Tag Archives: Microsoft Azure

PowerProtect Data Manager Nov 2020 Update: What’s New?

Dell Technologies just announced enhancements to PowerProtect Data Manager available globally in November 2020!

Find out what’s new in the latest Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager!

 

PowerProtect Data Manager : What Is It?

Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager provides software-defined data protection, automated discovery, and deduplication for physical, virtual and cloud environments.

Its software-defined architecture allows for greater operational agility, and faster IT transformation, while delivering next-generation data protection.

 

PowerProtect Data Manager November 2020 Update : What’s New?

In its November 2020 update, PowerProtect Data Manager offers these new enhancements :

  • In-cloud workloads in Microsoft Azure and AWS are now protected
  • VMware Tanzu portfolio is now supported
  • Native vCenter Storage Policy-Based Management integrated for VM protection
  • VMware-certified solution to protect VMware Cloud Foundation infrastructure layer.
  • Protection for containerised apps with open source databases, including PostgreSQL and Apache Cassandra, in Kubernetes environments.
  • Customers can now protect Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to back-up Kubernetes cluster-level resources.

 

PowerProtect Data Manager November 2020 Update : Availability

The November 2020 enhancements are available globally with immediate effect.

 

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Key NVIDIA EGX Announcements @ MWC Los Angeles 2019!

At MWC Los Angeles 2019, NVIDIA announced major partnerships on their EGX edge computing platform with Microsoft, Ericsson and Red Hat to accelerate AI, IoT and 5G at the Edge.

Catch the official NVIDIA EGX briefing on these new updates, and find out what it means for edge computing!

 

The Official NVIDIA EGX Briefing @ MWC Los Angeles 2019

Before the official announcement, NVIDIA gave us an exclusive briefing on their EGX edge computing platform. We are sharing it with you, so you can hear it directly from Justin Boitano, General Manager of NVIDIA’s Enterprise & Edge Computing division.

Here is a summary of what NVIDIA unveiled at MWC Los Angeles 2019 :

NVIDIA EGX Early Adopters

NVIDIA actually announced EGX at Computex Taipei in June 2019 – a combination of the NVIDIA CUDA-X software and NVIDIA-certified GPU servers and devices.

Now, they are announcing that Walmart, BMW, Proctor & Gamble, Samsung Electronics and ETT East have adopted the EGX platform, and so have the cities of San Francisco and Las Vegas.

  • Samsung Electronics — The Korean electronics giant is using AI at the edge for highly complex semiconductor design and manufacturing processes.
  • BMW — The German automaker is using intelligent video analytics in its South Carolina manufacturing facility to automate inspection. With EGX gathering data from multiple cameras and other sensors in inspection lines, BMW is helping ensure only the highest quality automobiles leave the factory floor.
  • NTT East — The Japanese telecom services giant is using EGX in its data centers to develop new AI-powered services in remote areas through its broadband access network. Using the EGX platform, NTT East will provide remote populations the computing power and connectivity required to build and deploy a wide range of AI applications at the edge.
  • Procter & Gamble — The world’s leading consumer goods company is working with NVIDIA to develop AI-enabled applications on top of the EGX platform for the inspection of products and packaging to help ensure they meet the highest safety and quality standards. P&G is using NVIDIA EGX to analyze thousands of hours of footage from inspection lines and immediately flag imperfections.
  • Las Vegas — The city is using EGX to capture vehicle and pedestrian data to ensure safer streets and expand economic opportunity. Las Vegas plans to use the data to autonomously manage signal timing and other operational capabilities.
  • San Francisco — The city’s Union Square Business Improvement District is using EGX to capture real-time pedestrian counts for local retailers, providing them a powerful business intelligence tool for engaging with their customers more effectively.

NVIDIA EGX Case Study : Walmart

Walmart is a pioneer user of EGX, deploying it in its Levittown, New York, Intelligent Retail Lab — a fully-operational grocery store where it’s exploring the ways AI can further improve in-store shopping experiences.

Using EGX’s advanced AI and edge capabilities, Walmart is able to compute in real time more than 1.6 terabytes of data generated each second, and can use AI to :

  • automatically alert associates to restock shelves,
  • open up new checkout lanes,
  • retrieve shopping carts, and
  • ensure product freshness in meat and produce departments.

NVIDIA EGX Partnership With Microsoft

NVIDIA announced a collaboration with Microsoft to enable the closer integration between Microsoft Azure and the NVIDIA EGX platform, to advance edge-to-cloud AI computing capabilities for their clients.

The NVIDIA Metropolis video analytics application framework, which runs on EGX, has been optimized to work with Microsoft’s Azure IoT Edge, Azure Machine Learning solutions and a new form factor of the Azure Data Box Edge appliance powered by NVIDIA T4 GPUs.

In addition, NVIDIA-certified off-the-shelf servers — optimised to run Azure IoT Edge and ML services — are now available from more than a dozen leading OEMs, including Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Lenovo.

NVIDIA EGX Partnership With Ericsson

NVIDIA also announced that they are collaborating with Ericsson on developing virtualised RAN technologies.

Their ultimate goal is to commercialise those virtualised RAN technologies to deliver 5G networks with flexibility and shorter time-to-market for new services like augmented reality, virtual reality and gaming.

NVIDIA EGX Partnership With Red Hat

Finally, NVIDIA announced a collaboration with Red Hat to deliver software-defined 5G wireless infrastructure running on Red Hat OpenShift to the telecom industry.

Their customers will be able to use NVIDIA EGX and Red Hat OpenShift to deploy NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate AI, data science and machine learning at the edge.

The critical element enabling 5G providers to move to cloud-native infrastructure is NVIDIA Aerial. This software developer kit, also announced today, allows providers to build and deliver high-performance, software-defined 5G wireless RAN by delivering two essential advancements.

They are a low-latency data path directly from Mellanox network interface cards to GPU memory, and a 5G physical layer signal-processing engine that keeps all data within the GPU’s high-performance memory.

Next Page > NVIDIA EGX Presentation Slides From MWC Los Angeles 2019!

 

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NVIDIA EGX Presentation Slides From MWC Los Angeles 2019!

Here is the full set of NVIDIA EGX presentation slides from MWC Los Angeles 2019 for your perusal :

 

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Pat Gelsinger Reveals 2019 VMware Strategy + Plans!

On the second day of Dell Technologies World 2019, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger shared his 2019 vision for VMware. Here is a sneak peek at the 2019 VMware strategy and plans!

 

Pat Gelsinger Reveals 2019 VMware Strategy + Plans!

