Tag Archives: applications
How to Create Microservices-based Applications for AWS
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Market demands are shifting rapidly, with many disruptive forces in motion. Businesses are reacting in a number of different ways to preserve cash, change the way they operate, and accelerate digital business initiatives to capture new value. Today’s disruptions are planting seeds for broad and permanent changes across all markets, so businesses need to act now in order to prepare for what’s to come in the near future. In order to combat these forces, a business needs to be agile so that it can rapidly adapt its operations as well as its products and services to meet the new market conditions. Either way, the business that is able to react quickly maintains resiliency and has a foundation for rapid growth and innovation
A key starting point for increasing business agility is the digital platform, as businesses are operating more with digital services than manual, rigid, paper-based processes. If you aren’t able to rapidly adapt the services and capabilities of your digital platform to stay aligned with the needs of the business, then your underlying application architecture needs to be evolved so that it becomes more agile. One way to build this agility is by evolving to a microservices architecture.
Microservices are very small units of executable code. The industry has long preached the benefits of breaking down large, monolithic applications into smaller units of execution. But technology has evolved in recent years so that now this strategy creates high performing apps. Microservices can be used to break up monoliths into individual, highly cohesive business services that are deployed in containers and serverless environments. Thus, microservices can each be adapted, deployed, and scaled independently of other microservices. This gives the business a high degree of flexibility to adapt to the digital platform very quickly.
TIBCO Cloud Integration makes it easy to develop and deploy your business logic in event-driven microservices and functions to AWS. You can use pre-packaged connectors for AWS to connect to a wide variety of Amazon services to create application logic. The entire application architecture is highly efficient and cost-effective which will accelerate your adoption of AWS technologies.
TIBCO Cloud Integration simplifies the development and deployment of event-driven applications built with microservices and functions to AWS. Once apps are created, you can package your microservices into a Docker Image, and then deploy them into the AWS container management service of your choice including Amazon EKS, ECS, and Fargate for deployment to AWS, or other container management services. They also can be deployed seamlessly to AWS Lambda.
TIBCO’s extensive experience in intelligent connectivity, combined with AWS’s highly flexible and scalability cloud platform makes for a natural partnership. TIBCO is an AWS Advanced Technology Partner. We partner with AWS in both technology and business development initiatives. We have many solutions that run natively on AWS, and that are also available for purchase through the AWS marketplace, not only for connectivity, but also for analytics and machine learning, and data management.
Microservices can each be adapted, deployed, and scaled independently of other microservices. This gives the business a high degree of flexibility to adapt to the digital platform very quickly. Click To Tweet
To learn more about how to create microservices-based applications for AWS, watch this webinar hosted by BrightTalk. And to learn more about TIBCO Cloud Integration, watch our demos or sign up for a 30-day free trial.
10 surprising applications of machine learning in everyday life
There’s no doubt about it—machine learning and artificial intelligence have significantly changed our world over the last few decades.
Every day there seems to be a new breakthrough about how AI and ML can be leveraged for positive development, to the point that it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s real and what’s being sensationalized.
With headlines about AI replicating our brains or reading our minds or driving our cars, we often miss the many simple yet genius applications of machine learning that are right in front of us.
Applications of Machine Learning in Everyday Life
To help bring us back down to Earth, we wanted to look at some of the surprising and interesting ways that ML is impacting our daily lives, whether we see it or not.
1. Managing traffic
AI excels at managing logistics, and managing a city’s traffic is one of the most complicated and difficult pieces of logistics to understand. Millions of datapoints and thousands of commuters must be properly accounted for, in effort to ensure the trains run on time, traffic lights are functioning correctly, and maintenance is performed where and when it’s needed.
In many modern cities, machine learning needs to be at the center of the transportation system. Data like rush hour fluctuations, road wear and tear, and existing maintenance schedules can be used to build powerful ML models. Ultimately, these models help improve traffic flow, increase the usage and efficiency of sustainable modes of transportation, and limit real-world disruption by modelling and visualizing future changes.
2. Making beer
Despite traditionally involving only three ingredients (water, barley, and hops), the art of brewing beer is a complicated and precise scientific process. The simplest change can dramatically affect the flavor and even ruin a batch—whether it’s the temperature of which it’s brewed or the amount of time the brew sits for. And that’s without considering the countless ingredients that are used in modern brewing techniques.
With machine learning algorithms, brewers can more easily make and keep track of these micro-adjustments to ensure flavor quality and consistency. ML can also be used to develop and refine new flavors by analyzing past popular and successful brews, as well as brews that failed or were less popular.
Breweries can even make batches specific to one customer’s tastes by tracking their past buying habits and beer preferences. Best of all, this technology is scalable and can be applied to as large or small a batch as the brewer wants.
3. Better Translation
How many times have you pulled out your phone to translate a phrase you don’t understand? Or searched how to properly pronounce a word with more vowels than you thought was possible? Speech and translation technology are nothing new, having been available via various tools for years. But AI and ML are making huge changes in just how effective the technology is.
Translating two related, modern languages like French and Spanish is one thing, but translating a 2,500-year-old, hand-carved dead language into modern English is a painstaking and time-consuming task even for expert archeologists.
Luckily, artificial intelligence-powered computer vision is making it possible to automate the translation of the ancient Persian cuneiform, giving researchers far more material to examine and helping to ensure accuracy. This technology doesn’t just work on ancient tablets though; it can be used on any language to translate even handwritten cursive into easy to read print.
