Organisations opt for digital perseverance to tackle challenges

According to a senior Microsoft executive, a new trend is emerging among both mature organisations and startups, which involves the use of digital technology as a guiding principle through the challenges currently plaguing businesses across the globe.

“Leaders across industries share a commitment to innovation as the only path forward through uncertainty in global markets, especially as they continue to strengthen their security posture, reduce their carbon footprint, inject more visibility into their supply chains, and promote more inclusive prosperity in the communities where they operate,” Microsoft executive vice president and chief commercial officer Judson Althoff said earlier this week.

“I see this shared commitment as part of a trend I call digital perseverance. It is the ability of organisations to thrive despite risk when they harness and wield digital technology to achieve their business goals and do more with less,” he added.

Some of the examples that Althoff provided include Oracle, who announced the availability of Oracle Database Service for Microsoft Azure, Miburo, which was acquired by Microsoft to boost threat intelligence research into new cyber threats, as well as P&G, who will implement a plan involving scalable predictive maintenance, controlled release, touchless operations and manufacturing sustainability optimisation.

Additional examples include beverage giant AB Inbev, which is creating a digital model of its breweries and supply chains using cloud-based services to facilitate remote quality monitoring and data traceability.

Moreover, major technology firm Bosch is using an Integrated Asset Performance Management (IAPM) solution that allows rotating machines, including turbines and electric motors, to indicate when they need maintenance. This allows the company to run such machines with optimal costs and maximum efficiency.

“The industrial metaverse has the potential to simultaneously improve supply chain resiliency, business efficiency and sustainability,” Althoff said.

“When organizations make or move goods, they leave a carbon footprint, but with the industrial metaverse, they can simulate manufacturing processes and supply chain scenarios infinitely in the cloud before a product is made or moved,” he added.

“The result: less waste, water consumption and carbon emissions — all while creating better products more efficiently and sustainably,” Althoff concluded.