VMware was a major force at Dell Technologies World 2019, demonstrating VMware’s great importance in the Dell Technologies family.

They announced amongst other things, Dell Unified Workspace which is based on VMware Workspace ONE, Dell Technologies Cloud in collaboration with Dell EMC, VMware Cloud on Dell EMC, and Azure VMware Solutions in collaboration with Microsoft.

But that was not all, as Pat Gelsinger would soon reveal…

 

Pat Gelsinger Reveals 2019 VMware Strategy + Plans!

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger comes from a “hardware” background, serving as Intel’s first Chief Technology Officer before taking over as President and CEO of EMC.

A point he makes in his talk about the Superpowers of Tech – Cloud, Mobile, AI/ML and Edge/IoT.

  • VMware’s vision still focuses on enabling any cloud resource and application, from the past or the present, to work on any device, while improving intrinsic security over time.
  • The hybrid cloud is the best answer for almost every single workload, because of three “laws” – the laws of physics, the laws of economics, and the laws of the land.
  • VMware and Dell Technologies are focusing on the hybrid cloud architecture with VxRail as its building block.
  • To bind together and manage disparate cloud and on-premise solutions with greater visibility, VMware is offering CloudHealth on all VMware Cloud solutions on Amazon, Azure and Google.
  • VMware is making great investments into Kubernetes as the “middleware for the cloud“.
  • VMware is partnering with Pivotal to make VMware PKS available as VMware Enterprise PKS, VMware Essential PKS and VMware Cloud PKS.
  • VMware is also rebuilding their security architecture and products, with AppDefense and vSphere Platinum, giving virtual machines an AI capability to learn the users’ behaviour, as well as end-to-end encryption throughout the network infrastructure.
  • The newly-announced Dell Unified Workspace leverages VMware’s Workspace ONE unified endpoint management to maintain the user’s devices in good health, while allowing them to seamlessly access any native, SaaS (Software as a Service), or internal application, with a single sign-on from any device.

 

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Microsoft Build 2019 : New Azure Technologies Unveiled!

A host of new Microsoft Azure technologies for developers have been announced at the Microsoft Build 2019 conference, which took place in Seattle. Here is a primer on what they announced!

 

Microsoft Build 2019 : New Azure Technologies Unveiled!

With nearly 6,000 developers and content creators attending Microsoft Build 2019 in Seattle, Microsoft announced a series of new Azure services like hybrid loud and edge computing to support them. They include advanced technologies such as,

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Mixed reality
  • IoT (Internet of Things)
  • Blockchain

 

Microsoft Build 2019 : New Azure AI Technologies

First of all, they unveiled a new set of Microsoft Azure AI technologies to help developers and data scientists utilize AI as a solution :

  • Azure Cognitive Services, which iwll enable applications to see, hear, respond, translate, reason and more.
  • Microsoft will add the “Decision” function to Cognitive Services to help users make decisions through highly specific and customized recommendations.
  • Azure Search will also be further enhanced with an AI feature.

 

Microsoft Build 2019 : New Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Innovations

Microsoft Azure Machine Learning has been enhanced with new machine learning innovations designed to simplify the building, training and deployment of machine learning models. They include :

  • MLOps capabilities with Azure DevOps
  • Automated ML advancements
  • Visual machine learning interface

Microsoft Build 2019 : New Edge Computing Solutions

Microsoft also aims to boost edge computing by introducing these new solutions:

  • Azure SQL Database Edge
  • IoT Plug and Play
  • HoloLens 2 Developer Bundle
  • Unreal Engine 4

Microsoft Build 2019 : Azure Blockchain Service

The Azure Blockchain Workbench, which Microsoft released last year to support development of blockchain applications, has been further enhanced this year with the Azure Blockchain Service.

Azure Blockchain Service is a tool that simplifies the formation and management of consortium blockchain networks so companies only need to focus on app development.

J.P Morgan’s Ethereum platform was introduced by Microsoft as the first ledger available in the Azure Blockchain Service.

 

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The 2019 Microsoft – Dell Partnership : All You Need To Know!

One of the biggest stories from Dell Technologies World 2019 was the new Microsoft – Dell partnership. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella himself joined Michael Dell to talk about it!

 

The 2019 Microsoft – Dell Partnership

Dell Technologies and Microsoft have been partners for a long time now, but at Dell Technologies World 2019, they announced that they were expanding their partnership in a number of digital transformation solutions.

Let’s take a look at what the components of the 2019 Microsoft – Dell partnership…

 

Azure VMware Solutions – VMware On Azure!

For the first time ever, Microsoft will offer VMware on Azure! The new Azure VMware Solutions are built on VMware Cloud Foundation, and deployed in Azure.

This would allow companies to capitalise on VMware’s trusted cloud infrastructure and the mission-critical performance of Microsoft Azure.

Hybrid Cloud Connectivity

With Azure VMware Solutions, customers will be able to seamlessly migrate, extend and run existing VMware workloads from on-premises environments to Microsoft Azure without the need to re-architect applications or retool operations.

They will also be able to build, run, manage, and secure new and existing applications across VMware environments and Microsoft Azure, while extending a single model for operations based on established tools, skills and processes as part of a hybrid cloud strategy.

Tapping Into Azure Capabilities

Azure VMware Solutions enable organisations to tap into Azure’s scale, security and fast provisioning cycles to innovate and modernise applications while also improving performance.

By integrating with native Azure services, customers can easily infuse advanced capabilities like AI, Machine Learning, and IoT into their applications enabling new, intelligent experiences.

Metal-as-a-Service

Azure VMware Solutions are first-party services from Microsoft developed in collaboration with VMware Cloud Verified partners CloudSimple and Virtustream (a Dell Technologies company).

Both CloudSimple and Virtustream run the latest VMware software-defined data center technology.

This ensures that customers enjoy the same benefits of a consistent infrastructure and consistent operations in the cloud as they achieve in their own physical data center, while allowing customers to also access the capabilities of Microsoft Azure.

 

New Microsoft – Dell Workspace Solutions

The 2019 Microsoft – Dell partnership also sees a collaboration in digital workspace solutions between Microsoft and both Dell Technologies and VMware.

Microsoft 365 + VMware Workspace ONE

Customers who use both Microsoft 365 and VMware Workspace ONE will now be able to leverage both solutions to maximise their investments.

Specifically, they will be able to use Workspace ONE to manage and secure Office 365 across devices through cloud-based integration with Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory.

Dell Provisioning Services Integration

Through the new Dell Technologies Unified Workspace, customers can leverage the integration of Microsoft Windows Autopilot and Dell Device Provisioning and Deployment Services, like Dell ProDeploy – all enabled by the integration of Microsoft 365, Workspace ONE, and Dell Provisioning Services.