ML isn’t just limited to translating either; researchers are working on technology that translates brain signals into speech with 97% accuracy. While mind-reading AI is still a ways off, this technology could soon help people without the ability to speak to communicate in ways they never could otherwise.
4. Creating video games
The video game industry, more than many others, is constantly pushing the technological standard in order to present the best experience for players. Developers are no strangers to using rudimentary AI algorithms in their games.
Now, AI is even creating games in real-time for players to interact with, with no underlying game engine needed. For Pac-Man’s 40th anniversary, researchers at NVIDIA trained an AI on 50,000 playthroughs of the game, with the end result being a completely ML-powered edition of Pac-Man.
This technology goes well beyond recreating arcade classics, of course. Game developers can use the underlying technology to add details to environments in real time, create enemies that can dynamically learn from players’ behaviors, or create entire levels that change dynamically based on players’ actions.
5. Redefining music
Music has constantly been evolving ever since a caveman banged two sticks together, and technology has always been the biggest factor in pushing the art form’s boundaries.
Now, machine learning is posed to redefine just what music is. Researchers have developed AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist) and taught it how to compose music in a classical style.
AIVA was built using deep learning and reinforcement algorithms, allowing AI to develop an understanding of what makes music sound pleasing to human ears, while still being able to learn and improve its music over time. This also helps AIVA to insert some variety into its music, avoiding each composition sounding the same.
The most impressive thing about AIVA is that its music isn’t just theoretical. AIVA’s compositions have already began to appear in commercials, film, and video games, with the copyrights to each piece being under AIVA’s name.
6. Moderating social media
Proper moderation, filtering, and routing of messages has been a problem for a variety of businesses that deal with customer service issues, and have been an especially difficult problem for social media platforms, with no real solution proving to be viable—at least not until now.
With the current climate of misinformation around COVID-19 and the pervasive use of hate speech on online forums, Facebook has turned to artificial intelligence to help keep its platform in check. The AI they developed will act in a role like that of the human moderators, some of which it is replacing.
Facebook’s algorithm is trained to recognize hate speech and fact-check misinformation. Some of the key features it looks for are duplicate images, which often indicate a meme or infographic that’s circulated by bots or trolls on the platform. The difficulty with this solution is the risk that images and memes using the same format may get banned, even if they aren’t being used for nefarious purposes.
While researchers are hopeful that the AI will be able to detect when a post is similar but not the same as banned content, this is still a job for humans in many cases. Nevertheless, machine learning is making it much easier for moderators to better police Facebook and other social media platforms.
7. Deciding what to eat
Do you feel like Mexican food for lunch? Italian? Dine in or eat out? Luckily, machine learning can help you make those decisions and find exactly what you want.
Simple forms of this technology exist already in restaurant reviews apps, map apps, and food delivery services that track what kind of food you like to eat and make predictions about what you might want based on your location, history, and time of day. But Kartik Dhawan, writing on Towards Data Science, took it a step further by using text analytics to determine what kind of ramen noodles he wanted, down to the region, ingredients, and flavor profile.
Dhawan compiled data from a ramen reviews site and performed text analysis on the ratings and relative frequency of specific flavors and ingredients to determine which ‘themes’ were most popular among Ramen lovers. By combining this analysis with brand and region ratings, Dhawan was able to pick the best variety of ramen for himself. This technology has much broader applications in the future as well, with services analyzing your reviews, ratings, region, and dining history to determine the best dish for you.
8. Tutoring students
The current COVID-19 pandemic is forcing students and teachers to adapt to new ways of learning and teaching, especially while not in-person. Luckily, AI is proving an invaluable tool in this new teaching environment.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed an machine learning tutor that can dynamically learn from a teacher by attempting to solve problems on its own, and using corrections from its teacher to extrapolate solutions to other problems, as well as alternate methods for solving the problem that even the teacher may have not thought of.
The AI can then use the different techniques it’s learned to teach students in the same way and adapt to any difficulties that the students might have. For instance, if a student has difficulty in understanding the order of operations in a larger math problem, AI can respond dynamically to the student’s specific question in a way a video or virtual class would be unable to do effectively.
9. Helping to fight COVID-19
Just about every industry—from automotive manufacturers to liquor distilleries—have stepped up to help in light of the current crisis, and the data science community is no exception. Machine learning has been absolutely instrumental in tracking and projecting the spread of the virus, and now it’s helping slow the spread as well.
Workplaces and stores that are carefully reopening have integrated machine learning algorithms to help ensure employees and customers are as safe as possible. Existing security cameras are being equipped with AI to identify when people are not properly social distancing or wearing masks and informing managers accordingly.
While this technology already existed in other forms—for example, monitoring whether or not safety gear is being worn in factory settings—its broader adoption will likely lead to more safety and security developments, even after the epidemic ends.
10. Developing new fragrances
For perfumeries, the choice to integrate AI into their processes is a no-brainer. Perfumes are a delicate balance between art and chemistry, and machine learning is helping to combine the two seamlessly and inexpensively.
One fragrance startup, Scentbird, uses a custom-built ML model with data gathered from customers to develop specialized and unique scents for its human counterparts to test. Another company, Symrise, has its own dedicated AI perfumer, called Phylra. While Scentbird’s ML models generate scents for human approval, Phylra is free to make its own decisions and evaluate how customers respond to fragrances all on its own.
