. This infographic outlines how your organization can trust Azure Advanced Threat Protection as it provides real-time security at enterprise scale, detect threats quickly, and allows your organization to stay focused on what's important.
View: Securely harness the power of the cloud with Azure Advanced Threat Protection
Ultimate guide to Windows Server on Azure
Use this guide to implement a quick, simple, and low-impact migration to Azure using your existing Windows Server expertise. Find tactical steps to help you implement your migration; key pointers to support a smooth transition with minimal impact to your nonprofit; and resources from Microsoft and Microsoft partners to understand the capabilities in Azure and opportunities available to you when you migrate your Windows Server workloads.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Michelin delivers with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service
Leading tire company Michelin put together a team dedicated to engineering a game-changing experience that would allow customers to bypass the in-store line and reclaim their day. Watch this video to see how Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service allows Michelin to make the customer experience remarkable by allowing customization of Michelin's OnSite app.
Five revenue killers and how to defeat them
Have you struggled with creating amazing marketing campaigns that just don't drive revenue? You're not alone! In this eBook, you'll hear from several sales and marketing experts who have walked in your shoes. They know how hard it is to sift through the clutter and identify the leads with the most potential.
This eBook walks customer's through five of the top revenue killers and then offers solid strategies, tactics, and advice to overcome these pitfalls. For example, most all sellers and marketers can relate to revenue killer no. 1: Most sales funnels leak at the top, not the bottom.
Learn how to overcome all-too-common marketing and sales missteps and how Dynamics 365 Sales Professional will help pave the way to for immediate results.
Itaú Unibanco boosts service availability and data processing with SQL Server 2019
Completing 5 billion transactions a day with aging data infrastructure, Itaú Unibanco knew it needed to update its system—and it finally did. Using Microsoft SQL Server 2019 it can now deliver the high-level service its customers came to expect. Director of Operations Fabio Napoli confirmed, "Migration was easy...and it fixed problems—what usually takes hours now can be done in seconds." How much more could your business achieve if you unlocked the full potential of your data? Reach out to Aksara United to find out how we can help.
Protect your business with advanced security from Microsoft 365 Business
We get it: running a small business is no small task. We know your customers have no shortage of security concerns, whether it be preventing data loss or ensuring information-rights management.
Good news! Now, with security solutions from Microsoft 365 Business, you can have peace of mind knowing your business is defended against all manner of cyberattacks.
Need help paving the way to a more secure future for your company? Check out this infographic and contact us to learn more about our unique security solutions.
View: Protect your business with advanced security from Microsoft 365 Business
Disruptions and opportunities in remote learning
Schools around the world made an abrupt turn educational delivery in the spring of 2020. As with any major disruption and change—there's a lot to be learned.
This report details the research findings of nearly 800 educators and IT professionals working in education, about the positives and negatives of the shift to remote learning in spring of 2020. It explores topics such as the benefits of being "unwittingly prepared," disadvantages of being underserved, critical lessons learned, and managing the load for educators, students, and IT professionals.
Have a look.
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Seven Signs Your Business Should Move To A New CRM System
"Good CRMs will not make you drool in admiration or write a pretty sonnet, but the bad ones will drive you and your employees crazy."
CRM systems are a necessary component of being proactive in managing your business. These seven signs are a great way to assess whether your CRM solution is not just meeting expectations but empowering your organization to focus on putting the customer first.
Contact us to learn how you can create connected interactions and improve efficiency for your customers and employees.
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Business Models
Business models are quickly changing in the age of AI. In this article, Jayshree Pandya of Risk Group writes about how the application and adoption of AI will revolutionize business and commerce. Still struggling to determine how AI can work for you? Contact us to learn more.
Small and Mid-Size Businesses Need to Focus on Cybersecurity
Contrary to popular opinion, small and mid-size businesses are at a greater risk for a cybersecurity attack than large corporations. But because many SMBs assume they're not at risk, they rarely invest in security measures that could save their businesses. Read this article for more on the real impact of a data breach on SMBs and what you can do to protect your business.
Small and Mid-Size Businesses Need to Focus on Cybersecurity
Contrary to popular opinion, small and mid-size businesses are at a greater risk for a cybersecurity attack than large corporations. But because many SMBs assume they're not at risk, they rarely invest in security measures that could save their businesses. Read this article for more on the real impact of a data breach on SMBs and what you can do to protect your business.