Windows Virtual Desktop

Microsoft also announced Windows Virtual Desktop, the only service that delivers a multi-session Windows 10 experience, optimisations for Office 365 ProPlus, and support for Windows Server Remote Desktop Services (RDS) desktops and apps.

As a part of this agreement, VMware will extend the capabilities of Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop to enable customers to further accelerate their cloud initiatives, leveraging VMware Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure.

Initial capabilities are expected to be available as a tech preview by the end of calendar year 2019.

VMware + Azure Integration

Microsoft and VMware are also exploring initiatives to drive further integration between VMware infrastructure and Azure such as integration of VMware NSX with Azure Networking and integration of specific Azure services with VMware management solutions.

They will also be exploring bringing specific Azure services to the VMware on-premises customers. Through this collaboration, the companies aim to give customers a more seamless experience across VMware and Azure environments.

 

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Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney : An Exclusive Tour!

Microsoft opened a brand new Technology Centre in downtown Sydney last month, and we were one of the few that were given an exclusive tour.

Join us for the Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney tour, and find out what it offers, and how it looks inside!

 

Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney

Located at 1 Martin Place, the new Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney represents a significant investment by Microsoft in New South Wales.

Taking over the entire floor of what was once the LinkedIn office in Sydney, it is home to a dedicated Microsoft team of seven experts and specialists, including a director, five technical architects with extensive experience in various sectors, and a technology manager.

Steven Worrall, Managing Director, Microsoft Australia, said; “This is a significant and important investment by Microsoft in the Australian market.

The Microsoft Technology Centre will help our customers accelerate their digital journeys by bringing together the right resources – people and technology – in one location to demonstrate what can be achieved in their organisation and then to work with them to bring that to life.

The Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney is the latest in a string of large investments by Microsoft int the Australian market, which included the establishment of two Azure data centre regions in Canberra, and a Microsoft Reactor in the Sydney Startup Hub.

Recommended : These 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Winners Will Change The World!

 

What Does Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney Offer?

The new Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney gives Australian enterprises the opportunity to explore how to digitally transform themselves. It offers an envisioning theatre, an exploration showcase, an innovation factory, a social hub, a cybersecurity room, as well as workshop and boardrooms.

At the Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney, enterprises will have direct access to Microsoft experts, as well as strategy briefings, architecture design sessions, workshops, proof-of-concepts as well as hackathons.

 

NSW Government MOU

At its official launch, the NSW government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Microsoft Australia.

Under this MOU, NSW department leads would be invited to the new Microsoft Technology Centre Sydney, to explore how NSW government services can be digitally transformed.

Greg Wells, NSW Government Chief Information and Digital Officer, said, “This Memorandum of Understanding will allow us to bring Department Heads to the MTC where they can see what more can be achieved with digital services, improved efficiencies and good value solutions.

We expect there will be significant positive impact for citizens and businesses as well as operational efficiencies for Government.”

Recommended : The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Teams Introduce Themselves!

 

Partnership With DXC Technology

Microsoft Australia also announced a five-year strategic partnership with IT services giant DXC Technology, to transition both their Australian clients to the Microsoft Azure cloud services.

This is the first partnership of its kind worldwide, and will enable current and future DXC clients to better transition their workloads to Microsoft Azure in Australia.

Seelan Nayagam, managing director, DXC Technology said, “Microsoft Azure is a trusted, secure and high-performance cloud with an already comprehensive and growing array of services.

Together we can provide solutions that our government and commercial clients can confidently deploy today while being prepared for changing market conditions or expectations.

The combination of our deep understanding and experience and Microsoft’s cloud and technical expertise is going to be a game changer for existing and new clients to realize and expand their digital transformation ambitions.”

Recommended : The 2019 Microsoft Ignite – A Quick Tour!

 

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SUFECS – Imagine Cup Asia 2019 People’s Choice Winner!

Team Caeli from India may have won the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia, but another team stood out from the crowd of truly excellent teamsTeam SUFECS from Malaysia. In fact, they impressed Microsoft Ignite Sydney participants so much, they gave the team an award!

Find out what the SUFECS project is all about, and why the team won the Microsoft Ignite People’s Choice Award!

Updated @ 2019-02-25 : Added a new video of Team SUFECS’s pitch at the Imagine Cup Asia 2019, with additional details on the SUFECS system.

Originally posted @ 2019-02-20

 

Team SUFECS From UTHM, Malaysia

The SUFECS team was formed by four students from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM).

  • Seah Choon Sen : Team Leader & Data Scientist
  • Tan Wei Yang : Technology Developer
  • Mek Zi Cong : Operations
  • Muhammad Adam bin Mazlan : Web Developer

 

What Is SUFECS All About?

Short for Smart Urban Farming with Automated Environmental Controlled System, SUFECS was developed to make urban farming easier and more accessible to both entrepreneurs and the common people.

Built to automate hydroponic vertical farming, it will continuously monitor and automatically adjust critical environmental parameters to ensure optimal growth. To do that, this enterprising team leveraged IoT devices, cloud computing and machine learning.

  • Multiple electronic sensors monitor conditions within the hydroponic system
  • A control module sends the environmental parameters to Microsoft Azure for processing and logging
  • Deviations from optimal conditions are automatically detected and corrected

The team has demonstrated that SUFECS does not only make it easy for anyone to grow their own crops in an urban, indoor environment, they are able to significantly speed up growth, reducing the time between planting and harvest.

They also showed that SUFECS has successfully increased the size of the plant, and the yield of the crops. This means their system will not only make it easier to setup and maintain an urban hydroponic farm of any size, it will create bigger and better crops.

 

What Can SUFECS Monitor & Control?

SUFECS is currently able to monitor and control six environmental parameters :

  • ambient temperature,
  • water temperature,
  • humidity level,
  • water level,
  • pH value, and
  • ambient light.

It will also monitor plant height, and alert you when it is ready for harvest.

The team is working to add the ability to monitor and control two additional environmental parameters 

  • electrical conductivity
  • dissolved oxygen level

The team has, so far, developed datasets for five different plant types using machine learning.

 

SUFECS Wins People’s Choice Award @ Microsoft Ignite Sydney

Microsoft held the Microsoft Ignite Sydney a day after Imagine Cup Asia, where they showcased the projects of the top 12 Asian teams.

At the end of Ignite, Team SUFECS received the most vote, and won the People’s Choice Award! Congratulations!

 

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Microsoft Ignite 2019 @ Sydney – A Quick Tour!