ML also helps identify where alternative ingredients can be used, driving the price of manufacturing down while using more natural, environmentally safe ingredients.
Wrapping Up
When it comes to machine learning, the possibilities are virtually limitless. ML has found its way into nearly every industry – from manufacturing to healthcare, travel, media and so many more. Even so, it’s easy to overlook the myriad ways that we interact with AI and ML in our daily lives, as so much of it happens behind the scenes
There’s still a ton of untapped potential when it comes to implementing machine learning, and we’re guaranteed to see even more applications in our everyday lives as time goes on.
If you’re curious how machine learning and AI can impact your business, we’ve compiled a free ebook with 50 use cases to help you get inspired.
4 Customer Service AI Applications That Work Today
The concept of artificial intelligence improving emotional intelligence might sound like a paradox. A coded algorithm is not the most natural supplement to human empathy, after all. However, customer experience (CX) leaders understand that AI-powered technologies can transform the way businesses understand core audiences.
Customer service agents benefit from real-time and historical sentiment analysis that takes the guesswork out of reading emotions — especially on phone calls or text-based digital interactions. This gives businesses the insight they need to deliver hyper-personalized experiences. In fact, AI-driven sentiment analysis data has a bevy of uses that elevate emotional intelligence among CX professionals.
For most companies, the process of measuring customer satisfaction occurs far too late in the journey. Traditional customer feedback surveys typically rate experiences after the fact, resulting in stale data that does not help agents in the moment. Proactive customer service requires real-time analysis for positive resolutions and more impactful connections.
Thanks to AI-driven natural language processing, machine learning and computational linguistics, customer service professionals can see accurate sentiment analysis data before their conversation even begins, promoting a service culture that emphasizes empathy and relationship-building.
Following are a few ways AI-powered technologies can improve a business’ emotional intelligence and, therefore, the overall customer experience.
1. Emotional Intelligence in Self Service
AI-powered self-service options are commonplace. For example, self-service channels such as chatbots and virtual agents heavily rely on AI, and consequently have become more and more dependable.
In fact, consumer research shows that chatbot usage jumped almost 10 percent from the end of 2018 to the end of 2019. Today, virtual agents can hold dynamic conversations while performing routine tasks, giving customers the necessary tools to be resourceful and self-reliant. This translates to quicker resolutions at a lower cost, while allowing contact center agents to focus their attention on more high-impact issues.
Beyond automated-response capabilities, self-service channels are also aided by AI-driven sentiment analysis data. This information can diagnose when a self-service experience is not as satisfying or as useful as an agent-assisted interaction would be.
When a live agent is needed, sentiment analysis can recognize the urgency and route the customer accordingly. The insights this technology provides do not stop there. Sentiment analysis data can be layered on top of intelligent routing, connecting a customer with the appropriate agent in real-time based, in part, on personality.
2. Predictive Behavioral Routing
Traditionally, contact centers route customer queries to the first available agent capable of solving the issue, even if the agent was not the best personality and communication style match for the customer. Back then, routing failed to take into account individual compatibility, reducing customer service to a speed dating process, where interactions could be messy and unpredictable.
Predictive behavioral routing intelligently pairs the right customer with the right agent by matching the personality profile and communication style of the customer with the most compatible agent. This matchmaking tool can even enable contact centers to recalibrate their routing settings based on a specific goal, such as improving CSAT or maximizing upsell rates.
Powerful AI algorithms that have been trained and refined over millions of customer service interactions make predictive behavioral routing possible. This technology can ascertain whether a customer is compassionate and caring, logical and reasonable, creative and playful, or a contrast of these personalities.
Every touchpoint informs a unique profile that accounts for these various characteristics. In essence, behavioral analysis reveals the person behind the text in a social media post or the voice on the other end of the phone. Contact centers not only can determine the emotional makeup of a customer, but also can route that customer to an agent emotionally equipped to supply exceptional customer service.
Because predictive behavioral routing pairs customers with the most suitable agents, less energy is needed for the two to get on the same wavelength. As a result, contact center agents are empowered to create lasting connections with customers, because the baseline communication standard is set.
Gone are the days when proficiency, rather than emotional compatibility, was the single significant factor to contact center routing. Customers now can engage with agents who are simultaneously competent and empathetic enough to handle their queries, helping reduce average handle time by optimizing exchanges.
3. Elevating Agent-Assisted Experiences
Intelligent routing alone does not guarantee perfect NPS and CSAT results. Even the most empathetic of employees can encounter communication gaps that impede excellent service. Presenting customer sentiment, recommending next-best actions, and removing the distractions of mundane tasks for agents at the time of service can help bridge those rifts, mitigating risks of conflict or misunderstanding.
This technology assesses customer input from a variety of touchpoints, including phone calls, text messages, emails, chat sessions and even social media comments. After labeling these communicated emotions “positive,” “neutral” or “negative,” these solutions can create a detailed customer profile, providing contact center agents with a comprehensive understanding of relevant preferences and needs. With this data, agents then can prioritize the more technical aspects of a complex issue to ensure first contact resolution.
