Anthony Nolan, a UK-based nonprofit, collaborates with other stem cell donor registers worldwide to match people with blood cancer with donors whose stem cells can save lives. The organization was facing challenges with its legacy technology. Information about potential donors and recipients was kept on a different system than that of volunteers, financial supporters, and others. This lack of a single view made it difficult for the transplant, marketing, and fundraising teams to find the details to cultivate the most meaningful relationships possible. The nonprofit also used a 22-year-old, email-based system to communicate with more than 100 other registries around the world. This legacy platform was inefficient and resulted in hundreds of failed messages a day, which someone had to check and process. This took valuable hours in a time-sensitive matching process.

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), an independent public body funded by the UK government, works with millions of employers and employees every year to improve workplace relationships. The organization's mission is to enhance organizations and working life in the UK through the promotion and facilitation of strong industrial relations practice. However, to effectively deliver its services, ACAS needed a resilient technology platform. Without such a platform, the organization would be unable to contact its customers and provide the services they desperately need. In 2018, ACAS decided to adopt a 'cloud-first' approach following a digital strategy review. The challenge was to find a cloud solution that would not only align with their digital strategy but also ensure paramount security.

Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotechnology company, has been working on harnessing the biology of the adaptive immune system to transform disease diagnosis and treatment. The company has built a proprietary immune medicine platform that decodes the genetic language of the adaptive immune system. However, the challenge was to synthesize this vast system of biology and tap into the full value of the massive clinical immunomics database generated. The company needed high-scale compute resources and machine learning capabilities to unlock the full potential of the research data. The immune system's complexity and the sheer volume of data generated by Adaptive’s dynamic clinical immunomics database, which includes more than 47 billion immune receptors, posed significant challenges.

AGC Group, a global glass manufacturer, was seeking to transition from on-premises hardware to a cloud-based infrastructure on Microsoft Azure. The company aimed to improve cost efficiency and gain scalability benefits. Given AGC's presence in Europe and Japan, the migration to the cloud needed to be handled meticulously. The company was looking for a partner that could help with an on-time, on-budget infrastructure build. AGC also wanted to move away from managing its hardware on-premises and migrate to a scalable platform on Microsoft Azure. The company was seeking a partner who specialized in customized services to assist in hosting AGC’s landscape on Azure, which would allow AGC to accelerate business growth in North America.

Allegiance Consulting, a South African fintech company specializing in complex financial planning systems, faced significant challenges when the COVID-19 health crisis struck. The company had to quickly adapt to a remote working environment and reassure its clients about the future. The main challenges included developing applications quickly on a secure and scalable infrastructure and staying connected with colleagues and clients. The company had to develop an engagement application for one of its large clients using Microsoft's Blazor technology. This application was a diagnostic tool providing guidance on dealing with the health crisis financially while staying safe. The company also had to ensure that its entire staff of 37 people could connect internally over a secure platform and collaborate with clients.

Alpega Group, a leading global logistics software company, coordinates the transportation of freight in 80 countries, working with 80,000 carriers and 200,000 members. This complex operation relies on the company’s Transport Management System (TMS). However, the company faced challenges with system reliability and efficiency. A system failure could cause significant delays and queues, impacting logistics processes worldwide. The company needed a solution that would ensure the smooth and continuous running of its TMS, allowing it to respond to demand and scale its operations accordingly. The challenge was to implement a new container management system that would not only improve the reliability and efficiency of their operations but also help optimize freight transportation and create more sustainability within the industry.

AnalogFolk, a digital agency, was tasked with creating an innovative and engaging way for people to discover their own 'Marmite Gene'. The challenge was to design a system that could accurately gauge people's reactions to tasting Marmite, a food product known for its divisive taste. The goal was to create a fun, interactive experience that would encourage users to share their results on social media, thereby increasing brand visibility and product sales. The challenge also involved the technical aspect of integrating facial recognition technology with an algorithm that could interpret various emotions and translate them into a measure of love or hate for Marmite.