Microsoft Ignite 2019 is here in Sydney! It was sold out, of course, but we managed to get a ticket.

So here is our quick tour for everyone else who could not make it, but wanted to see what it’s all about!

 

Microsoft Ignite 2019 @ Sydney

The Microsoft Ignite 2019 @ Sydney is a Microsoft tech conference for developers and tech professionals. For two days, it offers skill-building workshops, networking opportunities and access to top Microsoft engineers. No wonder tickets were quickly sold out!

For developers and tech professionals who want to learn how to better leverage Microsoft’s cloud services, the 2019 Microsoft Ignite is a rare opportunity to learn directly from those who build Power BI, Microsoft 365, and Azure.

  • Building your Applications for the Cloud – Learn how to architect and build your applications to take advantage of the scale that the cloud offers.
  • Deploying your Desktop & Infrastructure – Discover how to begin your journey to the cloud and what steps you need to both move your infrastructure and deploy your desktop.
  • ‘Getting the most of your Data – Learn how to use AI and Machine Learning to gain new understanding using existing data within your organisation.
  • Migrating Applications to the Cloud – Learn what it takes to modernise your applications and prepare them for successful migration to the cloud.
  • Optimise Teamwork in your Organisation – Reveal the collaborative workforce within your business and learn how to build effective teams.
  • Securing your Organisation – Build a secure organisation without compromising the productivity of your business.

 

Microsoft Ignite 2019 @ Sydney : A Quick Tour!

Microsoft Ignite 2019 @ Sydney was held in the International Convention Center Sydney (ICC Sydney) over two days – 13th and 14th February 2019. Yes, even on Valentine’s Day. These are truly dedicated professionals!

The Microsoft Ignite 2019 @ Sydney covered two halls, as well as several lecture halls. In our quick tour, we take a look at the Hub, where participants get to interact directly with Microsoft professionals and their partners.

Note : We intentionally recorded our tour while most participants were inside the lecture halls for the workshops. Otherwise, the halls would be swarmed with people, making it difficult for us to record our tour.

 

The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Showcase

As the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia concluded a day earlier, Microsoft also took the opportunity to showcase the projects of the 12 top Asian teams.

We highly recommend you check out what these young entrepreneurs came up with this year. Be inspired by their creativity!

 

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These 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Winners Will Change The World

Asia has chosen their representatives to the 2019 Imagine Cup World Championships – Team Caeli from India! They also honoured Team RailinNova from China and Team AidUSC from the Philippines. Congratulations!

 

What Is The Imagine Cup?

Held and sponsored by Microsoft since 2003, the Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition.

Teams of students from across the globe work together with mentors and industry leaders to bring their biggest and boldest ideas to life.

The five Imagine Cup judges evaluated the merits of these 12 top teams in a three-step process :

  • a 3-minute product presentation
  • 5 minutes of hands-on time
  • a Q&A session

To avoid bias and group-think, the judges evaluated the teams independently, and even used an application to anonymously tabulate the results.

 

The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Winners

The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Champion : Team Caeli from India

Team Caeli won over the hearts of the judges with their automated Anti-Pollution and Drug delivery mask specifically designed for patients that are suffering from asthma and other chronic respiratory conditions.

Their face mask had breakthrough features that will significantly improve the quality of life for patients with respiratory issues living in polluted areas.

Team Caeli will receive USD15,000 and head to the 2019 Imagine Cup World Championship, which will be held in Seattle in May.

If they win the World Championship, they will win USD100,000 in cash, a USD50,000 Azure grant, and a mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella!

1st Runner-Up : Team RailinNova from China

Team RailinNova developed the Rail Component Inspection Robot, which determines and identifies rail defects through multi-sensor monitoring. The solution strives to help railway companies to solve any issues more efficiently, and more economically.

For their excellence, Team RailinNova will receive a USD5,000 cash prize.

2nd Runner-Up : Team AidUSC from the Philippines

Team AidUSC came up with Aqua Check, a water contamination mobile application that enables detection of contamination by taking a photo of a water sample through a microscope. It won them third place, and a USD1,000 cash prize.

 

Special Mention : The Other 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Teams

Having watched all 12 teams in action, we must point out that all 12 Asian teams were truly exceptional. They impressed us, not only with the depth of knowledge, but also their poise and ability to think out-of-the-box in the conception and execution of their projects.

We also admire how their projects were created with social impact in mind. This gives us great hope in the new generation of entrepreneurs, who are seeking to improve society as a whole. We are all winners with young entrepreneurs of their caliber.

 

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The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Teams Introduce Themselves!

On the eve of the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia competition in Sydney, we met with the top 12 Asian teams that will compete for a coveted spot in the 2019 Imagine Cup 2019 World Championship!

Let’s take a look at the twelve awesome Asian teams, and see the innovative ideas they will be pitching in the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Regional Finals!

 

What Is The Imagine Cup?

Held and sponsored by Microsoft since 2003, the Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition. Teams of students from across the globe work together with mentors and industry leaders to bring their biggest and boldest ideas to life.

 

The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Regional Finals

This year, Microsoft organised the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Regional Finals in Sydney, Australia. Hundreds of teams from 17 Asian countries submitted their projects, but just twelve great teams won a shot to participate in the Asia Regional Finals.

These twelve teams will compete for US$20,000 in prizes on 12 February, but only one team will win the ultimate prize – an all-expenses paid trip to the World Finals in Seattle!

There, the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Regional Champion will participate along the best and brightest teams from across the globe to claim the title of World Champion, US$100,000 cash prize, and the chance to take home the Imagine Cup!

 

The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Regional Finalists


RailinNova

Country : China

Project : Rail Component Inspection Robot

Their Rail Component Inspection Robot (which combines AI and IoT) operates through automatic positioning, and identifies various defects through multi-sensor fusion in order to realise the replacement of workers in a rail inspection project.


Alpha-India

Country : India

Project : Spot – AR Based Product Filtering

Spot allows you to recognise packaged foods and check if it contains a certain ingredient or exhibits a certain character.

If a tourist visits India, he is unaware of what he can eat because packets have information written in a foreign language.


Caeli

Country : India

Project : Caeli – Breathe Freely

Caeli is a smart automated Anti-Pollution and Drug delivery mask specifically designed for Asthmatic and Chronic Respiratory Patients.

Caeli implements breakthrough features to improve the quality of life for respiratory patients living in polluted areas.


RVSAFE

Country : India

Project : RVSAFE

Disasters often strike, when we are least prepared to face them. They leave behind a trail of destruction, adversely affecting human life, and property.