For contact centers, AI does more than measure sentiment. It provides value to agents outside the emotional domain. It also can automate responsibilities and procedures that inevitably tack on unnecessary time and energy to each interaction. Routine functions, such as data entry, switching applications and internal communications, are automated for agents.
While the rise in automation has spurred some concern about how it will impact the workforce, AI has proven to be a reliable co-pilot for contact center agents providing customer service. In the digital age, agents might have to juggle multiple customers at once, all while operating their various back-end systems. Eradicating mundane tasks undoubtedly helps.
Even more helpful to contact centers are automated cues that alert agents to advised next steps. By analyzing a massive volume of customer interactions, AI can discern the proper course of action for a specific inquiry and offer suggested responses. In these instances, AI can distinguish what response — established via all of the other queries that concern the same and similar matters — will most likely resolve the issue.
AI brings a push-pull dynamic to contact centers. On one hand, it gently pushes agents into a workspace that values empathy by informing them about a customer’s personality and communication style. On the other, AI pulls agents away from contact center’s back-end systems by automating traditional, day-to-day workloads. In both cases, AI improves the customer-agent experience because relationship building becomes the central priority of CX.
4. Detecting Root Cause
The key to unlocking exceptional customer service is identifying systemic flaws and vulnerabilities. Determining the origins of a customer’s frustration will help resolve not only the issue at hand but also a contact center’s shortcomings going forward.
AI in the contact center is more than just a feelings detector. It can extract powerful insights such as root cause sources of customer frustration. Separate from negative sentiment, customer frustration may be the most accurate detector of customer satisfaction, such as NPS, and any underlying service issues.
As CX leaders know, there are a lot of factors and causes that might induce frustration. For example, a brand’s product or service may fail to meet expectations. AI-perceived root cause — detected from interaction analytics — can single out product defects, thereby opening up the possibility of product redesign.
It also can shed light on macro trends for a company. Removing a root cause issue that exists for many customers will ensure that customer service teams do not need to worry about the predicament in the future, cutting down on contact volume.
In addition to root cause, interaction analytics tools that rely on speech and text understanding are able to unearth compliance issues and observe training opportunities as well. As a result, finding and fixing these aberrations can lead to wholesale changes for customer service teams.
Reconciling a systemic problem naturally ends a pain point for customers, which in turn reduces customer frustration. Contact center leaders cannot ignore the training element as well. Every problem presents an opportunity. Identifying structural issues only makes agents more aware of where the traps are hidden, improving individual agent performance and contact center operations at large.
Better Business Outcomes
With the help of AI-powered technologies available today, CX leaders now can see a holistic picture of each and every customer they deal with, bringing them one step closer to achieving mutual understandings and satisfied customer experiences.
While AI may take some of the load off of agents, it does not dehumanize the experience for customers. On the contrary, AI optimizes the workflow of agents, allowing them to embrace personal and powerful connections with customers.
Better connections with customers lead to more loyal consumers — and loyal consumers are primed to turn into brand advocates. Cultivating a satisfied core audience should be the goal of every company, small business or enterprise, and the latest technologies only make positive engagement easier.
As more and more consumers choose digital and self-service channels, AI has become an essential tool for the customer experience.
Announcing Power BI updates at the Microsoft Business Applications October Virtual Launch Event
The Microsoft business applications virtual launch event is almost here! You don’t want to miss this opportunity to get a first-hand look at the new innovations we’re rolling out for Power BI. Register today for this free event, and then tune in to the live stream on October 10, 2019 from 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM Pacific Time.
You’ll get an in-depth look at the new capabilities announced in the 2019 release wave 2 across Dynamics 365 and the Microsoft Power Platform. James Phillips, Corporate Vice President of the Business Applications Group, and other Microsoft experts will guide you through the new updates, answer common customer questions, and discuss what these releases mean for your business.
Come learn how these new Power BI features will help you:
- Build a data culture for your organization by empowering everyone with intuitive experiences, a unified BI platform, big analytics, and pervasive artificial intelligence.
- Discover hidden actionable insights in data with new artificial intelligence capabilities that require no code.
- Manage growing data volume and complexity with petabyte-scale analytics that make Power BI and Microsoft Azure an unmatched combination.
- Benefit from the investments we’re making in simple, intuitive experiences that are deeply integrated with Microsoft Office 365 to provide self-service analytics for everyone.
- Create a global, governed, scalable, secure, and unified BI platform that meets the needs of both self-service and centralized BI.
With updates, insights, and demonstrations directly from the experts, you’ll better understand how to leverage these new technologies as part of your organization’s digital transformation initiatives.
Onboard the new capabilities in Power BI with confidence – prepare for the updates, read the release plan, and then tune in on October 10.
Come unlock what’s next for your business, register today!
FY20 Microsoft Business Applications Inner Circle Members List Includes 7 CRM Software Blog Members
Congratulations to the FY20 Microsoft Business Applications Inner Circle Members, including seven CRM Software Blog members.
According to Microsoft the Business Applications Inner Circle partners represent the top 1% of the total Business Applications ecosystem and drive more than 30% of the FY19 Worldwide Business Applications Cloud Revenue.