24Storage, a Swedish self-storage company, was founded in 2015 with a vision to disrupt the traditional self-storage industry through digitalization. The company aimed to create a centralized, cloud-based solution that would allow remote control of all its facilities, eliminating the need for on-site employees and giving customers complete control over their service. However, the storage market in Sweden is highly competitive, and the company faced the challenge of developing its own digital systems to fine-tune the user experience for both customers and its customer support team. The goal was to manage each facility efficiently and increase the overall quality of service. The company also faced the challenge of transitioning from a startup to a more comprehensive platform, requiring a partnership to help maintain its digital ecosystem and engineer the next stage of innovations.

Nexon faced the challenge of managing a rapidly changing gaming environment where the lifecycle of games is decreasing, and the amount of data to be processed is increasing exponentially. The quality of mobile games is also steadily exceeding that of PC games, making it difficult to predict and appropriately manage system resources. The company needed a solution that could handle the complex technology requirements of game-related infrastructure, particularly in terms of capacity and response speeds. Initially, physical servers were used due to the limitations of virtual servers in delivering proper response speeds. However, with advancements in cloud technology, Nexon began exploring cloud solutions to address these challenges.

Sanoma Corporation, one of the largest media companies in Europe, faced the challenge of simplifying the creation of innovative online services for multiple business groups. The company needed to deliver relevant services quickly, requiring better insight and access to data. Sanoma had created APIs to provide access to data, including consumer profiles and media content, but needed a highly secure and scalable platform to deliver these APIs. The platform also needed to support a complex environment with diverse brands, digital assets, and developers working in various programming environments and apps for different platforms, including mobile devices.

The Rural Investments Financing Agency (AFIR), a Romanian government agency, is responsible for supporting farmers and companies to access grants and an average of 2 billion euros yearly of European Union (EU) funding for rural development projects. However, a vital internal forecasting task to manage these grant projects required a lot of manual intervention by AFIR’s employees. This process was not only slow but also prone to inaccuracies. The organization was keen on increasing the accuracy of spending and financing forecasts, as this would not only help its users but also boost its own operational efficiency. The process was paper-heavy and complex, and according to Daniel Ifrim, IT Director at AFIR, it was 'far from optimized'. The team needed a solution that would transform this process into a fully paperless and online system, and reduce the time taken to produce a report with spending and financing forecasts.

Air Astana, the flag carrier of Kazakhstan, was facing significant challenges with its financial reporting process. The company, which operates both domestic and international services across 64 routes in Eurasia, was struggling with a time-consuming and resource-intensive month-end closing process. Generating account cards and trial balances took from 40 minutes to more than one hour per report. At the end of the month, the finance department often had hundreds of reports in the queue. The company's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system was only capable of processing ten reports at a time, creating a bottleneck and slowing down the entire process. The company needed a solution that could generate reports in less than a minute to boost productivity and efficiency.

The American Cancer Society, a large nonprofit organization based in the United States, heavily relies on its volunteers who in turn depend on the society's mobile apps. The organization was facing challenges in terms of collaboration, development speed, process organization, and high database costs. The IT team was in need of a solution that could streamline their operations, accelerate the development process, and significantly reduce their database costs. The existing system was not efficient enough to meet these demands, thereby necessitating the adoption of a more robust and cost-effective solution.

Kumba Iron Ore, a multinational mining company operating primarily in South Africa, was struggling with a manual approach to onboarding and risk management across all its work sites. This process was not only time-consuming but also led to errors, delays, and inefficiencies throughout the company's operations. The lack of consistent standards and requirements across different sites further increased costs and risk. Kumba needed a solution that could consolidate and automate its manual processes, thereby improving risk outcomes and streamlining operations.

Armanino, one of the 20 largest independent accounting and business consulting firms in the United States, faced a common challenge among large professional services companies: managing office space for a mobile workforce without overspending on expensive building leases. The firm operates in 16 office locations in 15 major urban centers, deploying specialized professionals wherever needed. The challenge was to ensure office space was always available for its highly mobile workforce but avoid overspending on underutilized space. The firm's second largest cost after labor was rent, and the traditional office model was not reflecting the increasingly agile work styles. The firm also faced issues with its mobile workers finding available workspace in different offices, leading to inefficiencies and disruptions in the office schedule.