The loss caused by disasters can be significantly reduced with better communication and proper management. Keeping this in mind, we designed RVSAFE, a one-stop solution for effectively handling any kind of disasters (natural or man-made).


CodeSell

Country : Indonesia

Project : Selection – Social Media

Sellution is a software as a service (SaaS) to help SMEs to perform social media marketing, not just in an easy way, but is also effective and efficient.

Sellution’s main features are optimizing marketing content, help finding the right audience, and recommendations.


Fhisherman

Country : Korea

Project : Fishing Phishing

Fishing Phishing by the Fhisherman team from Korea is a smartphone application that uses Machine Learning to analyse call voices in real-time.

It is designed to detect scam calls and warn the users!


SUFECS

Country : Malaysia

Project : Smart Urban Farming with Automated Environmental Controlled Systems (SUFECS)

SUFECS was developed to transform the farming experiences of urban farmer.

With SUFECS, farmers can monitor and control the artificial environment to achieve the most suitable environment for crops.


LookUP

Country : New Zealand

Project : LookUP

It is estimated one in five people in the world are dyslexic. However, most QnA platforms are completely text-based.

LookUP is a medium in which the dyslexic and non-dyslexic communities can effectively collaborate and learn from one another.


AidUSC

Country : The Philippines

Project : Aqua Check – Water Contamination Mobile Application

Aqua Check utilises Microsoft Azure’s Custom Vision to empower anyone to analyse for contamination by taking a photo of a water sample through a microscope.

Using Azure Web and Azure Maps, we are able to map the contamination locations.


InclusiveAR

Country : Singapore

Project : Mobile Augmented Reality Navigation Application for Wheelchair Users

This project aims to develop a mobile application, InclusiveAR, to assist wheelchair users in travelling.

InclusiveAR will map out wheelchair-accessible routes and provide visual guidance to direct wheelchair users to their destinations using AR.


The Straw Hats

Country : Sri Lanka

Project : Mind Probe

Our project aims to help people with disabilities like ALS, DMD, etc. which impair their ability to communicate.

We tap into their brain waves and use that to predict the number they are thinking and use that information to interface with a smartphone.


Maker Playground

Country : Thailand

Project : Maker Playground

Maker Playground is a next-generation IDE for IoT project development from developing device firmware, generating circuit diagram, programming your device, and designing an IoT dashboard all in one software.

 

See You @ The 2019 Imagine Cup Asia!

Congratulations to the 12 awesome teams!

Later today,, they will present their projects at the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Regional Finals… and by 5 PM, we will find out who the 2019 Imagine Cup Asia Regional Champion will be!

 

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The Kroger Microsoft RaaS Collaboration Revealed!

Kroger and Microsoft just announced a collaboration to redefine the customer experience using Kroger Technology products powered by Microsoft Azure. Here is a look at the new Kroger Microsoft RaaS collaboration!

The Kroger-Microsoft RaaS Collaboration Revealed!

As part of the Kroger-Microsoft RaaS (Retail as a Service) collaboration, Kroger and Microsoft will jointly market a commercial RaaS product to the industry, as well as pilot a connected store experience.

This partnership brings together Kroger’s expertise in the grocery industry with the power of Microsoft Azure and Azure AI.

Retail as a Service (RaaS)

The Kroger-Microsoft RaaS product is enablement software built by a retailer for retailers, supporting modern retail experiences and harmonizing customers’ digital and physical shopping experiences.

The new Kroger-Microsoft RaaS solution is a Kroger product powered by Microsoft Azure. It offers a suite of capabilities to support KPIs and merchandising plans, collect customer insights, enhance employee productivity, improve out-of-stocks, better the customer experience, and allow for hyper personalisation using proprietary technology.

Future commercial products include: Scan, Bag, Go; Virtual Store Manager; sensor network; and connectors to corporate systems like point-of-sale, and inventory management, tag and merchandising systems.

Connected Store Experience Pilot

The Kroger Technology team has developed a smart technology system, powered by Microsoft Azure and connected by IoT sensors, to transform two pilot stores.

They will leverage RaaS, establishing a way to quickly add innovations to create new customer experiences, enable higher levels of personalisation through insights and enhance store associate productivity.

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The Adobe Sign & Microsoft Teams Partnership Details

Sept 8, 2017 Adobe (NASD “ADBE”) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) are expanding their strategic alliance to cover Adobe Sign and Microsoft Teams to increase workforce productivity and drive more efficient business processes.

Beginning today, Adobe Sign is now Microsoft’s preferred e-signature solution across the company’s portfolio, including the 100 million monthly commercial active users of Microsoft Office 365. In addition, Microsoft Teams is now the preferred collaboration service for Adobe Creative Cloud, Document Cloud and Experience Cloud.

Adobe will also make Microsoft Azure its preferred cloud platform for Adobe Sign. In addition to the partnership announced today, the companies will explore opportunities to continue collaborating on artificial intelligence, analytics and intelligent document automation, taking productivity in the cloud to the next level.

“Adobe and Microsoft are working together to redefine what the modern enterprise experience looks like with collaboration, identity, data and intelligence at the core,” said Abhay Parasnis, chief technology officer, Adobe. “Together we will develop integrated cloud services with best-in-class solutions like Adobe Sign and Office 365 that help businesses digitally transform while delivering great experiences to their customers.”

“Together with Adobe, we’re committed to fostering creativity and a culture of teamwork for our shared customers, so they can unlock the opportunities of today’s rapidly evolving workplace,” said Peggy Johnson, executive vice president, Business Development, Microsoft. “We’re thrilled that our partnership with Adobe has now grown to span our three clouds —Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 — providing customers with the powerful integrations they need to navigate digital transformation.”

 

The Adobe Sign & Microsoft Teams Partnership Details

The first integrations resulting from this partnership are expected to be available to customers in the coming weeks:

  • Integration between Microsoft Office 365 and Adobe Sign will deliver fast, secure electronic signing across Office 365, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Outlook, so that signing documents electronically, on any device, can become an everyday experience.
  • Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Stock integration with Microsoft Teams will give Adobe’s creative customers access to a world-class collaboration workspace that speeds up creative feedback, iteration and decision-making. Microsoft Teams integration will expand to Adobe Experience Cloud in the future.
  • Adobe Sign integration with Microsoft Teams will accelerate electronic agreement creation, approval and signature processes across teams. The Adobe Sign app in Microsoft Teams includes a tab to send documents for signature and a bot that allows team members to manage and track documents.
  • Adobe Sign integration with Microsoft Flow will allow users to build end-to-end digital workflows by adding Adobe Sign to any Microsoft Flow process. In the coming months, organizations will benefit from Flow integration with other Microsoft applications such as SharePoint, Dynamics and OneDrive.