Inner Circle Winners – CRM Software Blog Members:
More Inner Circle Winners:
- adesso AG
- AlfaPeople
- Alithya
- Alterna
- Annata
- Arbela Technologies (ERP Software Blog member)
- Armanino LLP
- Avanade
- Avtex Solutions, LLC
- Axxon Consulting
- Barhead Solutions
- Blue Horseshoe
- Capgemini
- Capita
- CEC
- Cegeka
- Columbus A/S (ERP Software Blog member)
- Controles Empresariales
- COSMO CONSULT Group
- Delegate
- Cy
- DXC Technology
- eCraft Oy Ab
- eLogic
- EOS Solutions Group
- Experlogix, Inc.
- EY
- Fellowmind
- Fusion5
- Hitachi Solutions
- HSO
- Incremental Group
- Intergen
- ITVT Group
- KPMG
- LS Retail
- MASAO
- Mazik Global
- MCA Connect
- Mint Group
- NTT Data & Sierra Systems
- ORBIS AG
- PowerObjects an HCL Technologies Company
- PrenticeWorx
- Prodware
- PROS
- PwC
- QBS Group
- QUANTIQ
- Right Group
- SAGlobal
- Sikich
- Sunrise Technologies (ERP Software Blog member)
- Tectura Hong Kong Limited
- Thinkmax Consulting Inc.
- To-Increase (ERP Software Blog member)
- Velrada
- VeriPark
- XPLUS
For the first time, to select the FY20 members of The Business Applications Inner Circle, Microsoft took into account only Cloud Billed Revenue (with the exception of top Business Central partners) and Dynamics 365 Customer Adds. Microsoft also took into consideration these partners’ adoption of the broader Microsoft Cloud portfolio (IoT, AI, etc.), the importance of these partners in their local market and their investments in differentiated solutions offerings.
We congratulate all of these companies on their accomplishment.
By CRM Software Blog Writer, www.crmsoftwareblog.com
On demand now — full session lineup from Microsoft Business Applications Summit!
The conference might be over, but there’s so much more in store! Get ready to transform your business with the latest in Microsoft Business Applications. Explore 200+ sessions, workshops, and keynotes from Microsoft Business Applications Summit, available now in the Power BI Community.
You can also watch the opening keynote on-demand.
Build your skills at your own pace.
Learn directly from the engineers behind Dynamics 365, Power BI, Excel, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, mixed reality, and more. Download presentations to review in-depth and connect with experts in community forums.
Get fresh ideas to solve your toughest challenges.
Dig into game-changing technology — like AI and mixed reality — to amplify the impact of the tools you use every day. Collaborate with the community and share hints and hacks.
Jumpstart what’s next for your business.
Watch visionary keynotes and get a first look at the new features and capabilities coming next for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. Learn how to take your data, your insights, and your business to the next level.
Here’s a sample of just some of the sessions available on demand, and be sure to check out the Power BI Community for the full rundown:
- Microsoft Power BI: The future of modern BI — roadmap and vision
Microsoft’s BI leadership team shares the Microsoft Power BI vision and strategy. Learn how Power BI brings success to organizations and helps you harness the insights that live within your data.
- Microsoft Power BI: AI-powered analytics
Learn how AI can empower you to solve your toughest business problems.
- Microsoft Power BI: BI power hour
Filled with fun and informative demos, the BI power hour is designed to show the flexibility and power of Microsoft BI.
- Microsoft Power BI: Creating accessible Power BI reports
From accessibility testing checklists to tips for cultivating more inclusive design habits, this session will show you how to leverage Microsoft Power BI’s latest accessibility features and make your reports accessible to everyone.
Get inspired, boost your skills, and power major digital transformation at your organization. It’s just a click away — watch now.
Watch live: Microsoft Business Applications Summit opening keynote
Can’t make it to Microsoft Business Applications Summit this year? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered – catch the opening keynote live from Atlanta, Georgia June 10 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Watch as James Phillips – Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Business Applications Group – kicks off the conference with a special keynote celebrating the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform communities. Plus, he’ll give you a sneak peek into the newest innovations from Microsoft Business Applications.
- See the latest technologies. From AI to mixed reality and more, get a first look at the new features and capabilities coming next for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform (Power BI, PowerApps, and Microsoft Flow). Learn how you can use game-changing technology to do more every day.
- Hear from visionary leaders. Business leaders from across industries will join James onstage to share how they are reimagining their organizations, and show how they’ve used Microsoft applications to power their business transformations.
- Get inspired to drive your next innovation. James and his guests are sure to inspire you innovate at your organization and move your business forward.
Mark your calendar – you won’t want to miss this livestream event. Join us June 10 at 8:30 a.m. EDT on the Microsoft Business Applications Summit website for the broadcast. Learn more and save the date!
And there’s even more to explore after the conference is over – our post-event, on-demand content will give you hours of breakout sessions, workshops, and keynotes to boost your skills. You can learn from the experts and engineers behind your favorite tools, download presentations to review at your own pace, ask questions in forums, collaborate with the broader community, and more. We’ll keep you posted on when our on-demand content is available in the Power Platform Community, so stay tuned!
Last chance! Register for Microsoft Business Applications Summit today
Make your plan and embrace what’s next for your business. Don’t miss Microsoft Business Applications Summit, coming to Atlanta, Georgia, June 10 – 11, 2019. We’re gearing up for an amazing 2+ days filled fresh approaches, the latest technologies, and new ways to power digital transformation at every level.
Save your seat today – they won’t last long
The conference is filling up, and this is your last chance to secure a spot. Register today and get ready to discover the best hints and hacks to help you do more with your data.
