Leading your business with innovation, insights, and collaboration — that’s the power of Microsoft Business Applications
This article was co-authored by @Rich Holsman, Senior Managing Director, Accenture Microsoft Business Group Europe & Business Applications Global lead
Businesses are changing quickly, and their technology must be built to flex around the shifting demands of their operational environment. Microsoft is rewriting the playbook on operational agility and revolutionizing how applications are used by putting people and collaboration in the middle of reinvented business models.
Rather than imagining you could, imagine you can — collaborate, predict, connect, and innovate now — with Microsoft Business Applications.
The business challenges of today call for a re-imagined collaboration model, here’s why.
In the past, application landscapes were codified to a sequential, inflexible process, but that served companies well. Business models were not changing at the rapid pace we experience now, and the predictable sequence employed operationally did drive value.
But today, things are very different and business models are getting flipped upside down annually, even quarterly. Companies require much more agility, and systems developed years ago were not made with that in mind. Microsoft, in partnership with Accenture and Avanade, has reinvented the whole concept of business applications by connecting data, people, and processes together, making collaboration possible and immediate from anywhere, at any time, and across any application.
Together, we are taking what was once a linear process and creating a centralized business hub that puts people first, helping companies become more data-driven, predictive, and efficient. It is this collaborative flow of information that is so powerful, and we believe that removing communication silos and breaking down barriers to data-based decision making is going to be key to future-proofing business operations and ensuring agility end-to-end.
Enhance your central business operations with streamlined data, insights, and automation
By leveraging the power of Microsoft Cloud, Accenture and Avanade can empower companies with the capabilities and expertise needed to digitally transform. It is through Microsoft Business Applications that companies can:
> Collaborate anytime, anywhere, and within any application. The only truly end-to-end platform designed to support the new hybrid way of working, we are putting users in the center of it all. The work Avanade has done with turbocharging manufacturer, ABB Turbocharging, is a great example. Leveraging mixed reality and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Avanade helped ABB overcome core business and training challenges. By making real-time intelligence and decision-making a part of employee operations, ABB improved service-level agreement compliance rates, increased productivity, enabled collaboration and communication, and provided personalized training guides for Microsoft Dynamics 365.
> Become more data-powered and predictive. Microsoft Business Applications are built to be data-centric and predictive, using deep AI-driven data analysis to identify insights and suggested actions and deliver these directly to users and customers. Virgin Money’s strategic partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, for example, is helping them launch a cloud-based platform to drive agility and productivity. Through its collaborative applications, frontline employees will get a real-time view of the whole customer, alongside predictive insights around consumer behavior, empowering them to offer a personalized and proactive financial experience.
> Benefit from intelligent automation. Intelligent insights help businesses become forward-looking. Integration with Microsoft Teams and Business Applications brings these insights to where the work gets done, so employees can more intelligently react and support customers. NatWest chose Microsoft Business Applications to do just that. After switching to Microsoft Dynamics 365 for their Customer Relationship Management System (CRM), they were able to move their customer service net promoter score by over twenty-five points.
> Extend agility across business functionalities. Our joint solutions cover the full breadth of business functionality from sales, service, commerce, supply chain, and finance. These features are broken down into fully integrated application components to precisely meet every company’s specific business process needs. Accenture, Avanade, and Microsoft’s quick work with The Felix Project is a stand-out example. In less than 6 weeks, we designed a solution that would improve mobile data accessibility, improve their Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) and up-level their reporting and analytics through Microsoft Power Platform. The impact on The Felix Project’s technical maturity has been enormous, instantly erasing hundreds of monthly hours of manual data input and helping the organization to be able to scale up.
What we really love about this new way of working, beyond collaboration, is the time-to-value and the ability to tailor any solution based on a client’s immediate needs. As the largest global Microsoft practice, Accenture is steeped in industry know-how and has deep experience leading business application implementations end-to-end. Leveraging this expertise, we can focus on the client’s biggest pain points, identifying the biggest benefits that will move the needle in their business model, and execute effectively.
The combination of Microsoft’s technology solutions, Accenture’s industry expertise, and Avanade’s deep engineering skills are unlike any partnership out there, and together, sets up clients for exponential success. And through this collaborative application platform, enterprises can build business processes that are easy to use, flexible, and streamlined, equipping them with the capabilities to make automation possible.
Seamless employee, customer, and business experience within one central location — that is the power of Microsoft Business Applications. Connect with us today to learn more and see how this suite of applications is a best fit for your business goals — we’re here to help.
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