Modern Cloud
Optimize your cloud experience while lowering costs for your Windows Server desktops and apps. Don't miss out on all the amazing features Windows Virtual Desktop has to offer and subscribe now.
4 Reasons Why Social Proof Is Essential to Building Your Brand
Social proof is the idea that people will follow the actions of others—that since so many other people behave in a certain way, it must be the correct behavior. In digital marketing, social proof is highly influenced by comments and reviews on your social platforms. Studies have shown that people are not only more likely to share their experiences about your product or service online, but they are also more likely to be influenced by what other people say and write about you. So yes, it's vital that customers are sharing positive reviews of doing business with you—customer service has never been more important than in the digital age.
Maleeka T. Hollaway, in her article "4 Reasons Why Social Proof is Essential to Building Your Brand," states that your social proof demonstrates the degree in which you've helped your clients gain results. "When you can publicly share with your audience how your work or product has created transformations for those who do business with you, naturally, people are inclined to pay attention. Results speak for you whether you are present or not," writes Hollaway. Customers' excitement is often contagious, and you suddenly access the radar of people who might not have even known about your brand, according to Holloway. To read more in depth about social proof and the reasons it's essential to your business, read her entire article. Social proof has never been more important.
4 Reasons Why Social Proof Is Essential to Building Your Brand
Social proof is the idea that people will follow the actions of others—that since so many other people behave in a certain way, it must be the correct behavior. In digital marketing, social proof is highly influenced by comments and reviews on your social platforms. Studies have shown that people are not only more likely to share their experiences about your product or service online, but they are also more likely to be influenced by what other people say and write about you. So yes, it's vital that customers are sharing positive reviews of doing business with you—customer service has never been more important than in the digital age.
Maleeka T. Hollaway, in her article "4 Reasons Why Social Proof is Essential to Building Your Brand," states that your social proof demonstrates the degree in which you've helped your clients gain results. "When you can publicly share with your audience how your work or product has created transformations for those who do business with you, naturally, people are inclined to pay attention. Results speak for you whether you are present or not," writes Hollaway. Customers' excitement is often contagious, and you suddenly access the radar of people who might not have even known about your brand, according to Holloway. To read more in depth about social proof and the reasons it's essential to your business, read her entire article. Social proof has never been more important.
How to raise your hand in Microsoft Teams
Classroom discussions might look a bit different online, but dialogue amongst students is an important part of learning. Watch this video for clear instructions on how Teams participants can utilize the full functionality of the Raise your hand button.
How to raise your hand in Microsoft Teams
Classroom discussions might look a bit different online, but dialogue amongst students is an important part of learning. Watch this video for clear instructions on how Teams participants can utilize the full functionality of the Raise your hand button.
How to raise your hand in Microsoft Teams
Classroom discussions might look a bit different online, but dialogue amongst students is an important part of learning. Watch this video for clear instructions on how Teams participants can utilize the full functionality of the Raise your hand button.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Quiz: How Secure Are You
Take this 10-question quiz to find out if your company is safe and secure or at risk to become a cybercrime victim.
Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
Managed Instance is a resource type in SQL Database that enables you to quickly and confidently move your SQL Server databases (2005 and newer) at scale to the cloud. Companies report a 212% return on investment by moving their SQL Server databases to Azure with less that 6 months post-migration payback. Read this infographic for more on how straightforward and economical migration can be.
Customer story: iSalon
For UK-based business iSalon, protecting sensitive customer data is their top priority. iSalon provides software and management systems to over 2,000 hair salons, and most of their customers are small business owners who have poured their life savings into their companies.
iSalon depends on security technology from Microsoft 365 Business to defend against information loss and cyberattacks like malware and malicious URLs. And with employees scattered across the UK, collaboration and productivity tools keep employees connected and engaged.
Customer story: iSalon
For UK-based business iSalon, protecting sensitive customer data is their top priority. iSalon provides software and management systems to over 2,000 hair salons, and most of their customers are small business owners who have poured their life savings into their companies.
iSalon depends on security technology from Microsoft 365 Business to defend against information loss and cyberattacks like malware and malicious URLs. And with employees scattered across the UK, collaboration and productivity tools keep employees connected and engaged.
ESNEFT Customer Success Story - Microsoft Azure and Windows Virtual Desktop
Using Windows Virtual Desktop, the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust removed unnecessary stress and frustration with IT. This empowered them to devote more time providing excellent patient experiences and healthcare services. Listen to their experience and learn how you can apply these solutions to your business.