Check out what’s in store
- Get a 360° view. We’re covering Microsoft’s end-to-end business applications, including Dynamics 365, Power BI, Excel, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, mixed reality, and more. Learn how you can optimize the products you already use, and integrate the latest solutions into your day-to-day operations.
- Ramp up your skills on the ground. Our 150+ sessions and 16 pre-days go beyond big ideas: they’re hands-on deep dives with the experts, designed for data drivers like you to learn new skills on the spot. You’ll walk away with tips and tricks you can apply right away.
- Ask good questions, get great answers. With 300+ experts and engineers onsite, you can meet one-on-one to gain new strategies and solve your toughest challenges. From the Ask the Experts area to engineer-led sessions and workshops, you’ll have plenty of chances to dig deep with the people behind your favorite tools.
- See the future of business applications. Get inspired in visionary keynotes with Microsoft Corporate Vice Presidents James Phillips and Alysa Taylor, and special guest Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and Initialized Capital.
- Gain fresh insights everywhere you go. Get exclusive looks at the latest products and solutions – like AI and mixed reality – build new contacts at our bigger-than-ever expo, and collaborate with your peers in our expanded community area. We’re hosting a multi-stream viewing lounge too, so you can experience as much content as possible.
Last chance to register – don’t wait
Register now and get ready to innovate into the future with better data, stronger solutions, and bigger transformation. We hope to see you there!
Meet Community stars at Microsoft Business Applications Summit!
Microsoft Business Applications Summit June 10 – 11 in Atlanta, Georgia is almost here and you have one more reason to attend year…A chance to meet the community super stars. We know, one of the primary reasons people go to conferences is to meet the presenters. And at the Microsoft Business Applications Summit (MBAS), we have an entire “Ask the Experts” experience to make this easy to meet Microsoft full time employees…but what about community folks like MVPs, Authors and Industry experts?
We have created a community lounge and will be scheduling a subset of those community stars for you to interact with. Here are some highlights of the community members and topics you will find at this year’s MBAS.
Starting and Running a World Class PowerApps User Group by Keith Whatling
In addition to being a PowerApps MVP and one of the earliest/best PowerApps developers, Keith Whatling also started one of the first (and just recently recognized as one of the best) PowerApps user groups on the planet. Keith will be discussing the tactics that helped him in his community journey.
Keith Whatling is an experienced analyst with a demonstrated history of award-winning innovation in transportation. “I have a wealth of experience from digital content creation and data analysis to Microsoft’s Power Platform, using PowerApps and Flow to drive digital transformation. I can hold my own with Python, VBA and have some C# experience.”
Collaboratively Organizing One of the Largest Power BI Groups by Prathy Kamasani
Prathy Kamasani helps organize one of the largest Power BI user groups in the world and in this session she will share with the community how she manages this process and continues growing their membership.
Prathy Kamasani is a Microsoft Valuable Professional (MVP) working as an independent MSBI contractor based in London. She specializes in Power BI, SSIS, SSAS and SSRS. Prathy is active in the Microsoft Data community as a speaker, volunteer, and organizes the London Power BI User Group.
Running the Largest Power BI Community Site in the World by Mike Carlo
In addition to co-managing one of the most successful US Power BI user groups, Power BI MVPs Mike Carlo and Seth Bauer also manage to find time to host the largest Power BI community site in the world. Wondering how? Then this session is for you!
Power BI MVP, user group leader and frequent conference speaker that is Passionate about data, analytics and helping people learn same has developed a website knowledge repository for all things PowerBI, (www.PowerBI.Tips). This site is uniquely set up for people to read and learn about data modeling and visualizations within Power BI with over 60 kudos to date!
How to Leverage the Microsoft Communities Platform and Grow to a Super Community by Seth Bauer
In addition to co-managing one of the most successful US Power BI user groups, Power BI MVPs Seth Bauer and Mike Carlo also manage to find time to host the largest Power BI community site in the world. Additionally, Seth Bauer finds the time to answer many of the Power Service questions in the community forums. Find out how he gets his information.
About Seth Bauer: I am a Director of Business Intelligence at Syndigo. I’m a Microsoft Data Platform MVP (Power BI). I’ve been working with the Microsoft stack for over 10 yrs, but my major focus area now is Power BI, and sharing what I’ve learned with the User Community. I am a Microsoft Certified Professional, a co-leader of this Microsoft Power BI User Group, and a PUG Board of Advisors member. I enjoy working with clients across the Midwest implementing BI / Power BI solutions.
How to use Microsoft Forums to Learn DAX by Phil Seamark
Author, conference organizer, User Group leader, MVP Alumni, and now Microsoft employee, Phil Seamark is recognized as one of the foremost DAX experts. He recently confided in a community gathering that most of what he learned in DAX was through his participation in community forums. In this informal get together, discuss with Phil his techniques for leveraging community forums into his incredible resume of experiences.