Worms Safety, a leading global alliance of specialists in safety and quality management, was facing a significant challenge in consolidating financial data from its 30 group companies. The company had recently introduced a new Xero financial management system and was seeking a solution to automate the consolidation process. The goal was to improve management reporting with interactive dashboard capabilities, which would enable the company to better meet compliance goals, exploit business potential, and develop a competitive advantage. The existing process was labor-intensive, requiring 10 days of manual spreadsheet maintenance each month, and lacked the depth of analysis and reporting options the company needed.

The American Nurses Association (ANA), an organization advocating for four million registered nurses and their patients across the United States, was facing a challenge with its Azure environment. The costs were escalating, and the organization was unable to identify the factors driving this increase. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, ANA needed to quickly transition over 250 employees to a remote workforce. This situation required a strategic partner to help manage, navigate, and optimize Microsoft Azure usage for ANA’s 400 employees. ANA also needed to enhance its security posture to prevent attacks on systems and data, especially with the shift to remote work.

Aberdeen City Council, a large government organization in the United Kingdom, was facing challenges in its digital transformation journey. The council was struggling to provide efficient and timely responses to the numerous queries from its 8,000 employees and 250,000 residents. The situation was further exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic, which forced many council services to cease overnight. The council needed a solution that could quickly adapt to the changing circumstances and continue to provide essential information and services to its employees and residents.

Alışan Grup, a top-500 Turkish business conglomerate, was facing several challenges in its digital journey. The flagship company of the group, Alışan Lojistik A.Ş., a market maker for the Turkish logistics business, was dealing with high costs of database update, maintenance, and management. The company also had insufficient capacity to ensure efficient management of business continuity. The company's existing services were difficult to comprehend and run, and there were challenges in access, document management, security, integration, and development. The company was also facing issues with its internally hosted SharePoint, which posed challenges in terms of business continuity and practical hurdles for database scenario and application layer creation.

Robert Walters, a global specialist professional recruitment business, faced challenges in enabling their consultants to work effectively while on the move. The company needed to establish a modern workplace that would allow their staff to perform their duties flexibly and efficiently, regardless of location. The existing setup did not fully support mobile work, which was crucial for consultants who spent significant time with clients and candidates. The need for a seamless transition to remote work became even more pressing with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which required businesses to adapt quickly to new working conditions. Robert Walters sought a solution that would not only enhance mobility but also integrate their IT and back-office functions to streamline operations and improve the overall employee and customer experience.

La Pontezuela, a family business in Toledo, Spain, producing premium-quality extra virgin olive oil, sought to modernize its business operations. The company needed an end-to-end business solution to transform interoperability across departments and stakeholders, while providing analysis for global business insights. The board of directors was unsure where to begin, and they required guidance to optimize operations using Microsoft technologies. The challenge was to streamline internal collaboration, simplify production processes, and enhance online transactions through an e-commerce platform connected to CRM, all while making confident decisions using real-time data analysis.

Natura, a leading Brazilian cosmetics multinational, faced the challenge of developing a robust customer service system that could integrate with its legacy platforms while providing higher availability and flexibility for future solutions. The company needed a centralized service system that could simplify the development of future processes and enhance its relationship with customers and consultants. The existing system required improvements in productivity and efficiency, and Natura sought a solution that could address these needs while maintaining its commitment to environmental, economic, and social awareness.

RHI Magnesita, a world leader in refractories, faced the challenge of expanding their digital services to customers. They aimed to offer not just managed installation of refractory products but also continuous monitoring and predictive analytics to enhance efficiency and avoid unnecessary production shutdowns. This required a significant digital transformation and rebuilding of their IT infrastructure on Azure. The merger of RHI and Magnesita in 2017 added complexity to their data management, necessitating a more flexible and scalable data infrastructure. The company needed to consolidate disparate IT systems and manage increased data demands post-merger, which their existing on-premises solutions could no longer handle effectively.

