Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud: Accelerating innovation for manufacturers
This summer we took to the stage to share Microsoft’s vision for the intelligent cloud, unveiling Cortana Analytics and demonstrating the power of big data, advanced analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) in a cloud-connected rocket car.
This is an exciting time in our continued journey to accelerate digital business transformation in manufacturing with the availability of the Cortana Analytics Suite and a number of additional intelligent cloud services that provide deeper capabilities for manufacturers to transform their business with the intelligent cloud.
Designed to help companies around the globe launch their IoT initiatives more quickly and easily, here are some opportunities that manufacturers won’t want to miss.
Microsoft Azure IoT Suite. Built on the flexible and trusted Microsoft Cloud, the Azure IoT Suite is an integrated offering that takes advantage of all the relevant Azure capabilities to more easily connect a manufacturer’s relevant assets—from devices, machines, sensors, and business systems—, capture the diverse and voluminous data they generate, integrate and orchestrate the flow of that data, and manage, analyze and present it as usable information to the people who need it to make better decisions as well as intelligently automate operations.
Manufacturers like Rockwell Automation and ThyssenKrupp Elevator have leveraged Azure to support real-time insight, predictive analytics and preventive and preemptive maintenance, and the new Azure IoT Suite now offers preconfigured solutions to make it even easier to speed deployment for common business scenarios like predictive maintenance, remote monitoring and asset management.
Cortana Analytics Suite. Combining years of research with advanced technology including machine learning, big data storage and processing, perceptual intelligence, and predictive analytics capabilities, there is just so much to be excited about. Available now as a monthly subscription, the opportunities that the Cortana Analytics Suite presents for a range of manufacturing scenarios are tremendous, making it easier to transform your data into intelligent action and get things done. And, as I shared earlier, what better way to demonstrate its power than in a cloud-connected rocket car!
Azure Data Lake. Available with the Cortana Analytics Suite or as a standalone offering for our customers, the Azure Data Lake is the solution for manufacturers struggling with vast amounts of siloed data. It includes all the capabilities required to make it easy to store data of any size, shape and speed, and do all types of processing and analytics across platforms and languages. It removes the complexities of ingesting and storing all of your data while making it faster to get up and running with batch, streaming, and interactive analytics. It also integrates seamlessly with operational stores and data warehouses so you can extend current data applications.
Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT. To further accelerate IoT deployment, Microsoft has also been working with trusted partners to test and certify IoT-enabled hardware and software with Azure IoT SDKs, creating a new ecosystem of technology companies who are committed to a standards-based approach that will make it even easier for manufacturers to speed up IoT innovation.
Reinventing productivity
Microsoft has also made it easier to bring together these advancements in the cloud and predictive analytics with productivity tools like Office and line-of-business systems for powerful gains in productivity. For example, in the new Office 2016, Excel 2016 now includes integrated publishing to Power BI, and new modern chart-types make it easier to visualize and analyze data—as well as forecast spending, sales, and more. Other features like Delve integrates machine learning and the intelligence of the Office graph to bring together everything from a factory or worksite that is most relevant, right now.
And the new GigJam feature empowers employees to summon line-of-business information like CRM and ERP based on their need, immediately divvy up the specific information and actions needed to get the work done, and keep track of all the moving parts until they’re complete. I think the productivity gains across a manufacturer’s organization, and its potential across its supply chain, could be vast!
The future is now
With these advancements in intelligent cloud capabilities, manufacturers now have the ability to more easily combine their massive amounts of differing types of data together, examine it in intelligent ways to find patterns, and tell you how to solve a problem. And this can be done in real-time and used by the right people to take intelligent action exactly when it matters most. This is what’s creating opportunities that were unachievable until now. We look forward to helping manufacturers take advantage of these latest advancements to more quickly realize business value form IoT, bring their solutions to market in a faster way, and ultimately transform their business!
LinkedIn: Sanjay Ravi
Twitter: @sanrav