Philip Seamark is an author, Microsoft Data Platform MVP employee of the Power BI CAT Team, and an experienced database and business intelligence (BI) professional with a deep knowledge of the Microsoft B.I. stack along with extensive knowledge of data warehouse (DW) methodologies and enterprise data modelling. He has 25+ years experience in this field and is an active member of Power BI community. He is a Super User with 1,945 answers and 590 kudos on the community website http://community.powerbi.com
The Value of Joining the Dynamics Online Community by Fawad Khan
Strategy and operations leader with 15+ years of experience managing businesses from $ 10-20M and leading global IT teams of 100+. “I have helped deliver over $ 5M in cost savings in Service Delivery along with a 5% improvement in Customer/Partner Experience.” Fawad is a Digital and Cloud Computing strategist in today’s world of AI, Machine Learning, IoT and Hybrid Computing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fawadakhan1/
The Magic Around Delivering an Amazing Presentation by Mico Yuk
Based on requests and feedback on her story-telling presentation, Mico has agreed to share with the community her best practices on delivering an amazing presentation.
Mico Yuk (@micoyuk) is the founder of BI Brainz (the leader in enterprise visual storytelling) and the BI Dashboard Formula (BIDF) methodology. She has trained thousands globally on how to use the power of data visualization strategically to enhance the decision-making process. In the last nine years, her company has worked with Fortune 500 companies like Procter & Gamble, Honda, Kimberly-Clark, Royal Dutch Shell, Nestle, Qatargas, Ericsson, and FedEx. She has also authored Data Visualization for Dummies (Wiley 2014).
The Art of Creating a Microsoft Flow Presentation by Kent Weare
Kent Weare is an experienced leader who possesses strong technical skills. Passionate about architecture with a specialty in integration, he is recognized by Microsoft as an Integration MVP.
How to Use Community to Make the World a Better Place by Shannon Lindsey
Shannon Lindsay of the Informatics Team at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) runs the Power BI User Group (PUG) community in Washington, DC. Her associate, Stephanie Bruno, runs the PUG in Pittsburgh, PA. They also run an internal PUG at EGPAF in which they invite all countries to meet (via conference calls) to share resources and ideas and collaborate on projects.
In this session, Lindsay will share her story of how “Community has been the key to our success in relation to the implementation of Power BI (among other technologies) here at EGPAF. In fact, it is because of our relationships with the community that these trainings happened at all! Stephanie heard about the Microsoft MySkills4Afrika program a few years ago from a volunteer at the Data Insights conference in Seattle.”
Shannon Lindsey is a data and analytics professional specializing in collection, management, and use of targeted data for program improvement and strategic decision making, solving problems for non-profit and government.
What It Takes to Be a PowerApps Flow MVP by Anton Robbins
Anton Robbins is the CTO of Seisay IT Solutions, a PowerApps and Flow MVP, PowerApps Champion, DC PowerApps User Group Leader and slayer of bow ties. That he has a passion for the Microsoft Power Platform (Flow, Power BI, and PowerApps) communities is an understatement. “It takes a community to elevate technical brethren.” When he is not speaking at an event, he is usually volunteering or organizing events. He has been, in the past and currently is, a speaker at Microsoft conferences and local User Groups. In his spare time, which he rarely has, he likes to roller skate.
Becoming a Community Super User by Gilbert Quevauvilliers
While there are roughly 500 Business Applications MVPs including Power BI, Dynamics, PowerApps, and Flow, there are fewer than 50 community super users who answer the unanswerable questions in the Microsoft forums. Gilbert Quevauvilliers will share his process for getting this knowledge and how to best use the Microsoft forums.
“Currently, I’m working as a Power BI & Data Analytics Consultant. I have over 10+ years’ experience working with data of any size and any source. By leveraging my skills, I am able to provide insights into customers’ data quickly and efficiently. And this has enabled my customers to gain a better understanding of their business. Which relates to better sales, or significant cost savings.
“I was recently awarded a Microsoft MVP award for Power BI. Power BI, in my opinion, is the logical choice for creating insights, being cost-effective and providing dashboards and reports on Web, Mobile, or in Apps out of the box.
“I have proven competencies in the implementation of data analytic solutions from the ground up, which included developing data warehouses, SSAS Cubes and, most recently, Power BI solutions for customers in various business sectors.
“I have worked within teams, managed teams, as well as worked alone on various successful data analytics projects.
“I have focused on providing Power BI Solutions to customers since the inception of Power BI in July 2015.”
Demystifying the MVP Process by Julie Yack
In addition to running a Dynamics User Group conference, Julie Yack is one of the most distinguished of the Dynamic MVPs. In this informal get together, Julie will be happy to field any questions about the MVP program and nomination process.
Julie Yack is a Colorado-based Microsoft Dynamics CRM MVP serving clients across the globe, providing training, implementation, analysis and insight for companies wanting to take their service to the next level. Julie’s blog, http://www.julieyack.com addresses pertinent topics of the day, ranging from Dynamics CRM to technology in education to travel to voting rights.
Lounge Hosts
This all-star community will be joined by the entire Microsoft community team with members like Charles Sterling, Jon Levesque, Brian Dang, and Purvin Patel.
Jon Levesque
on Levesque is an entrepreneur and strategist with an expertise in brand engagement, community building and creating winning evangelism strategies. He is a Senior Program Manager on the Microsoft Flow product team focusing on helping Flow evangelize the product and how to use it, helping customers understand the platform and its benefits.
Jon’s background has ranged from project management to customer experience, to support and marketing. He has over 12 years in the industry and has helped lead community and engagement efforts in the low code/no code space since its inception. He has worked with large brands like Microsoft & HTC and smaller, local brands like Forterra NW Inc, as well as musical artists like Jethro Tull & DJ Nano.