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Availability

Adobe Sign for Microsoft Dynamics and Microsoft SharePoint is already available. New Adobe Sign integrations for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Flow, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Outlook are expected to be available in the coming weeks.

Adobe Creative Cloud integration with Microsoft Teams is also expected to be available in the coming weeks with Experience Cloud integrations to follow.

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Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack Unveiled!

Dell EMC today announces Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack, a new, turnkey, hybrid cloud platform that offers a simple and fast path for implementing and sustaining a hybrid cloud based on Microsoft Azure Stack.

The new platform helps organisations standardising on the Microsoft Azure ecosystem to accelerate their digital transformation with automated IT service delivery for traditional and cloud-native applications. As a result, organisations can better engage with their customers, reduce time to market for new services, and free-up resources to focus on adding business value.

 

Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack

The new Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack combines Dell EMC’s leadership in worldwide cloud infrastructure with its long history of partnering with Microsoft, which includes shipping the industry’s first Microsoft-based hybrid cloud in October 2015.

The new offering complements turnkey platforms Dell EMC Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, introduced more than three years ago, and Dell EMC Native Hybrid Cloud that integrate hardware, software and automation to simplify IT service delivery and reduce time to market for customers around the globe.

 

Consistent Experience for On-Premises Private and Public Cloud

Interoperability between public and private cloud resources has quickly become a top requirement for many organisations’ IT infrastructures. The turnkey Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack delivers a consistent experience across Azure public cloud and private with Azure Stack. It is engineered with industry leading Dell EMC PowerEdge servers and Dell EMC Networking. As a Hybrid Cloud Platform, it is built, sustained and supported as a singular platform with a turnkey stack.

Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack offers a true hybrid cloud that speeds application development and deployment by providing a consistent programming surface between Azure and Azure Stack. As a result, organisations can cost-effectively access, create and share traditional and cloud-native application services securely in Azure and Azure Stack to ensure business results, without sacrificing security, protection, service quality and availability.

Integrations with Dell EMC best-in-class backup and encryption technologies provide a consistent means of protecting and securing data across customers’ Azure-based public and on premises cloud environments. Furthermore, the adoption of Pivotal Cloud Foundry on Azure will extend to Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack, continuing to deliver the promise of hybrid models with consistent services, APIs and consumption models for on- and off-premises.

 

Dell EMC Services Simplify Deployment and Management

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Dell EMC services are available for every step of the journey—from strategic planning through implementation, operations and ongoing support. Dell EMC experts provide hands-on guidance to optimise and expand the customer’s hybrid cloud platform to meet business objectives. These activities include developing and customising service catalogs, enabling identity and access management systems, and extending monitoring and metering systems to Azure Stack.

Dell EMC provides support throughout the lifecycle of the platform with each component backed by automated proactive, predictive tools and a dedicated Technical Account Manager with ProSupport Plus. With Hybrid Cloud Platforms backed by Dell EMC Services, organisations can focus on delivering differentiated application services rather than building and managing their infrastructure.

 

Availability Of Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack

Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack is expected to be available direct and from partners worldwide in the second half of calendar year 2017.

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Microsoft Office & Skype Bundled With Xiaomi Devices

2 June 2016Microsoft Corp. and Xiaomi Inc. have expanded their global partnership to provide innovative user experiences on mobile devices. As part of the agreement, Xiaomi will ship Microsoft Office and Skype on Xiaomi Android smartphones and tablets. As a result, tens of millions of consumers and business customers in China, India and around the world will have new ways to work, collaborate and communicate. The companies’ new collaboration also includes a cross-license and patent transfer agreement.

“We are excited to be working closely with Microsoft on a broad technology collaboration partnership,” said Xiang Wang, senior vice president at Xiaomi. “As demonstrated by this agreement with Microsoft, Xiaomi is looking to build sustainable, long-term partnerships with global technology leaders, with the ultimate goal of bringing the best user experience to our Mi fans.”

“People want their favorite apps and experiences to work seamlessly on the device of their choice, and that’s exactly what this partnership offers” said Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President of Microsoft Corp. “Together with Xiaomi, we’re bringing the very best in mobile productivity to millions more customers in China and around the world.”

Beginning in September 2016, Xiaomi Android devices, including Mi 5, Mi Max, Mi 4s, Redmi Note 3 and Redmi 3, will come pre-installed with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Skype applications. Specific offerings may vary by device, market and mobile operator.

This agreement builds on the companies’ partnership with Windows 10 on Mi Pad and Microsoft Azure powering the Mi Cloud service. Partnerships with companies such as Xiaomi are central to Microsoft’s strategy to work with industry leaders around the world to meet the needs of joint customers.

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Microsoft Dynamics AX Now Available In 137 Markets!

REDMOND, Wash. — March 10, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. announced that its next-generation cloud ERP solution, Microsoft Dynamics AX, built on and for Microsoft Azure, is now available in 137 markets in 40 languages. The enterprise-class business application brings the power, speed and intelligence of cloud computing to people and organizations to achieve more.

“Customers from around the world are using the cloud in incredible ways to accelerate and transform their business,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise. “Today’s release is an exciting milestone extending Microsoft’s business cloud offerings. It’s now possible for organizations to run their entire business in the cloud with Microsoft — from productivity with Office 365, to business analytics with Power BI and Cortana Analytics Suite, customer engagement with Dynamics CRM and business operations with Dynamics AX.”

 

Microsoft Dynamics AX Now Available In 137 Markets!

Customers across the globe are already using Dynamics AX to run their business processes in the cloud — from single domains like human resources and manufacturing to end-to-end business. Companies already live in production include Hagler Systems, Haldex, Icon, Renault Sport Formula One Team, Priva, Smiles, Travel Alberta and Umbra Group.

The new Dynamics AX moves beyond traditional business solutions and brings ERP, business intelligence, infrastructure and database services together in a single offering, empowering organizations to run industry-specific and operational business processes that are extendable with specific solutions from partners. Wednesday, Microsoft announced more than 50 ISV solutions that are available on the Azure Marketplace. These Microsoft-curated, pre-configured industry and vertical solutions help customers discover and implement the solution they need quicker than ever before and, like Dynamics AX, enable fast consumption of updates and improvements. In addition to the 50-plus solutions already available, hundreds are in development today.