ESNEFT Customer Success Story - Microsoft Azure and Windows Virtual Desktop
Using Windows Virtual Desktop, the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust removed unnecessary stress and frustration with IT. This empowered them to devote more time providing excellent patient experiences and healthcare services. Listen to their experience and learn how you can apply these solutions to your business.
Education reimagined with new pedagogies
How can we take what we've learned about the rapid response to remote learning and apply those insights to our current models as well as future schooling?
In this webinar, Microsoft Education VP Barbara Holzapfel leads a discussion with Michael Fullan and Joanne Quinn, Global Directors for New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. Both Fullan and Quinn believe that the disruption and reopening of schools sets a ripe environment for meaningful discussions and action to reimagine the future of learning. Listen to this thought-provoking webinar.
Friday, October 23, 2020
Creating world-class collaboration in a global team
Teams in today's modern workplace are often multi-office or even multi-continent affairs. As a result, team cohesion can challenge the best managers. In this Forbes article, "Creating world-class collaboration in a global team," learn how Kim DeLine, the COO for Elevate K-12, engages a distributed workforce in her role at the leading live streaming company in the education field.
With Microsoft Teams, you can connect across geographical and organization boundaries, run status updates and team building with remote workers via a cloud-based meeting solution, and foster a culture of knowledge sharing.
See how important it is to explain the "why" with a multi-cultural office and encourage an understanding of purpose during times of change.
Enable Seller Productivity by Integrating Office 365 with Dynamics 365 Sales Professional
In our current digital era—we are bombarded by information—making it difficult to navigate all of the data and knowledge thrown at us. Employees and sales reps often complain that there is too much distraction, making it difficult to know what to focus on. In fact, according to an Accenture report, 59% of sellers say they have too many sales tools and that distractions reduce seller's performance by 14%.
Watch this insightful webinar and learn how Dynamics 365 Sales Professional cuts through the distraction by providing a single, intelligent platform turning initial sales contacts into closed deals. The webinar provides an overview of Dynamics 365, an introduction into Dynamics 365 Sales Professional, and a demo of the product.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Built-in Hybrid infographic
Microsoft is committed to enabling a seamless hybrid approach to cloud adoption. Azure was designed and built to natively support hybrid environments from its inception. This infographic introduces more about the hybrid value you can benefit from when you choose Azure.
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According to a recent survey, more than 90% of customers said they would consider taking their business elsewhere rather than work with a company that uses outdated technology.
The solution? A single, integrated system that can grow with you. Let us help you assess your current solution and help find the right system for you.
A Developer's Guide to Building AI Application
Like the vast majority of Nepalese, Melisha Ghimere came from a remote village from a family of subsistence farmers who raised cows, goats, and water buffalos. Seven years ago, she watched her relatively wealthy uncle and aunt lose a lot of their herd to an outbreak of anthrax; they were never to recover their economic footing. Melisha went on to college thinking about the plight of her family. In college, she worked to develop a predictive early warning solution to help farmers. With a team of four students, they researched livestock farming, veterinary practices, and spoke to farmers. They built a prototype for a monitoring device that tracks temperature, sleep patterns, stress levels, motion, and the activity of farm animals. Melisha's AI system predicts the likely health of each animal based on often subtle changes in these observations. Farmers are able to track their animals, receive alerts and actionable recommendations. Although her project is still in its infancy, the field tests have shown the solution was about 95% accurate in predicting risks to an animal's health. Melisha and her team were able to help a family prevent a deadly outbreak of an anthrax infection by identifying a diseased cow, before symptoms were evident to the farmer. Melisha's team was a regional finalist in Microsoft's Imagine Cup competition in 2016.* For more to inspire you to embrace AI, read this developer's ebook. Then contact us to find out how we can help make AI work for you!
* The Future Computed--Artificial Intelligence and its role in society--Microsoft
Council Post: Creating An Effective Case Study: 12 Important Tips To Remember
Case studies are effective marketing tools when done correctly. Not only do you need to select which background details to include in your case study, but you also need to pack it carefully so that it demonstrates you are a problem solver and have desirable skills—without looking like you are merely promoting your business. It's a balance. This article offers 12 key elements—offered by 12 members of Forbes Agency Council—to keep in mind when creating cases studies. For example, Emily Porter's tip is #9 Let the Images Do the Work. Aside from ensuring a case study is focused on the solution to the problem, Porter writes that "nothing brings it to life more than imagery. In lieu of a long-form case study, consider a photo essay with solid captions narrating the case study" in order to keep the audiences truly engaged while illustrating your product's value.
