Today, we are seeing four megatrends in the industry: Mobility, Cloud, Social, and Big Data. They are driving what we are doing at Microsoft, and we believe they are driving what our customers and partners are doing as well. These are the megatrends that keep us all moving forward, that impact …more
It’s almost time for our session to begin at the SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas. Please join us for what we think will be a very fun session. In preparation, I’m getting in the zone by trying my hand at the Back to the Future slots. Session title: Working Smarter – …more
Originally published on MSFT for Work on February 28, 2014.
Pop quiz: what does the 2014 Seahawks-49ers playoff game have in common with the 2014 Sochi Olympics? Answer: both events featured websites powered by Windows Azure. For the Seahawks game, the Windows Azure team stepped in to help the small-scale Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) run their Fan-O-Meter, a website that measures the 12th Man’s “Beast Quakes.” In Sochi, Windows Azure literally runs every piece of NBC Sports’ coverage. Together, they show how Windows Azure scales and handles jobs from a small nonprofit organization’s fun project to one of the largest sporting events in the world.
Shaking the ground
Microsoft is proud of our home team, the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. One of the biggest moments of the season actually came before the big game. At the January 12 playoff game against the Saints, seismologists at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network’s Fan-O-Meter attempted to measure the legendary 12th Man’s “Beast Quakes” after Marshawn Lynch scored. The Fan-O-Meter is accessible to anyone online, and it turned out to be far more popular than the PNSN anticipated. The team’s lone server couldn’t handle the traffic and crashed, and they almost threw in the towel—until the Windows Azure team stepped in to offer an open source solution.
Working long hours through the next week, the team got the measurement site back up and running in time for the January 19 game against the 49ers. 40,000 fans eventually tuned in—a relatively small number, but enormous for the PNSN’s normal traffic load. When the 12th Man made history by creating a seismic spike (a.k.a an earthquake), the Windows Azure server automatically scaled and handled the traffic with ease. The total cost for scaling the server for the extra traffic: $6.
If you’re looking for a way to prepare for an unexpected (or expected!) spike in traffic, Windows Azure has you covered.
Going for the gold
When it comes to enterprise-level scaling, it doesn’t get much bigger than NBC’s coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. With more than 1,000 hours of 98 events broadcast to millions of customers worldwide, NBC decided that partnering with Microsoft and Windows Azure was the gold-medal solution.
Viewers can access live and on-demand content by using the free NBC Sports Live Extra app, available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Windows RT devices—or access coverage live from the web at NBCOlympics.com. Windows Azure Media Services powers all of these streams, regardless of format and platform.
The Windows Azure cloud platform brings the true power of cloud services beyond just renting IT capacity. NBC’s coverage is proof positive that stability, security, and scalability are hallmarks of using Windows Azure as a media solution.
Your business probably won’t need to stream something as large as the Olympics—but Windows Azure can handle it if you do! If you’re looking for media streaming for a live event, your next commercial, or any other video service you can think of, Windows Azure media services can help.
Your cloud, your way
Whether you’re a small group of seismologists recording a single moment at a single sports event, or an enterprise-level media company handling one of the largest sporting events in history, Windows Azure scales to your needs and provides the infrastructure it takes to get it done. Regardless of your size and requirements, a cloud solution from Windows Azure is the way to move beyond renting storage space and into a full cloud-based infrastructure solution. The time to begin exploring cloud solutions is now.
Originally published on MSFT for Work on February 28, 2014. Pop quiz: what does the 2014 Seahawks-49ers playoff game have in common with the 2014 Sochi Olympics? Answer: both events featured websites powered by Windows Azure. For the Seahawks game, the Windows Azure team stepped in to help the small-scale …more
Got Imagination?
At Imagine Cup, we believe in the power of students to change the world. And we don’t have to look very far for a great example: Bill Gates was the university student, along with his friend from high school, Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft. They know what it means to dream big and work hard.
Every year, we see amazing teams of Imagine Cup students rise from countries all over the world. They bring us their dreams, their skills, and their passion. They show us what they can do. And when that happens we can see the future right there, in the faces of those leaders of tomorrow. For Imagine Cup 2014, we wanted to find a way to connect some of these future leaders with the history that inspires us.
And so I’m very pleased to announce that one Imagine Cup World Finalist team will be chosen for a private meeting with Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That team of students will get the chance to share their dreams and their excitement for a brighter future in person with this entrepreneur, innovator, and humanitarian.
