Microsoft Went Through Digital Transformation and Now Is Ready To Help Others

Everyone knows about Microsoft. The software giant became a part of everyday life decades ago with its Windows and Office products. However, despite the truly impressive portfolio, Microsoft was sluggish in their business decisions. Stock prices didn’t really grew for 14 years (sic!), while Amazon and Apple gained the lead in the corporate race. It was obvious that the time to change has come.

A new CEO, Satya Nadella, took over the Microsoft in 2014. Nadella was (and is) a great supporter of digital transformation. His very first idea was to shift the company towards cloud networking systems. It moved the focus away from traditional software to a more agile system for both personal and enterprise. Instead of neglecting global partnerships like they always did, Microsoft has changed their course to build relationships with other IT companies – as such, Office applications has appeared on competitor’s operational systems, which greatly improved the accessibility and convenience for end users. Subscription services became the main way to sell all the software, from aforementioned Office pack to videogames. Public view also changed, as Microsoft went from being seen as an stagnant sluggish behemoth to cutting-edge agile business.

The results of this transformation was impressive. In early 2014, stocks were selling around $40 per share. Today, they’re worth around $210. Over the 2014-2019 period, revenue increased from $93.5 to $122 billion. Microsoft became just the third company to get a $1 trillion market cap, which certainly wasn’t possible to imagine at early 2014.

Nowadays, Microsoft actively gives everyone the benefits of their experience with digitalization. Every company can work with Microsoft to start transformation of business. For the beginning, Microsoft has laid out four universal pillars of digital transformation, which can be used everywhere by everyone:

1. Empowering of employees. The company must provide to employees the opportunity to work from anywhere, on any device. Usage of cloud tech can greatly enhance overall productivity, as staff can continue their daily tasks even literally on the go, outside of their office.
2. Optimizing of operations. Optimization of all internal processes must start with IT department. This will help to reduce costs and safeguard business data of the company.
3. Engaging customers. People are expecting personalized interactions with business, as a result of ever-increasing technological advancement. If leveraged correctly, rightly-built connections can help to boost sales and build customer relationships. Customer engagement can be improved via Big Data and such.
4. Transforming the product. Modern business landscape requires innovation and agility, especially when it comes to transforming the data businesses possess into powerful assets.