Protect your company with security solutions from Microsoft
Every company needs to have an updated security strategy—we're looking at you, small businesses. In a digital landscape that's constantly evolving, now's the time to adopt a cloud-based security solution to defend customer data against cyberattacks.
Want to secure your customers' sensitive data? Contact us to learn more.
View: Protect your company with security solutions from Microsoft
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Modernize digital processes to improve profitability and ensure data security
Improve profitability and ensure data security by modernizing digital processes with Microsoft.
View: Modernize digital processes to improve profitability and ensure data security
Microsoft Partner Network podcast: Partner Marketing Pros- Episode Nine (Part Two)
This week's guest is Gerry Murry, a Research Director with IDC's Marketing and Sales Technology service. Marketing technology and related solutions are his specialty and he's got a great pulse on marketing budgets and trends. He confirms that we've seen an increase in social, content and digital marketing and that the significant upsurge in digital marketing is because it's "way less expensive for the reach that you get." Yet he also advises to pay close attention to the privacy and data collection trends that continue to be on the rise. Marketers must be respectful and create positive relationships centered around customer privacy—a priority pillar in this digital business world. Listen to the entire podcast for more insight into marketing budgets and investments!
Climatec powered by Microsoft
Since 1975, Climatec has been a leading provider of energy solutions and building technologies. As the company grew, it found it needed a single, all-encompassing solution to connect multiple offices, adapt easily to business processes and support employees out in the field. Climatec chose a Microsoft solution for field service to help it organize and automate business processes while also equipping employees with the data they need to deliver exceptional customer service.
Bringing in the right technology to enable employees creates better customer experiences. Let us help you drive intelligent optimization and empower your organization.
Climatec powered by Microsoft
Since 1975, Climatec has been a leading provider of energy solutions and building technologies. As the company grew, it found it needed a single, all-encompassing solution to connect multiple offices, adapt easily to business processes and support employees out in the field. Climatec chose a Microsoft solution for field service to help it organize and automate business processes while also equipping employees with the data they need to deliver exceptional customer service.
Bringing in the right technology to enable employees creates better customer experiences. Let us help you drive intelligent optimization and empower your organization.
A day in the life - sales with Microsoft Teams
April, a sales rep, is looking to grow her company's Midwest customer base. See how she starts her day finding a lead in Microsoft Teams and then uses Dynamics and Power BI to dig out connections that turn that lead into an opportunity. By 5pm she now has a new resource to amp up more sales opportunities in the region.
Check out this infographic to see what deal building looks like with Microsoft Teams!
Integral Analytics switches to Azure from AWS for high performance and cost-effective data warehousing
Darrin Kinney of Seattle City Light said, "Some of the biggest challenges are just collecting and handling the vast amounts of data." Now, using Azure SQL Data Warehouse, this energy-analytics firm cost effectively brings actionable insights to electric utilities. Watch this video to hear more.
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Customer story: Jack's Diving Locker
Jack's Diving Locker, a scuba diving and snorkel educational facility, uses Microsoft 365 Business to securely run their business and to streamline their outreach efforts. Since adopting a cloud-based security and communication solution, its founders have grown their business from five sets of gear and a Volkswagen van to a company with two retail stores and five boats at two harbors. They use security tools, like Microsoft Intune, to protect company data and devices and to ensure that business is conducted securely and efficiently. With help from Microsoft 365 Business, Jack's Diving Locker has expanded into a global ocean conservation and education company, teaching people all over the world to preserve and protect our oceans.
Customer story: Jack's Diving Locker
Jack's Diving Locker, a scuba diving and snorkel educational facility, uses Microsoft 365 Business to securely run their business and to streamline their outreach efforts. Since adopting a cloud-based security and communication solution, its founders have grown their business from five sets of gear and a Volkswagen van to a company with two retail stores and five boats at two harbors. They use security tools, like Microsoft Intune, to protect company data and devices and to ensure that business is conducted securely and efficiently. With help from Microsoft 365 Business, Jack's Diving Locker has expanded into a global ocean conservation and education company, teaching people all over the world to preserve and protect our oceans.
