Microsoft Inspire 2021: Together, Lets Embark On The Cloud Powered Business Adventure

Reflecting!

I have been attending Microsoft Inspire for a decade. 10 years. Wow!

This is one of my favorite conferences that I have the fortune of being a part of. The experience of attending Microsoft Inspire feels like a business reunion that gets better every year.

Last year, the event was virtual. Despite the confusion around everything, we were still able to get a signal from global leaders that it was time to pivot our companies. The transformation was rapid, and we’ve survived. The COVID-19 pandemic did not impact our business as deeply as I anticipated. 

My sincerest gratitude to all our customers who believed in Meylah and Women In Cloud’s vision. Our mission to create economic access through digital transformation has not only resonated with the community, but it has been implemented in many forms. We rolled out Main Street Digital - Digital Twin of Mainstreet, Speaker Engage - The All-In-One Toolkit for streamlining event planning and execution, Digital Cloud Accelerators, and GTM Services for Digital Marketplace Adoption. All these solutions were born out of necessity and to meet the new customer demands and still focus on supporting UN Sustainable Goals 2030. As a team, we excelled in enabling economic access for our customers. Microsoft Inspire, in particular, was pivotal in helping us transition, innovate and be there for our customers and partners.

This year, Microsoft Inspire is virtual, again. I will miss the in-person reunions with my business friends. As a decision maker, I am always pondering and looking to experiment further. A lack of predictability is always the game changer. Do you feel the same way?

These are the difficult questions that I grapple with as I consider the future of the technology industry:

1. In which modes will customers consider doing business after things begin to open up? What kinds of digital transformation initiatives will they be investing in? What kinds of partners will they be looking for? Are we ready for another pivot that is coming in the next 3-6 months?
2. With many leaders retiring early across the technology industry, will we need to use the same or new strategies to engage new leadership? 
3. With a remote workforce becoming the new norm, what types of benefits do we need to create to motivate, engage and retain these types of employees? 
4. What kinds of innovations do we need to invest in to create strategic value for our customers?
5. What kinds of Microsoft changes do we need to adopt? Will it be expensive or inclusive? Complex or simple licensing to adopt cloud and AI services?
6. As a Microsoft partner within the 360,000+ partner community, what should we be thinking about? Planning around? Exploring within?

I have spent the last 76 hours researching, talking, and investigating ideas to get ready for this upcoming transformation, and here are the three blue ocean strategies my team and I will be adopting. The reason why I openly share our planning blueprint is because I believe that when we as a technology channel are focused, we can manifest infinite opportunities, including rapid job creation in our local communities. 70 million+ jobs are created by Microsoft partners. Imagine, we can reach up to 100 million+ in the next few years, as long as we keep an eye on making the industry inclusive.  

Well, here is how we are approaching Microsoft Inspire:

1.      Mapping Strategies, Goals and Market Signals:Every day, executives will present keynotes. From Satya Nadella, Vasu Jakkal, Judson Althoff, Charlotte Yarkoni to Rodney Clark, these leaders will share their global, product, customer and channel strategies. Listen to the words they will be using, the case studies they will be presenting and the tweets they will be creating. Map it to your business goals. If they are not aligned, you are moving away from the North Star of what the customers are moving towards. Signals to watch for are big investments, people movements, and societal contributions.

2.      Making Focus Areas A priority: Your goal should be to find clarity in order to innovate and execute well. Attend Focus Areas sessions, ask the experts and find speakers who can give you all the answers to your questions. Start writing down all the inquiries you need answers to. I have at least 100+ questions identified. Have you started your list yet? My friend, Dan Langille, shared this planning philosophy for Microsoft Inspire with me a few years ago. I was blown away by this intentional approach. Thank you, Dan!

3.      Connection Zone: Meet local and global partners. Engage in community conversations. Women In Cloud will also be hosting the tandem WiCxInspire event to help women technology founders network during Inspire. Join us, if you want to meet your future customers. Don't miss engaging with communities such as IAMCP, WIT Network and BCPA.

My approach for the past 10 years has been to take time during the 4th of July weekend to plan and prepare for Inspire. Get ahead and start mapping your approach. This is my blueprint; feel free to use it to kickstart your preparation.  

The following is what we will be spending time on during Inspire. If you want to join my tribe, please message me via LinkedIn chat so we can have a mind-meld session after the event.

Mapping Goals:

• Session Themes: Cloud To Edge, Global Partner Solutions, Marketplace, Sustainability, Inclusion, New World of Work, Data Protection, Zero Trust Framework, Cross Solutions, Industries, Automation Practice
• Key Leaders: Charlotte Yarkoni, Rodney Clark, Nick Partner, Judson Althoff, Vasu Jakkal, Alysa Taylor
• Understand Business Models: Licensing Models (Net Seat or Consumption), Revenue Channels, Incentives, Strategic BETS
• Products: Cloud to Edge – Industry Angles – Sustainability – Security and Accessibility

Focus Areas:

• Pick Top 3 Industries – Non Profit, Public Sector, Retail -- Industry Clouds??
• Pick one product: Azure or Teams?? I am still thinking on this one. where to double down this year.
• Identify 3-5 Strategic Partnerships; Partner Focused Business Platform – What is this? Global partner Showcase – how? -- lot of questions. Still pondering!
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Sustainability : After doing massive research on DEI for Tech industry, identify partnerships who will accelerate equity for women in tech industry.

Connection Zone: Attend 3-5 sessions. Here is our list that we will be attending and hosting:

Attending

• Harnessing The Power of Azure Data and AI Services
• Microsoft Cloud for ISV
• Harnessing digital solutions to win in a net-zero sustainable future.
• Accelerating application and data modernization with Azure and Power Apps.
• The partner opportunity to implement, integrate, extend, and amplify Microsoft Cloud solutions, and Microsoft industry clouds.

Hosting

• Purpose Minded Leadership Principles for Driving Inclusive Workforce
• A new approach: value-based digital marketing for the enterprise
• Join us to #BuildFor2030 and make progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals 
•  WiCxInspire: multi-day networking experience with thought-leadership power talks, diverse recruiting, and curated business development to connect female tech founders and showcase their technology solutions with enterprise buyers, investors, and influencers. More info coming soon!

By the time the Microsoft Inspire conference is over, here are the questions that I am hoping to find the answers to. I hope that you can find the answers you’re looking for too.  

• Direction: What direction are we taking in 2021?
• Decisions: What kinds of decisions do we need to make? Who do we need to meet with to make these decisions and which frameworks we need to leverage?
• Education: What kinds of educational investments do we need to make so our teams are skilled for the new world we are entering into?
• Network: What types of people we need to connect with to create infinite opportunities that will make our customers and society sustainable?
• Case Studies: What is the case study/journey that we need to embark on?
• Investments: What are the big dollars going to? Where do we need to invest? 

At the end of day, our cloud business adventure starts with Microsoft Inspire. If you want to get started on your business odyssey, sign-up today and explore the Session Scheduler to develop the roadmap to your success. Have any questions? Ping me! Always looking to explore strategic partnerships to accelerate job creation and tech innovation in the market.

Don't forget to signup for WiCxInspire event. You are all invited. Thank you for reading.