How Microsoft Azure Became the №1 Cloud Computing Service Provider for Customer Experience
The “Cloud” a real buzzword that is becoming less of a technical term these days and more and more part of everyday vocabulary. A symbol once used in countless IT networking diagrams and presentations, now a metaphor for the Internet and its distributed services. Like it or not, the “Cloud” has become an integral part of our lives, and synonymous with tech giants Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google who all use cloud technology to deliver consumer apps at scale.
When we talk about the “Cloud” rarely is Microsoft mentioned in the same breath as the other tech giants. At 44 years old, Microsoft has an image as an elder among today’s younger tech behemoths, who are teenagers and young adults by comparison.
For Microsoft, its move to cloud services has been an important and interesting one. After Satya Nadella (previously of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise division) took over the reigns as CEO in 2014, the company has scaled back on licensed hardware and has instead focused on cloud computing; embracing the open source community and making a number of significant strategic acquisitions that has shifted the perception of the Microsoft brand, transforming the company and its image into a more open, collaborative, and customer first organisation.
It’s a move that has helped Microsoft’s share price reach its highest value since December 1999, surpassing Apple as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world after being dethroned by the tech giant in 2010.
Microsoft Azure, formerly known as Windows Azure, is Microsoft’s public cloud computing platform. Like its close competitors; Amazon’s Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) it provides a range of computing, storage, networking and data analytics services that is powering a new era for technology, enabling companies the world over to deliver their own digital transformations with more personalised, efficient, products, services, and improved digital experiences.
With growth in Microsoft’s cloud business up 76 percent in first quarter earnings for 2019, and the cloud becoming increasingly important to the bottom line for the tech giants, we decided to take a close look at how the world’s three most valuable cloud companies performed for customer experience over the last 6 weeks….
Summary
Notching up 3,074 mentions via their help handle over the last 6 weeks — Microsoft Azure is ranked №1 as the most engaged, responsive and fastest cloud computing service provider for customer experience on HelpHandles.com
Cloud Computing Customer Experience
Track Azure Support on HelpHandles.com
Microsoft Azure Average Response Time
Microsoft Azure maintain an impressive 10 min response time on Twitter. Given the volume of inbound mentions they receive around the clock this deservedly places them in the top 10% of brands on Twitter for response times…
Inbound Mention Volume
Over a period of just 6 weeks Microsoft Azure received a total of 3,074 public mentions to their help handle on Twitter….
Response Rate
…of which they responded publicly to 2,459 (80%) of mentions…
Response under 30 mins
…of which 2,385 (97%) of those responses were made quickly in under 30 mins….
Top Hashtags
Customers were pretty clear about what they were seeking when engaging with the Azure Support Team on Twitter…
Community Support
Microsoft Azure have created an engaged community of professionals on their own self-hosted community forums, where customers can self-serve problems and collaborate on a wealth of information. In addition customers are also encouraged to continue the conversation openly via their dedicated help handle @AzureSupport on Twitter, where a team of dedicated social media support specialists are on hand helping to connect the Azure community to the right resources, answers, support and experts.
Sentiment
This collaborative approach to supporting the Azure cloud community has resulted in a positive sentiment score for the Azure Support team, achieving a healthy +15 sentiment score on HelpHandles.com placing the team in the Top 30% of companies for sentiment on HelpHandles.com
Conclusion
The “Cloud” is big business. On a recent earnings call, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai announced that G-Suite and GCP, Googles Cloud Computing Platform, is now a $1billon dollar per quarter business — yes that’s right, you read that correctly…
The “Cloud” is all encompassing. It is the “Cloud” that is behind the rapid early advancements in new technological innovation we are seeing all around us today; powering the development and rise of artificial intelligence, and machine learning, enabling companies to deliver more personalised efficient products, services, and improved experiences into our everyday lives.
It is this advancement in technology powered by the “Cloud” that will see a new 4th revolution; blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological causing mass social and economic change, much like the industrial revolution, during the 1700’s and 1800's.
Microsoft’s open approach to encouraging the conversation through its own online community forums and public social media platforms like Twitter is a master stroke in harnessing their existing customers passion and knowledge, to attract new visitors and customers for their cloud services platform.
By creating a healthy collaborative, supportive and open forum both on their own website and on Twitter, the Azure Support Team works hard to deliver real business value by connecting people to the right resources, knowledge and experts, in a friendly, and engaging conversation, building deeper relationships with their customers — while also increasing sales, lowering service costs and accelerating innovation.
This outstanding effort see’s the Microsoft Azure Support team ranked as the №1 performers for customer experience on HelpHandles.com
Accounts are programmatically scored out of 100 on our performance index across 4 metrics.
Inbound mention volumes (25%)
Response Rate (25%)
Responses under 30 mins (25%)
Sentiment (25%)
All metrics are available and updated every hour on HelpHandles.com