Customer story: Jack's Diving Locker
Jack's Diving Locker, a scuba diving and snorkel educational facility, uses Microsoft 365 Business to securely run their business and to streamline their outreach efforts. Since adopting a cloud-based security and communication solution, its founders have grown their business from five sets of gear and a Volkswagen van to a company with two retail stores and five boats at two harbors. They use security tools, like Microsoft Intune, to protect company data and devices and to ensure that business is conducted securely and efficiently. With help from Microsoft 365 Business, Jack's Diving Locker has expanded into a global ocean conservation and education company, teaching people all over the world to preserve and protect our oceans.
Customer story: Jack's Diving Locker
Jack's Diving Locker, a scuba diving and snorkel educational facility, uses Microsoft 365 Business to securely run their business and to streamline their outreach efforts. Since adopting a cloud-based security and communication solution, its founders have grown their business from five sets of gear and a Volkswagen van to a company with two retail stores and five boats at two harbors. They use security tools, like Microsoft Intune, to protect company data and devices and to ensure that business is conducted securely and efficiently. With help from Microsoft 365 Business, Jack's Diving Locker has expanded into a global ocean conservation and education company, teaching people all over the world to preserve and protect our oceans.
Customer Story: Argusi
Do you struggle with fragmented business applications that are difficult to use? Perhaps it's a challenge to get your employees caught up and on the same page? This was the case for Argusi, a Netherlands-based supply chain optimization firm, until they implemented Dynamics 365 Sales Professional.
Starting out small, Argusi managed to get by using whatever platforms were available. As they grew, they realized this approach wouldn't scale. Implementing Dynamics 365 Sales Professional alongside their existing Office 365 products, gave them the transparency they needed throughout the entire sales cycle.
Watch this video to see why Argusi is "a big fan" Dynamics 365 Sales Professional and how it transformed their Sales organization.
Church and Dwight move Windows Server licenses to Azure for cost optimization
Why run Windows Server on Azure? Find out from Church and Dwight, the major American manufacturer of household products. In this video, learn about the benefits of running their Windows Servers on Azure, the saving on costs by leveraging Azure Hybrid Benefit, and their short and long-term strategic goals.
Leadership and policy guide for system leaders
As the global crisis of COVID-19 begins to abate, Microsoft is working closely with education systems around the world to support transitions to the next stage of schooling. This document outlines how the new technologies implemented during the crisis can continue to be used to support transitions back to school and to improve and reimagine schooling going forward. Most countries will continue working towards full connectivity distance learning readiness during the transition back to school to ensure all students have connected devices for seamless learning. These efforts will ensure all students can participate in distance and hybrid learning should school closure be necessary again.
Leadership and policy guide for system leaders
As the global crisis of COVID-19 begins to abate, Microsoft is working closely with education systems around the world to support transitions to the next stage of schooling. This document outlines how the new technologies implemented during the crisis can continue to be used to support transitions back to school and to improve and reimagine schooling going forward. Most countries will continue working towards full connectivity distance learning readiness during the transition back to school to ensure all students have connected devices for seamless learning. These efforts will ensure all students can participate in distance and hybrid learning should school closure be necessary again.
Big Red Cloud: Targeting pain points
Chief Executive Marc O'Dwyer shares that he started Big Red Cloud, an online cloud accounting software company, because as a business owner of a different company, he experienced problems with his own accounting systems and believed there had to be a better way. Because of these prior pains, he focuses on supporting customers and claims it is the primary reason for the company's success. Watch this video for examples of how Big Red Cloud prioritizes customer service and enjoys a 55% conversion rate from lead to closed sale.
Thursday, October 15, 2020
5 Roadblocks Holding Back Your Data-Driven Goals?
"Data offers us so many competitive advantages--time savings, customer insights, increased efficiencies. It helps us better target our customers, personalize our marketing efforts and create new products our customers really want."
When companies learn how to fully-utilize data to drive organizational decision-making, that's when the magic happens. In fact, organizations embracing digital transformation generate an average of $100M more income each year.
Let us help you get started.
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Empowered By Technology, Wealth Managers Will Take Personalization To The Next Level
Technologies like machine learning that make sense of data and patterns are essential. So are the incisive analytics that can result from its use.
