Microsoft data Center
Read Time, 4 min.

Why data is key to successful digital transformation.

The business-focused session at our upcoming Microsoft event – ‘Winning Trust – Enabling Transformation’ – will look at how organisations need to become data-driven to succeed

New technology has given us the ability to access and interpret data in new ways. The trick is to identify strategic goals and the right infrastructure investments to make it work for your business. Putting data at the centre of a business means liberating it from finance and compliance and building privacy into the culture of the organisation, making everyone take a degree of responsibility for how it is collected, managed and used

The speed of technological change is nothing new but the emergence of cloud, Big Data and AI is something very different, an inflection point that will not only disrupt businesses but also have a profound impact on society. There’s even speculation that the pace of change could start to impact human behaviour and the way we interact with the world.

For businesses, the choices are binary and stark. You either adopt these new technologies or risk extinction. Most organisations understand the landscape has changed and have embarked on digital transformation strategies that leverage new technology to reinvent business processes. We talk at Microsoft about four pillars: engaging customers, enabling employees, optimising operations and transforming products.

If you are aspiring to innovate as a business and compete effectively in what the World Economic Forum calls the Fourth Industrial Revolution, you will have to affect one or more of these pillars in a tangible way.

Using digital tools

Data is at the heart of successful digital transformation. For organisations still struggling with GDPR and their regulatory requirements, it might be hard to envisage data as an engine for change. High-level talk about AI and machine learning algorithms only adds to the confusion and it’s no wonder that some Irish businesses are feeling woefully unprepared for a fast unfolding future.

The good news is that it’s not nearly as daunting as it appears and you may be further along the path than you realise, particularly if you are over the hump with GDPR. At next month’s summit we will show how far some Irish organisations have come and provide a roadmap for those just starting out.

New technology has given us the ability to access and interpret data in new ways. The trick is to identify strategic goals and the right infrastructure investments to make it work for your business. It could be as simple as the here-and-now tools we’re already seeing on social media platforms that help gauge customer sentiment.  Or it could be a first foray into AI. In a live demo with the BotBuilder development kit, we will show how quick and easy it is to create a chatbot.

We will demystify the technologies and challenge preconceptions. AI is not about replacing people as ‘robots taking our jobs’ scare stories would have us believe. It’s about making us more effective in what we do, protecting us from the digital deluge and giving us back our most precious commodity – time.

Developing an innovation culture

We will also explore another important stepping stone on digital transformation journeys at the event – culture change. Putting data at the centre of a business means liberating it from finance and compliance and building privacy into the culture of the organisation, making everyone take a degree of responsibility for how it is collected, managed and used.

This is one aspect of having a digital culture. Another is embedding innovation into the fabric of an organisation, something that can prove more challenging than using the technology. Recent Microsoft research revealed that a digital culture was the main missing ingredient in the process of digital transformation. Around 84 per cent of Irish employees say they work in an organisation with a weak digital culture and alarmingly, 90 per cent of Irish employees reported low innovation in their organisation.

There’s no magic switch to change a culture, just as there are no short cuts to leveraging new technologies like AI to become more competitive. There are, however, clear paths to take that will help achieve both goals more quickly. Join us on 20th September to explore some of them.

 

Paul Shanahan

Intelligent Cloud Business Group Lead

Free AI Report: Artificial Intelligence in Ireland. How 277 major European companies benefit from AI

Discover how your Western European and Irish peers use AI to digitally transform their organisation

Discover more related articles per industry:

Education

  • Northern Ireland moves to cloud-first education

    Northern Ireland moves to cloud-first education

    Northern Ireland moves to cloud-first education All teachers in the region now being equipped with Surface Pro laptops Transforming how education is provided in Northern Ireland over the next decade is a crucial goal for the region’s Education Authority.  To meet digital skills needs over that period and beyond, the authority is implementing a versatile […]

  • a person sitting at a desk in front of a computer

    Reimagining Uninterrupted Learning at Sacred Heart School in Tullamore

    As students and teachers found themselves away from the classroom environment and learning from home, schools were again adapting to different ways of learning to ensure quality education continues. For the Sacred Heart School in Tullamore, Co Offaly, the staff and student body were well prepared to deal with this upheaval and continued to deliver […]

Finance & Insurance

Government

  • Two people inside using Surface Go in office

    How technology is transforming the work of governments

    Governments have the ultimate responsibility to their citizens. People depend on the services they provide like no other institution. Whether in healthcare, education, business, roads, railways, water – it’s essential that government institutions are always at the forefront of social and digital trends. Cloud-powered technologies are playing a critical role in helping government agencies to […]

Healthcare

Manufacturing

  • 5 ways you know you’re ready for connected field service

    5 ways you know you’re ready for connected field service

    More and more often, customer satisfaction is becoming the key to success. Emergency repairs often lead to high costs and great frustration for customers, so, understandably, you want to do everything you can to avoid them. Data and the Internet of Things help make this task a lot easier by enabling you to offer a […]

  • Guy standing next to plane looking at Smartwatch to check reporting.

    Air France and KLM subsidiary EPCOR predicts future failures with data and AI

    EPCOR provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services, including state-of-the-art test facilities for aircraft pneumatic components and Auxiliary Power Units (APU). The APU is responsible for starting the main engines and provide power to essential aircraft functions. By harnessing cloud-based APU data using innovative analysis and machine learning, EPCOR is helping airlines meet their cost, safety […]

Retail

Discover more related articles per dossier:

Customer Stories

  • a group of people in a pool of water

    Overcoming a sea of data with Microsoft Azure

    With 12,000 ships certified, DNV GL’s job of ensuring they’re built safely and remain safe should be overwhelming, especially with the more than 50,000 inspections it must carry out each year. However, by making use of machine learning algorithms in Microsoft Azure, the company is not only increasing efficiency and satisfying its customers, but it’s […]

Digital Transformation

  • Female CEO leading a business meeting

    Pain-free business modernisation

    Digital transformation. You’ve heard the phrase a million times. But what does it actually mean? A quick search will bring up 519 million results. So, it’s fair to say there’s no shortage of info out there – much of it useless, overcomplicated and adding to the noise. So, how about we think of it this […]

Press

  • Image of a man and woman smiling

    Microsoft and Connect at Catalyst Inc

    Microsoft and Connect at Catalyst Inc It’s an exciting time to be working in the technology sector in Northern Ireland. More than ever before we’re seeing increased numbers of entrepreneurs, start-up businesses, and indeed multinationals setting up in the North. Working together and learning from each other encourages a strong technology ecosystem and ultimately yields […]

Security & Privacy

Tips

  • Group of two female and one male office workers brainstorming in informal office setting. Both women are using laptops while the man is writing. Large screen shown in background.

    2019 Modern Selling Trends in 5 webinars

    The relationship between buyers and sellers grows more complicated each day. Every potential partnership requires finding the right buyer, fully understanding their business, tracking progress through the buying cycle, and engaging them with the right content—when and how they want it. These shifting dynamics underscore the artistry of modern selling. When the time is right, […]