As a speaker and educator, Jon has created the first Microsoft Flow EdX Course, The official Guided Learning material for Microsoft Flow and Ehang Drones and also created a series of YouTube videos guiding users on how to transform business process digitally using Microsoft Flow.
Brian Dang now a program manager on the PowerApps team is helping shape the product to make it easier to use and adopt for the world of citizen developers. Formerly a third and fourth grade teacher, Brian Dang (known as Mr. Dang by his students) used PowerApps to create several education apps for teaching, managing his classroom, and gamifying the learning experience. In this in-depth interview, Brian shares his experience meeting Bill Gates, how he got started with PowerApps, how students and teachers are using apps in the classroom, and his vision for PowerApps in the education space. Teachers and students are very excited about using apps in the learning process. Not only do the kids get engaged in the subjects they are learning, but they also explore the technology and authoring tools used to create the custom apps, like the spelling and banking apps. His fourth graders even collaborated in teams to create their own apps, such as one with a Harry Potter theme. Since recording this video, Brian has joined the PowerApps team to execute his vision of bringing PowerApps into the classroom and enabling teachers, students and administrators to “not settle for the apps they have, but create the apps they want.”
Three Ways to Disrupt Financial Services Applications with Technology
Financial Services is an industry driven by disruption. Its history is rife with examples such as low-cost brokerage businesses, ETF investment vehicles, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley regulations. New fintech firms, AI-powered robot advisors, and regulatory mandates such as Open Banking are today’s catalysts for change, with new disruptions sure to come tomorrow. Financial Services firms are challenged to continuously innovate their businesses and applications to keep pace with the competition.
So, the question becomes, how do firms apply technology to evolve their applications to continue as winners and avoid falling behind? Said another way, in an industry driven to deliver alpha (or the very best), where might financial services firms create alpha by disrupting their applications?
Netting it out, it seems that firms have three clear options. And as any good portfolio manager would advise, intelligent diversified investments across all three is best.
Option One – Deliver Better Experiences from Existing Applications
Where core business functions are already enabled, a closer look at these applications can often reveal the opportunity to interconnect their data and capabilities in new ways to form new applications and user experiences that will delight (internal and external) customers and set the firm apart from its competitors.
- BMO Financial Group, one of Canada’s preeminent financial institutions, used TIBCO ActiveMatrix® BPM to automate workflows and resource assignments, dramatically shortening approval times for commercial loans and mortgages, resulting in significant customer satisfaction improvements.
- O-Bank, formerly Industrial Bank of Taiwan, extended their TIBCO BusinessWorks™ and TIBCO Enterprise Message Services™ driven commercial banking applications to launch a completely new, smartphone-enabled, virtual retail banking line of business, adding 130,000 retail banking customers in the first year.
Option Two – Drive Sounder Insights via Data and Analytics Applications
Financial Services firms have long relied on data and analytics technology for innovative insights. Analyzing data in back-office applications to understanding what happened in the past drove the first wave of financial services BI and analytics innovation. Typical examples include positions and trade reporting, commissioning, compliance, and more. Understanding what is happening now, drove the second wave as access to real-time market data proliferated. Analyzing data to better predict future outcomes (client churn, for instance) and prescribe more favorable results (a timely offer that mitigates churn) is driving the current wave of financial services analytics innovation.
- KuveytTurk Bank, a Turkish bank with retail, corporate, treasury, international, and investment banking lines of business, leveraged TIBCO Streaming® to integrate data from 25 institutions and applications into new trading algorithms, doubling FX volume and enabling Turkey’s first Gold Exchange market.
- AA Ireland, Ireland’s leading provider of home, auto, and travel insurance, used TIBCO BusinessWorks™ integration, TIBCO Streaming® event processing, and TIBCO Spotfire® analytics to include real-time customer driving data in their pricing algorithms, delighting their best customers and increasing profits.
Option Three – Make Applications Smarter with Artificial Intelligence
Adding new Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) technologies to existing applications is a third way financial services firms can use technology to drive disruption.
For example, without AI/ML, financial advisors spend significant time searching for and manually analyzing information. This might involve dozens of steps and hours of research time, including calls to the capital markets desk, visits to the firm’s research portal, and reviews of other key data sources. AI/ML algorithms can automatically analyze and filter relevant data and provide specific recommendations directly to a firm’s advisors, thereby improving client returns, while saving the firm time and costs.
- KB Card, a subsidiary of South Korea’s leading financial group, applied TIBCO Spotfire® machine learning algorithms and visualizations to analyze customer data and automatically generate personalized credit card offers that deliver millions in new revenues.
- A top wealth management firm that provides advice, products, and services to individuals, businesses, and institutions, leveraged TIBCO Data Science algorithms to rapidly analyze large incoming data volumes—everything from internal research to external market data—and score investment opportunities based on their relevance to individual investor’s needs.
Learn how to Accelerate your Application Innovation Today
Read this white paper to learn more about how TIBCO is fueling innovation in the Financial Services industry today and how we can help firms continue to innovate with technology that delights their customers, drives sounder insights, and makes their applications smarter.
To learn more about TIBCO in the financial services industry, see https://www.tibco.com/solutions/banking for Banking and https://www.tibco.com/solutions/algorithmic-insurance for Insurance.