Technology's Impact on Employee Experience: Balancing Overload Versus Enablement
Adopting technology in the workplace is a double-edged sword. It's key to maintaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace and increasing workplace productivity, but it can also compromise connection and lead to isolation.
Check out this article for tips on how to use technology to build a better individual employee experience and a more connected company culture.
Do you want help improving communication and teamwork in your company? You've come to the right place. Contact us at Aksara Unitedto learn more.
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100,000,000 identities attacked per month.
Subscribe today and contact us to learn more about protecting your organization at the front door and simplifying access with secure single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and risk-based conditional access. #Microsoft365 #security
Miami Dade
Serving almost 400 schools and over 345,000 students, this US school district has a significant task--even more so during a health pandemic that necessitates remote learning. Fortunately, the district has been ready for some time.
Read this story to learn how the district's digital initiative "allowed the county to integrate increasing amounts of technology methodically and effectively into the classroom" which ultimately gave educators and students access to and experience with technology before the pandemic required it.
Resilience and transformation for the future of learning
Due to the global pandemic, nearly every school district has at least dabbled in distance learning. This document shares key learnings and examples of districts' responses last year when the health crisis necessitated remote teaching and learning. Use this implementation guide to inform planning for the next steps—what does future remote and hybrid learning look like? What should future models of learning incorporate?
View: Resilience and transformation for the future of learning
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Redefine service through Connected Field Service
Dynamics 365 for Field Service enables businesses to move from reactive to proactive field service by bringing together IoT and AI with Field Service. It leverages advanced analytics, machine learning and the Internet of Things to move organizations from a costly break-fix model to a never-fail service model.
Redefine service with Dynamics 365 and enhance your customers' experiences. Contact us today to get started!
Introducing Microsoft Threat Experts
Microsoft Threat Experts is an additional layer of expertise and optics Microsoft customers can utilize in Microsoft 365 to augment security operations.
Customer Story: Clifton Coffee Recap
From the start, leaders at Clifton Coffee Roasters (CCR) knew they wanted to go beyond just roasting coffee. They wanted to empower other coffee companies to succeed. Now they provide technical support, delivery service, and back-of-house training to coffee shops across the UK, in addition to providing all of the products needed to run a coffee company.
But it wasn't always that way. In the company's early days, the team had a difficult time coming together, with employees scattered across the UK and no reliable means to connect them. Once they adopted a teamwork solution to improve internal communication, teamwork became easy and the business took off. The rest is history.
Want to take cues from CCR's teamwork game? Contact us for help getting started.
Map to Your Customers' Sales Expectation
What do your customers expect from sellers? Wouldn't it be great to easily answer this question! This infographic includes powerful statistics and insight into the minds of customers.
According to McKinsey, the top customer request is to speed up interactions with sellers. This was mentioned two times more often than price. What's more, according to TOPO, 60 percent of companies lack a well-designed sales process.
Great news! Dynamics 365 Sales Professional helps your sellers stay engaged with customers and provides virtual collaboration via Teams.
App migration to Azure
In this video, look at strategies to migrate to Microsoft Azure spanning zero to higher levels of coding and when to use which.
From rehosting your apps by lifting and shifting them to Azure to choosing to refactor your apps for greater efficiency, Azure offers you possibilities. You can also rearchitect your apps to be able to quickly add new capabilities or take a cloud-native approach by rebuilding them from scratch. This video also addresses Azure's new secure options in the wake of the end-of-support for Windows Server 2008 R2 or SQL Server 2008.
Monday, October 12, 2020
Four Ways To Boost Customer Experience (And Thus Hold Onto Your Clients)
Customer satisfaction needs to be THE priority in every area of your business. Each interaction a customer has with you will either positively or negatively influence your brand, the customer's lifetime value, and the impact on future customers and therefore your revenue. The customer experience is everything in today's market. Ryanne Van Der Eijk is the Chief Customer Experience Officer at RAKEZ and knows how to create a customer-centric workplace. She shares her best advice for providing the right experience to customers in her article, "Four Ways to Boost Customer Experience (and Thus Hold onto Your Clients)." One of her tips is to build customer-centricity as part of your company culture. Start by defining your company's philosophy on customer service—that's the easy part—and then work on ways to share it via the workflow, the hiring process and the staff training. Read her entire article for more ideas for developing a culture focused on customers and her other tips to boost overall customer experience.
