Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella opened the event, speaking on the ways in which we are experiencing a substantial drive towards digital adoption across the cloud, and this shows no sign of abating as we begin to move towards increasing forms of societal normality. He further shared how Microsoft is investing and facilitating change across their portfolio of clients and partners to empower employees and organisations.

One of the key developments is without a doubt Microsoft doubling down its commitment to the cloud. Windows 365 is a cloud service that takes the operating system to the Microsoft Cloud. Microsoft’s increasing commitment to cloud indicates that there will be a knock on effect in the wider industry with other industry leaders looking to make similar moves. This comes after multiple billion dollar pledges for digitisation boosts in markets like Mexico, Italy and Poland.

Microsoft has additionally committed to being more sustainable and setting the industry standard in this regard. The new industry cloud enables companies to measure and manage their carbon emissions.  It allows companies to report on their emissions and create a sustainability scorecard to help monitor their progress against carbon emission reduction goals. Sustainable pledges are not unique to Microsoft and this is something we are seeing increasingly in the wider tech and cloud industry.  Businesses are increasingly using technology enabled platforms like Ecologi to offset their carbon emissions and help reduce their impact on the planet.

As the restrictions and drastic nature of COVID-19 begins to decrease around the world in many places, the experiences of working from home and a fully integrated remote working plan may be coming to an end. Businesses are beginning to move towards ‘hybrid working’ to introduce a blended working environment. Microsoft has also introduced new terminology for ‘phygital’ technology that acts as a blend of physical and digital experiences, this looks set to become a trend moving forwards as many industry leaders look to adopt new working models and decide what is best for their employees in the long term.

Nick Parker, Microsoft’s Corporate VP of Global Partner Solutions kicked off day two of the events with a focus on how investments and innovations Microsoft is making in their partner ecosystem supports partner growth. Industry specific clouds that help MSPs specialise and grow their brands, this allows partners to accelerate their market time and focus on industries to suit their specific client bases.  Microsoft’s industry clouds now cover Healthcare, Retail, Financial Services and most recently sustainability, to name just a selection.

$1.2tn in revenue will be created by Microsoft partners by 2024 on business linked to Microsoft technologies.  Much of this will be used to drive digital transformation and this will likely feed into the wider industry as digital leaders plan for partner growth post pandemic.

The launch of Windows 11 is one of the key announcements of the event, really doubling down on Microsoft’s commitment to the hybrid working model, echoing that this is built for collaboration and placing an emphasis on security. It seems Windows 11 has tried to systematically integrate the growing demand and perhaps expectation for remote options but also catering to those who desire some form in person work that may involve some form of collaboration. The flexibility of the model really sets a precedent and it will be most interesting to see how far reaching its influence is and whether it influences the mindset of other businesses.

The 2021 edition has enforced Microsoft’s commitment to the Cloud and flexible and remote working model. The continued growth of cloud will likely translate into wider industry trends. With the continued presence of the pandemic will likely lead to continued hybrid working and Microsoft’s dedication to this shows that it is fully on the minds of technology leaders.