The Managed Solution team joined thousands of other Microsoft partners for Inspire – Microsoft’s annual world partner conference in Washington D.C. As a premier partner, Managed Solution is in the top 1% of Microsoft Cloud Service Providers worldwide and fully aligned with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

It is the one time of year when Microsoft invites partners from around the world to celebrate this past year’s successes, unveil changes with insights, and offer best practices with advice for how to empower customers and enhance end user experience in a digital world.

The week is composed of a daily keynote by a Microsoft executive, followed by hundreds of learning sessions. Several topics are discussed, such as: How do you bring out critical thinking and creativity in the workplace? How do we create dynamic teams that come together to service a customer in different ways?

Major announcements at Microsoft Inspire answered these questions with the launch of Microsoft 365 and enhanced resources to help customers address the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Microsoft 365

As a complete, secure, and intelligent solution to empower employees, Microsoft 365 now rolls together Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security into a single secure package to help end users be more productive while increasing protection.
With more than 100 million commercial monthly active users of Office 365, and more than 500 million Windows 10 devices in use, Microsoft is in a unique position to empower employees to be creative and work together, securely. To address the commercial needs from the largest enterprise to the smallest business, Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Business were introduced.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Meeting the requirements of the European Union’s landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by May 25, 2018 is a pressing topic for many organizations worldwide. In Microsoft’s effort to provide customers with helpful GDPR compliance resources, they have been hosting webinars and discussions around how the Microsoft Cloud, including Office 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, and Azure data services, Enterprise Mobility + Security, and Windows 10 can help customers on their GDPR compliance journey. They have backed up their commitments through their contracts and by sharing their experience, as well as other partners’ experiences, with their audiences along the way.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, discussed the advent of the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. It is his belief that soon everything will become multi-device and AI will be intrinsic in every application built. Nadella spoke about the four main goals of digital transformation: the empowerment of employees, the engagement of customers, the optimization of operations, and the transformation of products.

“We’ve just skimmed the surface of how much support – sales tools, product training, case studies, sales teams, etc. – Microsoft has created to help its partners succeed. Today, MSPs around the globe are struggling with some of the same issues that we do. Addressing those issues is precisely why SNAP & Stratogator have such a bright future, not just in the U.S.” – Susan Kuruvilla, CEO, Managed Solution

Two New Tools to Optimize Cloud Spend & Operational Efficiency

With Microsoft’s “all-in” strategy to help customers move to the cloud, the Microsoft Inspire conference was the perfect opportunity for Managed Solution to launch two new tools that empower MSPs to govern their cloud adoption, as we move towards digital transformation, and ensure their customers are receiving the best price for these cloud instances. Chairman and Founder of Managed Solution, Sean Ferrel, launched and demoed these tools at Booth #103 on the exhibit floor at the conference.

1. SNAP:

Cloud Service Marketplace that evolves with the market and offers new services, bundles, and SKUs for your cloud sales organization. Customize and offer the selection of cloud services that your team needs to drive customer sales.

2. StratoGator/AzureGator:

Cloud Service Brokerage Platform where aggregation of top tier cloud providers in the Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS) space will be compared against one another based on three pillars: cost, management, and reporting. Providing a user-friendly centralized marketplace for Channel Partners allowing them to reduce overhead by 30-40%.

Ferrel also shared how these tools provide the customization MSPs need to support and sell to their customers both within and outside the cloud. These tools finally give the managed services provider the control they need and their customers want over their Microsoft products, streamlining their ability to align with the changes and vision of the tech giant.

“Microsoft is super-successful right now, yet still changing. That’s an indication that they’re future-focused and have a vision for where this is all headed. They’re not complacent which inspires us to continue to innovate.” – Tina Rountree, Director of Sales, Managed Solution

Transformed Through Digital Technology

During Microsoft Inspire, partners shared stories around the ways that they are using Microsoft solutions to improve their communities as well as bring about positive change in the world. Working closely together allows us to build and go-to-market with innovative solutions for the long-term journey for our customers – as Nadella stated in his remarks, we create a strong local impact that ultimately has a profound global impact.

“With increasing digitization, where every part of our society and economy is being fundamentally transformed because of digital technology, the opportunity is greater than ever before,” Nadella said, relating his vision back to his partner audience. “Being in this industry, being in this [Microsoft partner] ecosystem, the opportunity is tremendous.” -Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft