Key Takeaways from Microsoft Inspire; And How Democratic Is Democratization?
This blog has two distinct sections. The first is a factual summary of the key takeaways from the Microsoft Inspire partner event that was held in Las Vegas from July 14-18. The second section sets forth some of our opinions and questions, inspired by the “corenote” addresses and other sessions that we at Bond Consulting Services (BCS) attended.
Section 1: Key Takeaways from Microsoft Inspire 2019
Even before Inspire ended, even before we all traveled home on trains, planes, and automobiles, articles were being written about the key event takeaways. And now that it’s over, even more articles are coming out.
The Redmond Channel Partner released a blog entitled “Microsoft Inspire 2019 Recap: 11 Key Quotes.” And TechTarget Channel Digest featured an article called “Microsoft trots out AI applications, HoloLens 2, Teams.”
There’s a great deal of overlap between the two, mainly because they both focused on the corenotes, all of which seemed to share a similar direction and talking points:
- Digital democratization
- AI democratization
- Banner growth for Microsoft Teams
- The Year of Azure Cloud migrations
- The partner-as-developer role
- The future opportunity for mixed reality (MR)
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the technology spend will double its share of global gross domestic product from 5% today to 10% by 2030 when the market is expected to reach $14 trillion. “But, the real opportunity is the other 90%,” he said. “That, to me, is what we are all going to enable.”
What Nadella envisions is a world where every business is a software business and will need to build its own software capability. He noted that non-tech companies are already hiring technical personnel at a faster rate than technology firms!
Section 2: How Democratic Is Democratization?
Back in 1974 when Bill Gates and Paul Allen dreamed about a computer on every desk and in every home, that concept was unimaginable. And yet, it has come to pass. So when Nadella and the other corenote speakers gush about digital democratization, it’s entirely possible that this vision will come to pass as well.
However, for many Microsoft Dynamics partners who still have clients running ERP and CRM software on-premise, it may feel like a distant stretch. Many Dynamics partners are struggling just to move these clients to the cloud. For these partners, the partner-as-developer role may be unimaginable. They have smaller fish to fry. Sure, AI and MR are interesting concepts and should not be ignored. But they’re not likely to top of mind in discussions with clients who still maintain server closets in their offices.
All we’re saying is that it’s great to know what the vision for the future is. That’s why we attend Inspire. And 10 or 20 years from now, we may look back on our reservations and say: The dreamers at the top of the Microsoft hierarchy knew what they were talking about. They were not tethered to the current landscape. They had the ability to see above and beyond it.
A Foot in Both Worlds
Bond Consulting Services (BCS) is poised at the crossroad between both worlds. On the one hand, we continue to implement and support Microsoft Dynamics GP as an on-premise solution. On the other hand, we’re implementing and supporting Microsoft Dynamics 365 and helping our clients move to Dynamics 365 when they’re ready. In fact, since its launch in November 2016, we have been one of Microsoft’s top partners in helping customers purchase and configure Dynamics 365 for their organizations.
We’ve also built practices around cutting-edge technologies such as Office 365 and Power BI.
Visit us at www.BondConsultingServices.com or just pick up the phone and call 562-988-3451.