Vitaldent, a leading dental clinic network in Spain, faced the challenge of maintaining high-quality patient care while expanding its operations. With over 300 clinics and more than 7.5 million patients annually, the company needed a robust system to manage patient interactions and clinic operations efficiently. The primary challenge was to provide a seamless communication platform for patients and clinics, ensuring that patient needs were met promptly and effectively. Additionally, Vitaldent aimed to enhance its marketing efforts to attract new patients and retain existing ones. The company required a solution that could integrate patient data, streamline communication, and support its growth aspirations across different regions and brands.

Given its broad scope and long history, P&G had numerous data points about its business, including what drives sales and product preferences. However, the data resided in geographically dispersed silos, and P&G’s legacy systems couldn’t link the hundreds of disparate data types to gain collective insights. P&G sought a platform that could unlock those silos and provide a single view for business users. At the same time, company leaders realized that they needed to foster a data-driven culture—a growth mindset that put data and analytics at the forefront. AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics were all seen as crucial to becoming a true digital leader.

Walgreens processes hundreds of millions of prescription dispenses annually across nearly 9,000 stores, each transaction involving hundreds of data points. The existing infrastructure was unable to provide the reliability and speed needed for future operations. Walgreens aimed to future-proof its infrastructure with a cloud-first approach and modern AI capabilities. The goal was to support pharmacists with critical patient information, reduce time spent on prescription operations, and allow more focus on patient interaction. The aging data platform took up to two days to process each prescription request, which was not sustainable for the company's needs.

PROTORIA, a retail service provider for Samsung in Ukraine, faced challenges in managing its multichannel retail operations. The company aimed to update its long-term strategy by adopting cloud solutions to modernize its IT infrastructure and enhance its digital customer experience. The stakeholders identified the need for infrastructure modernization and the main retail website to facilitate a seamless digital customer experience. PROTORIA sought to address these challenges by collaborating with Cloud Services, a Microsoft partner, to develop a cloud adoption plan and migrate its infrastructure to Microsoft Azure.

OT network security hasn't always been a priority at Lhoist, as plants were traditionally isolated from other networks. However, digital transformation has led to more connected industrial environments, making OT security a top priority. Critical OT equipment is now more connected to the plant IT network, which is in turn connected to the corporate IT network. There is also an increasing demand for remote access from third-party vendors who help manage and maintain equipment. The CISO's role is to reduce cyber risk enterprise-wide and ensure that any attempt to compromise OT equipment is quickly detected and mitigated. A recent ransomware attack at a related organization highlighted the need for a security review at Lhoist, as it resulted in missed deliveries and millions of dollars in damages.

Montgomery County Government in Maryland faced a significant challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic as it sought to support the increased demand for services, particularly in managing the COVID-19 vaccination registration process. The county needed an immediate solution to relieve the pressure on its human contact center agents and deliver better engagement and service delivery for its MC311 Customer Service Center and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The goal was to offer residents a fast, easy, comprehensive, and equitable COVID-19 vaccination registration process. The challenge was compounded by the need to quickly augment its contact centers with AI capabilities to handle the surge in demand without requiring extensive developer expertise.

With 350 front-line employees working on power lines across the province, injury prevention is an enormous priority for FortisAlberta. Thus, before any work commences at a site, an injury prevention plan (IPP) must be created to identify the risks and hazards staff need to be aware of and the actions they must take to stay safe. This plan must remain dynamic throughout the lifecycle of the project site, as any change to the job could introduce new risks, requiring new plans of action. Before adopting a digital approach, FortisAlberta used a paper-based system to complete and manage IPPs. Supervisors had to fill out paper forms and send them by email to the Safety department within 30 days of project initiation. Recordings of meetings were captured on handheld audio recorders and cross-referenced with the paper forms during random periodic checks or following an incident. To share the IPPs, employees took photos or made photocopies of the completed forms and sent them for site auditing. This made it challenging to pull information together in time to be reviewed at team safety meetings. The paper-based process created several challenges. Handwritten IPPs were not always legible, which made it difficult to record accurate information. The check boxes on the IPP form did not accurately reflect the job’s scope of work, its roles and responsibilities, or its hazards and barriers. The paper forms required double entry, necessitating additional administrative work. And it could take as long as two weeks before forms got to the head office, if they didn’t get lost along the way.