The new Dynamics AX takes the capabilities of Lifecycle Services (LCS) to the next level. Businesses will be able to combine the best practices for their mission-critical apps with the flexibility and simplicity of upgrade via the cloud. With LCS, Dynamics AX will formalize the concepts of development, test and production, making the ongoing upgrade quicker to implement and deploy and easier to manage.

“Lifecycle Services represents a shift in how companies manage the life cycle of an ERP system in a way that’s never really been done before,” said Josh Greenbaum, principal analyst, Enterprise Application Consulting. “The ability to test in the cloud and use the cloud’s natural elasticity and functionality to take the test, flip a switch and make it the actual production environment, that truly is magic.”

Harnessing the power of the Azure cloud, Dynamics AX provides enhanced security along with global availability and scale, enabling businesses and people to work more safely anywhere, anytime while respecting the data sovereignty requirements of global customers no matter where in the globe they operate.

“We do everything through Dynamics AX now; we manage virtually all of our operations,” said Thomas Mayer, chief operating office, Renault Sport Formula One Team. “Having what I need to run my business available anywhere in the world is invaluable.”

“We are bringing massive amounts of data into our business to help control building climates and horticulture environments. That is a huge business transformation, and the cloud was the only way forward for us to make that real,” said Paul Ossewold, vice president, Digital Operations, Priva. “To manage our company with 10 offices around the world, we need systems that are fast. That is what Dynamics AX in the cloud is giving us, and we couldn’t be more excited to be one of the first customers on board to take advantage of this new solution.”

 

Modern solution for modern businesses

Dynamics AX delivers a simple, beautiful, and modern user interface that is touch-enabled for the devices people use today. People can interact with the system with ease, as Dynamics AX works like other Microsoft applications that people are used to, increasing adoption and usage. The new intelligent user experience is also optimized to deliver value to organizations through the ability to make smarter decisions with increased speed.

[adrotate group=”2″]“ERP is core to our business operations and critical to building and delivering products to our customers,” said Ben Hagler, co-founder, Hagler Systems. “We chose Dynamics AX because of its robustness. The UI is amazing and available anywhere. It makes us device-independent. We can get work done everywhere with increased speed.”

Dynamics AX delivers the proven business logic of a complete business suite, enhanced with new constructs such as Workspaces that provide a collaborative canvas unifying key performance indicators, business intelligence, views of critical data, processes and actions to power business user productivity. The Financial Period Close Workspace, for example, dramatically streamlines this critical, complex process.

Software vendors that partner with Microsoft have expressed their excitement over the potential this new solution offers the industry, representing a turning point in the ERP industry as cloud ERP solutions are adopted by customers to run their business-critical operations.

“This release is further proof that Microsoft is leading the charge with innovations not just in ERP but in cloud,” said CEO Peter ter Maaten from Microsoft partner HSO. “Dynamics AX will be a game changer for enterprise customers.”

Customers can sign up for the service today as the new release is available as a monthly subscription in three simple versions that include a self-serve user, a Task user and an Enterprise user. Businesses can get up and running quickly and match their business growth easily by adding business processes and users with this simple and transparent pay-as-you-go model.

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Chatime Malaysia’s Bubbling Success With Microsoft

KUALA LUMPUR, 29 Feb 2016Chatime Malaysia announced the enhancement of its business operations by adopting Microsoft solutions, which includes Windows 8 and the enterprise-grade cloud computing platform Microsoft Azure.

 

Chatime Malaysia’s Bubbling Success With Microsoft

As one of the top beverage companies in the world, Chatime aims to be the most loved beverage by revolutionizing the tea drinking culture in the country. The company today employs over 800 trained tearistas (tea equivalent to baristas), across 150 outlets, offering up to 80 choices of beverages daily.

To handle its robust and growing business, the company often struggled with its old point-of-sale (POS) system that could no longer fulfil vital requirements that the team needed in order to drive their business forward.

 

“Keeping pace with our growing business and customer base was a growing challenge for us. In order to serve a beverage liked by all, we use only high quality tea leaves and ingredients to serve close to four million Chatime in Malaysia drinks a month,” said Bryan Loo, Managing Director of Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, the license owner of Chatime Malaysia.

“Our expanding business meant that we were in need of a system that was capable of more than just tabulating sales numbers. We believed that we needed to better understand customer behavior better – essentially, what makes them tick, and what doesn’t – and ultimately, this would be translated into business insights that we could use to consistently serve quality drinks.”

 

Eliminating The Limitation

Chatime previously relied on a traditional POS system in each store that is connected to a main server back at the headquarters, which needed to be manually updated on a daily basis – a time-consuming task which resulted in delayed results. As the system operated in an almost standalone basis, the company found itself wasting valuable time in communicating changes to the POS system and monitoring its business activities in this way.

“A lot of thought was put in researching and deciding on the solution that best fits our needs. Given the size of our business, we wanted a solution that was efficient, that didn’t consume time and resources, and more importantly – it had to be one that was familiar and cost-effective,” added Loo.

Armed with comprehensive research and from feedback from various vendors, the company decided to explore the possibility of using Microsoft technology. In 2014, Chatime turned to WebBytes to help design a new Cloud-based POS system that runs on Windows 8 and the Microsoft Azure platform, that would address the company’s needs.

 

Modernizing Business Operations With Windows And Azure

Chatime began deployment in April 2014, which saw the company replacing its traditional POS systems with Windows 8, specifically tailored for a growing SMB such as Chatime, whose main focus was on mobility, ease-of-use, and flexible access to data insights.

And to improve mobility, the company used devices powered by Windows 8, which they could easily bring along to different locations based on business needs. Hosted on Azure, the centralized POS system was fully connected to a Cloud infrastructure, allowing Chatime to access transaction data all of its outlets, live – literally, anytime, anywhere – and extract it in a suitable format that would help them translate the numbers and data into a workable report.

By storing all transaction data on the Cloud, Chatime effectively minimized the risk of data loss due to hardware failure. With Microsoft’s commitment in providing a trusted cloud, Chatime is assured that the security and privacy of their data will not be compromised.

[adrotate group=”2″]The new POS system was also capable of providing Chatime with real-time customer purchasing information, which the company uses to gain insights – such as analyzing sales per customer, the top items sold, what type of toppings customers enjoyed, in addition to the top sellable drinks – allowing them to better manage their inventory and resources. The company has since made changes to their menu to reflect real-time needs and preferences of Malaysians for their much-loved bubble tea.