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Realize up to a 406% ROI over on-premises and hosted solutions
When paired with Azure, Windows Server and SQL Server can provide unique benefits that range from unmatched security to better performance. Realize up to a 406% ROI over on-premises and hosted solutions. Learn more about Windows Server & SQL Server on Microsoft Azure. Subscribe now!
View: Realize up to a 406% ROI over on-premises and hosted solutions
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Moving your data to the cloud can help you improve security, more easily meet compliance requirements, reduce costs, maximize ROI and enable real-time insights. Microsoft Azure enables you to make the move with rapid replication of your virtual machines and no downtime or interruption. Subscribe now and contact us to learn how Aksara United can help.
Develop 'Security Champions' For Successful Enterprise Security Scalability
What steps have you taken to create an internal team of security champions to support your security strategy? The idea is to create "front-line support". @iiamit writes, "These advocates know their businesses better than any of my security engineers could, and they are deeply embedded in their organization's culture. And, as a result, they can provide the best context for security decisions. Our role is to equip them with our services and security expertise."
Teams large gallery view and together mode
One of the aspects students and teachers miss about remote learning is being together in the same space. With Microsoft Teams Large Gallery and Together Mode, everyone appears together—virtual high fives are encouraged!
Watch this short video for a quick tip on how to use these new features—and get your students together again.
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Northrop & Johnson boosts sales and marketing efforts with Dynamics 365
Marketing technology is not something that has been widely adopted in the luxury yacht industry. Yet, targeting this niche demographic requires precision and little room for mistake.
Watch as Northrop & Johnson, a luxury yacht company, implemented Dynamics 365 Sales Pro and achieved a 70% increase on their charter sales. Dynamics 365 gave them a real competitive advantage, providing them with a window into the customer the entire way through the sales cycle.
Use this testimonial video to demonstrate to your customers how one company easily implemented Sales Pro and was able to strengthen customer relationships, predict buying behaviors, and be much more precise in their marketing activities.
Prepare for hybrid learning environment with free Teams tutorials
Whether in the classroom, remote, or hybrid, Microsoft Teams is a teaching and learning platform designed for today's education.
Microsoft has created interactive demonstrations of Teams to help you get started quickly, with one customized for teachers and another for parents and students. These tutorials highlight useful features of Teams for everyone—have a look.
Prepare for hybrid learning environment with free Teams tutorials
Whether in the classroom, remote, or hybrid, Microsoft Teams is a teaching and learning platform designed for today's education.
Microsoft has created interactive demonstrations of Teams to help you get started quickly, with one customized for teachers and another for parents and students. These tutorials highlight useful features of Teams for everyone—have a look.
Is your company secure?
Microsoft 365 and the intelligent cloud can help you protect, detect and respond to today's modern security landscape. As a fully integrated, end-to-end solution, Microsoft 365 helps you address new risks and opportunities and drive digital transformation to empower everyone from the executive office to first-line workers. Contact us to get started today!
Unblocking Workplace Collaboration: 5 Tools and Strategies
Did you know that up to 80% of workers' time is spent on collaborative activities like responding to emails and attending meetings?
This guide to promoting a more collaborative workplace culture outlines common communication breakdowns in the modern workplace and provides strategies to help customers communicate and collaborate more effectively.
View: Unblocking Workplace Collaboration: 5 Tools and Strategies
Unblocking Workplace Collaboration: 5 Tools and Strategies
Did you know that up to 80% of workers' time is spent on collaborative activities like responding to emails and attending meetings?
This guide to promoting a more collaborative workplace culture outlines common communication breakdowns in the modern workplace and provides strategies to help customers communicate and collaborate more effectively.
View: Unblocking Workplace Collaboration: 5 Tools and Strategies
Give Your Sales Team the Winning Edge: Quick Time to Value with Dynamics 365 Sales Professional
Do you struggle with outdated, legacy sales automation solutions that still place data in silos and prevent your sales team from working remotely? You're not alone! Many SMBs believe that new, cutting edge digital solutions are too expensive and out of reach.
Fortunately, there is a better way. Modern digital-first solutions like Dynamics 365 Sales Professional empower sellers to work remotely and access customer data like never before possible. It provides unparalleled customer insights and works seamlessly with the rest of Dynamics 365 and Office 365.
Use this eBook to illustrate how Sales Professional is designed specifically for SMBs and delivers improved customer experiences, a better sales process, and usable customer data. For those companies without distinct business units, Sales Professional acts as an extended team empowering businesses to deliver superior digital customer experiences.
