This week, I’m getting back into the swing of things following a stimulating Microsoft Inspire conference in Washington D.C. Microsoft Inspire is Microsoft’s annual conference celebrating the work of its partners. It’s a prime opportunity for Microsoft to sketch their vision and articulate their strategy to their channel of partners. I am passionate about the shared objectives between INNOVATE and Microsoft.
Both INNOVATE and Microsoft understand the importance of business partnership. We engage with our clients primarily as business strategists. This approach dovetails into our core competencies – engage with our clients’ organisational strategies before implementing tactical technological initiatives to drive strategy.
This reveals the INNOVATE objective – we use technology to achieve business outcomes. This gets to the nub of the INNOVATE mission. We deliver positive technological solutions that intertwine with our clients’ objectives and surpass their expectations. As an event alone, Inspire aims to do just that.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote speech frequently referred to the partner eco-system. You can see how this perspective influences Microsoft’s strategic decisions – it’s about valuing diversity and opening up to alternative insights. INNOVATE aligns with the pillars of Microsoft’s strategy. It follows the logic of Porter’s five forces and the fact that the essence of formulating competitive strategy is relating an organisation to its environment. INNOVATE understand the salience of these forces, especially the power of key suppliers (Microsoft).
Satya enjoys remarkable success. He came from nothing, worked as an engineer by trade, and now finds himself leading Microsoft through a phenomenal transformation from transactional distribution to a business outcome focused, recurring revenue machine built on an asset rich hyper-scale global data centre footprint. His shoots of success confirm my long-standing belief that strong leadership determines output.
Satya is an intelligent communicator who understands the importance of openness. Satya possesses the traits of successful leadership: the ability to surround oneself with people who are better than you, the humility to allow them to shine and the intellect to nurture an environment and culture that maximises potential.
CEO Nadella made two major announcements. ‘Microsoft 365’ and ‘One Commercial Partner’ represent respective technical and organisational advances.
Microsoft 365 will marry together Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility and Security into one production suite.
Satya rooted this objective in his willingness to democratise technology using cloud-based solutions. Microsoft 365 Business caters for SMEs while Microsoft 365 Enterprise will serve larger organisations. Large enterprises are familiar with technology driving business outcomes. INNOVATE’s track record captures our mission. Whether it’s a small business or large corporation, we advance their technological understanding. This willingness to produce client-led solutions signifies why INNOVATE is a market leader.
The ‘One Commercial Partner’ project is very positive for INNOVATE. It’s proof that success hinges on people and their conditioning. It’s how partnerships and technology achieves success. In his keynote speech, Satya outlined the potential impact of Microsoft technology on organisational culture and strategy. Key to this outcome, Satya stressed the need to put the customer at the centre of an organisation.
For INNOVATE, our first customer is somewhat different. I believe that the first customer is our organisation’s own people. Our INNOVATE people and our customer represent the two most important customers. However, a weak organisational capacity fails to serve the customer’s needs.
Since 2014, INNOVATE has invested in organisational capacity. We chose to settle the right people into the right positions. From there, INNOVATE developed our mission, vision and strategy.
In the interim, our commercial model and go-to market strategy required tweaking. However, INNOVATE is firmly in the ascendancy. In the past week, our leaders secured major cloud deals. These successes signify years of inward investment. From the strategic input of people, INNOVATE enjoys sparkling commercial success. On a personal level, this is new ground. The INNOVATE team forged these terrific results. However when such vast opportunity presents itself, the trouble is, you think you have time to maximise it, the reality being that if you do not take what’s rightfully yours in the market, someone else will – so it’s Carpe Diem time!
INNOVATE is coming of age at a great time. Our strategy is right and the market is primed. Coupled with our understanding of commerce, INNOVATE’s core competencies give us the ability to maximise our clients’ value propositions, refine their business processes and maximise their organisational capacity. Not only that but we achieve these targets while meeting our clients’ financial objectives.
We have a great team to maximise this tantalising opportunity. Internally, we have a great culture. Externally, our brand is embryonic. However, initiatives such as CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) continue to give our brand meaning and push it to the surface in the market. INNOVATE’s youth is a gift in disguise. We’re coming fast and we mean business. We have a plan, we have discipline and above all we have the team to deliver upon our mission.
Read my other posts on this event here
1.Microsoft Inspire – Prelude to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s Keynote Speech