According to Howard Woon, Technology & Operations Excellence Manager at Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, the new system has helped the company streamline its operations, “With the new cloud-based POS solution, we were able to link stores nationwide with our central office to communicate any new changes to our offerings or promotions quicker than ever before. As the data from every transaction made in store is automatically stored and synchronized, we were able to gain instant business insights, real-time. In fact, the data representation was so efficient we were able to pull up very specific information from the system, from top selling drinks and the most popular toppings, down to peak sales times.“

Commenting on the portability of their new POS system, Woon said the company hopes to leverage this mobility advantage as it looks into expanding this to its kiosks and during events, “We are now able to operate our POS system entirely on a Windows 8 device, giving us the flexibility to move our operations to other locations, particularly when it comes to setting up one-off kiosk locations during specific campaigns or events. For the month of Ramadhan last year, we have actually tested the system at some of our kiosks at Ramadhan bazaars around the KL city center. We simply needed to hook it up to a running Internet connection, and we were ready for business!”

 

Chatime’s Future Plans

The company joins a growing number of businesses around the world who are thinking beyond tactical server migrations and adopting a cloud-first approach to focus on their core capabilities to realize tangible business benefits more quickly.

Owing to the successful implementation of its mobile POS system, Chatime is also considering additional Microsoft Surface tablets that will run on Windows 10 to meet their business needs in new, modern ways – eliminating their reliance on multiple devices. The plan will largely improve Chatime’s out-of-store operating capability to enable the company expand its number of temporary kiosks in the future, ultimately fulfilling its brand promise and commitment to continue to serve the best quality beverages and cultivate a modern tea culture in Malaysia.

“Chatime’s decision to move to Microsoft Windows and Cloud-based Azure came at an opportune time for the company, as more and more SMBs in the food and beverage industry are realizing the need for a modern and affordable, yet scalable platform to remain nimble in a fast-paced industry,” said Azizah Ali, General Manager, Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners. “With Microsoft’s affordable cloud-based platform that minimizes capital expenditure, improves operational efficiency and ultimately optimizes revenue in the long run, we hope to empower SMBs in Malaysia to focus their efforts in what matters to them most – growing their business,” she concluded.

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Microsoft Philanthropies Donates US$1 Billion In Resources

DAVOS-KLOSTERS, Switzerland — Jan. 19, 2016 Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella announced a new three-part initiative to ensure that Microsoft’s cloud computing resources serve the public good. As part of this initiative the recently formed Microsoft Philanthropies will donate $1 billion of Microsoft Cloud Services, measured at fair market value, to serve nonprofits and university researchers over the next three years.

 

Microsoft Philanthropies Donates US$1 Billion In Resources

Microsoft’s three-part commitment focuses on ensuring the cloud can serve the public good in the broadest sense by providing additional cloud resources to nonprofits, increasing access for university researchers and helping solve last-mile Internet access challenges.

“Microsoft is empowering mission-driven organizations around the planet with a donation of cloud computing services — the most transformative technologies of our generation,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who on Wednesday will speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Now more than 70,000 organizations will have access to technology that will help them solve our greatest societal challenges and ultimately improve the human condition and drive new growth equally.”

Cloud computing has emerged as a vital resource for unlocking the secrets held by data in ways that create new insights and lead to breakthroughs not just for science and technology, but for the full range of economic and social challenges and the delivery of better human services. It can also improve communications and problem-solving and help organizations work in a more productive and more efficient manner.

In September 2015, 193 heads of state and other world leaders unanimously adopted 17 sustainable development goals to achieve by 2030. This ambitious agenda — which includes ending poverty, ending hunger, and ensuring affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all — will only be achievable with the benefit of significant inventions and technology innovations. The scale and computational power enabled by cloud computing will be essential to unlocking solutions to this list of some of the world’s seemingly unsolvable problems.

“We’re committed to helping nonprofit groups and universities use cloud computing to address fundamental human challenges,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “One of our ambitions for Microsoft Philanthropies is to partner with these groups and ensure that cloud computing reaches more people and serves the broadest array of societal needs.”

Specific elements of the new initiative include these:

  • Serving the broad needs of the nonprofit community. A new global donation program will make Microsoft Cloud Services, including Microsoft Azure, Power BI, CRM Online and the Enterprise Mobility Suite, more available to nonprofit organizations through Microsoft Philanthropies. The program builds upon an already successful program that provides similar access to Office 365 for nonprofits. The nonprofit program for Microsoft Cloud Services will begin rolling out this spring, and Microsoft Philanthropies aims to serve 70,000 nonprofits in the next three years with these Microsoft Cloud Services.
  • Expanding access to cloud resources for faculty research in universities. Microsoft Research and Microsoft Philanthropies will expand by 50 percent the Microsoft Azure for Research program that grants free Azure storage and computing resources to help faculty accelerate their research on cutting-edge challenges. Today this program provides free cloud computing resources for over 600 research projects on six continents.
  • Reaching new communities with last-mile connectivity and cloud services. Microsoft Philanthropies and Microsoft Business Development will combine donated access to Microsoft Cloud services with investments in new, low-cost last-mile Internet access technologies and community training. By combining cloud services with connectivity and training, and focusing on new public-private partnerships, Microsoft Philanthropies intends to support 20 of these projects in at least 15 countries around the world by the middle of 2017.

Providing nonprofits with better access to Microsoft Cloud Services, including the powerful Microsoft Azure platform, builds upon Microsoft’s longtime commitment to making cutting-edge technology available at no or low cost to organizations working on solving some of society’s toughest problems.

In recent years, as organizations have increased their reliance on cloud computing, Microsoft has worked in partnership with a broad range of organizations focused on big challenges. The initiatives show the potential impact that increased access to the transformational power of cloud computing can have:

  • Microsoft Research is working with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Biodiversity Research Program through the use of 700 wireless sensors, cloud technology and automated data-stream processing to understand how cloud forests work and study the impact of climate changes on the communities supported by those forests.
  • [adrotate group=”2″]Through a partnership with the University of Texas at Austin called Project Catapult, Microsoft makes advanced cloud computing technology available to researchers that have demonstrated the ability to deliver lower power and cost, higher-quality results, or a combination of both.
  • In Botswana, Microsoft is partnering with the Botswana Innovation Hub, Vista Life Sciences, the United States Agency for International Development and Global Broadband Solutions to assist Botswana, the University of Pennsylvania and the Ministry of Health in leveraging cloud-based health records management and Internet access enabled by use of TV white spaces to remotely deliver specialized medicine, including cervical cancer screenings to women at rural healthcare clinics.

“Access to technology is critical to the operations and services of NetHope and its 44 humanitarian nonprofit member organizations,” said NetHope CEO Lauren Woodman. “The power of cloud computing will create exponential value for all we do to serve the millions of people in our communities around the world.”

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