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Modern teaching and learning
The reality is every education system will have a mix of readiness for all three stages of remote learning. Whether schools are at full connectivity, no connectivity, or emerging connectivity, as the majority are, having one process supports transformation across a whole system or country.
This document outlines Microsoft's strategy for providing one process for supporting all three stages of readiness for remote learning. Interested in getting started? We can help.
Modern teaching and learning
The reality is every education system will have a mix of readiness for all three stages of remote learning. Whether schools are at full connectivity, no connectivity, or emerging connectivity, as the majority are, having one process supports transformation across a whole system or country.
This document outlines Microsoft's strategy for providing one process for supporting all three stages of readiness for remote learning. Interested in getting started? We can help.
Opportunity Heats Up as Honeywell Connects with Homeowners
Honeywell has always been known for making "things." Thanks to the power of data and Dynamics 365, it now makes connected things -- leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive innovation and deliver more value to customers.
"Honeywell has always made great products," says Scott Harkins, Vice President of Honeywell's IoT Partner Programs, Connected Homes. "Now we make great products that are connected. And this connectivity unlocks a whole new relationship with our consumers. For the first time, we're learning from massive numbers of consumers how they use our products and what's of interest to them. And we can inform them when we add new features."
How can you harness the full power of data? With Dynamics 365, you can deliver predictive and proactive service that improve customer experiences and empower employees. Aksara United can help. Contact us today to get started.
Opportunity Heats Up as Honeywell Connects with Homeowners
Honeywell has always been known for making "things." Thanks to the power of data and Dynamics 365, it now makes connected things -- leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive innovation and deliver more value to customers.
"Honeywell has always made great products," says Scott Harkins, Vice President of Honeywell's IoT Partner Programs, Connected Homes. "Now we make great products that are connected. And this connectivity unlocks a whole new relationship with our consumers. For the first time, we're learning from massive numbers of consumers how they use our products and what's of interest to them. And we can inform them when we add new features."
How can you harness the full power of data? With Dynamics 365, you can deliver predictive and proactive service that improve customer experiences and empower employees. Aksara United can help. Contact us today to get started.
How migrating to Azure is modernizing JB Hunt
JB Hunt is reinventing its enterprise by migrating to the Azure cloud, which is helping the company manage 18 billion integration points and 8 billion transactions over the next 3-5 years. They are moving over 2100 applications to one platform. "This isn't a cookie cutter approach," Vana Matte, Senior VP of Technology says. Microsoft Azure can help you disrupt your industry by modernizing, lifting and shifting your data to the cloud - and we can help you turn your vision of the cloud into a reality.
Help customers bring teams and resources together with Microsoft technology
Digital teamwork tools are changing the way teams do business: Today, more than 30% of businesses use advanced communication tools in conference rooms.
With Teamwork solutions from Microsoft, you can facilitate better communication among your teams by using cloud-based email technology and calendaring services. You can also ensure that your teams are aligned with web conferencing and group chat. And that's just the beginning.
Contact us to see how your company can benefit from our enterprise-grade communication technology.
View: Help customers bring teams and resources together with Microsoft technology
Commvault boosts capacity and performance with Windows Server and Azure
What are the benefits of running Windows Server and Azure? Learn from Ernie Costa, senior virtualization engineer from Commvault, about freeing up capacity and boosting performance. Also, learn how Commvault saves on cost by leveraging Azure Hybrid Benefit and running Windows Server and Azure services.
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
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As you embrace the opportunities presented by cloud and mobile computing to connect with customers and optimize operations, you take on new risks. Subscribe now to stay informed on digital transformation challenges and how Aksara United can help ensure security, privacy & compliance with Microsoft 365.
Change Management Needs Change Management
In this article, Rephael Sweary suggests that companies must combat competing technological giants "by hyperactivating their capability to react to digital change. [This can be] an especially tall ask for organizations rooted in a long history of pre-digital operations." This pattern transcends industry verticals. Where are you in your digital transformation?
Five Benefits And Three Challenges Technology Can Bring To Global Companies
By now, you know that technology brings numerous advances in communication for your teams, but are you familiar with the most specific benefits teamwork technology has to offer? This article asserts that communication technology translates to faster communication, enhanced efficiency, and profit boosts for your employees, all essential components to connecting your teams and resources. Check out this article to learn more.
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