Lessons from Microsoft Inspire: 5 digital imperatives for the future of IT

Microsoft just wrapped up its annual Microsoft Inspire conference, where CEO Satya Nadella examined where IT is today – and where it’s headed. As Satya brought to light, the next ten years will be different from the last as organizations shift from digital transformation to delivering on five digital imperatives.

1. Migrate to the cloud

The first digital imperative is to continue migrating to the cloud. By 2025, 95% of all IT workloads should be deployed in cloud-native environments. As organizations look for ways to increase efficiency, decrease spending, and scale growth, the cloud enables businesses to do more with less. Microsoft’s response to this exponential growth is to expand their datacenter footprint to serve customer business needs. The cloud is not niche technology. In fact, over 95% of the Fortune 500 use Microsoft Azure for mission-critical workloads.

Government entities also have specific cloud needs, and Microsoft is answering that call with Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty. GovCloud has been around for a while, but with Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, government entities can enjoy enhanced compliance, security, and encryption.

2. Empower fusion teams

Software development and coding aren’t just for pros anymore, and that means organizations need to shift gears and empower fusion teams of developers. DevOps is the new way to get code to production. Today, there are over 20 million Power Platform developers building apps, and 90% of the Fortune 500 are using GitHub for their application development needs. By 2030, there will be 500 million apps in the marketplace, and 70% of these titles will be built over the next three years by citizen developers using low-code or no-code processes.

Statistics also show the demand for developers outside the tech industry is far outpacing the demand for developers inside the tech industry. Your organization can accelerate the fusion process by leveraging Power Platform, Visual Studio, and Azure Cloud to create apps that will benefit your business.

3. Unify data and apply AI models

In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), organizations are leveraging AI solutions for everything from chat bots to business analysis and intelligence. In fact, AI is also starting to generate its own data. By 2025, it is expected that 10% of all data will be provided by generative AI. While that sounds like a small percentage, when you consider the scale it’s a massive amount of data. Business data analytics is no longer a backend process, but has moved to the forefront of corporate decision-making. With the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform, you can now combine operational databases, analytics, and data governance into a single motion. Today, 70% of the Fortune 1000 use the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform.

4. Business processes

Hybrid work is here to stay. While 73% of workers want flexibility and remote work options, 67% want more in-person work and collaboration. Organizations have grown comfortable with unified collaboration applications like Microsoft Teams, and are shifting away from the “hodgepodge” model of disconnected applications.

Teams is still rolling out new features designed to improve efficient collaboration, and the new Microsoft Viva digital experience platform is already being used by over 1,000 organizations to facilitate better connections between employees.

5. Rethink security protocols

Organizations will incur over $10 trillion in annual costs related to cyberattacks and data breaches over the next three years. Microsoft proactively analyzes over 24 trillion threat signals every day, leveraging threat intelligence, human expertise, and technology to neutralize bad actors. Their solutions can help detect and defeat cyber threats across the top three cloud platforms and internet of things (IoT) devices.

Our Microsoft 365 Security Workshop & Threat Check will help you understand your current security posture, identify vulnerabilities, and offer risk mitigation strategies.

“IT is a deflationary tool in an inflationary economy.”

–Satya Nadella

As Satya explains it, organizations are actively using the efficiencies and cost savings from modern technology to avoid passing price increases on to customers.

Ready to discover new efficiencies for your own organization? Reach out to SHI today to learn how modern technology and Microsoft solutions can enhance your business and save you money.