We’re very grateful to share this opportunity with the students of Imagine Cup. And if it sounds like something you’ve always dreamed of, there’s one way you can make it so: Make it all the way to the Imagine Cup World Finals in Seattle this July, 2014, and your team could be the one chosen to meet Bill Gates. Learn more.
Got Imagination? At Imagine Cup, we believe in the power of students to change the world. And we don’t have to look very far for a great example: Bill Gates was the university student, along with his friend from high school, Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft. They know what it …more
Got Content? The forecast for content marketing in 2014 includes higher quality of content, multiscreen marketing, and bigger budgets, according to the following Uberflip infographic. As more people turn to their digital devices for content, companies will be producing not just more content—but better content. “Brands will step up their …more
I’m excited to be presenting at the SharePoint 2014 Conference in Las Vegas this week. In my session, titled: Working Smarter: Automating your Communications, I will be talking about how customers can move their workforce into the 21st century by improving productivity and automating tasks with the Windows 8.1 Apportal, …more
Original article published February 14, 2014 on Power BI Blog Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! As our Valentine’s Day gift to you, we offer this bouquet of Power BI visualizations, filled with the most carefully selected data and freshest insights related to this most romantic of holidays. Our data sources for …more
The following post is from Quentin Clark, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Data Platform Group. Published on February 10, 2014: Link On Monday we announced that Power BI for Office 365 – our self-service business intelligence solution designed for everyone – is generally available. Power BI empowers all kinds of business …more
Originally published on MSFT for Work: 12 Feb 2014 9:56 PM As business intelligence tools become more accessible to the consumer, more individuals are capable of using analytics to delve into topics they’re interested in. And as they develop these skills, businesses will inevitably benefit from employees who are capable of …more
Fifty seconds of uninterrupted video shot. Six unique and culturally iconic images seamlessly transitioning into one after the other. The Huffington Post reports: the Sunday Times, a British Sunday newspaper, has launched a new initiative to explore what it calls “the four corners of culture” – Art, Music, Film and TV. …more
How do you retain the creative side of marketing when big data and autonomous marketing inevitably change the way marketers work? Data …more
You know you have arrived when The Muppets are talking about you. Seattle Seahawks Marshawn Lynch, aka Beast Mode, is getting more …more
Original article published on BizTech on 1/1/14. By using its cloud services and software tools internally, Microsoft energizes its sales force and shows …more
What happens when you cross the NFL with the Star Wars Universe? Check it out here: Link. The comments section is hilarious.
Technology innovation is radically transforming how businesses communicate, create and market their products and services, and engage with their customers. And of …more
My Dad lives on something I like to affectionately call the “E-mail Web”, which is an online universe populated by older folks …more
Original Article Published on October 13, 2013, by Tim Moran, Editor In Chief, CMO.com: Link “How do we market to people who have Internet …more
Original Article Published: December 10, 2007 on StoneTemple.com: Link As senior director, product marketing, Grad Conn is responsible for both the enterprise …more
I just read a cool story about Marshawn Lynch’s Mom, who used Skittles “power pellets” as a treat to motivate her shy …more
The Super Bowl has turned into a Super Social event as well, and last year’s black-out incident made stars out of the …more
I found this article from Yahoo! Small Business Advisor quite interesting: Link. In the article, they talk about 5 trends in content marketing …more
Shaun White, arguably the greatest snowboarder in the history of the sport, is on his way to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. …more
Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman is deaf, but you’d never know it on the football field. He’s embraced the challenge and perfected …more
Last year I had the privilege of speaking at the Internet Marketing Association’s IMPACT13 Conference in Las Vegas, where the theme was …more
By Nancy Wong Bryan, The Web as a Door-to-Door Salesman articles (I, II, III) were from an interview I did a decade ago. …more
By Nancy Wong Bryan, Originally posted on April 05, 2004 The Web as a Door-to-Door Salesman articles (I, II, III) were from an …more
By Nancy Wong Bryan, Originally posted on April 01, 2004 The Web as a Door-to-Door Salesman articles (I, II, III) were from an …more
In a stunning example of interactive storytelling that pulls the reader in and engages them with sights and sounds, The New York …more
I thought this post from George Takei managed to nicely capture the tradition of the holiday and marry it with the gestalt …more
![Irving Berlin's HOLIDAY INN [colorized]](https://www.copernicanshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Irving-Berlins-HOLIDAY-INN-colorized.jpg)
Thanksgiving is actually a relatively modern holiday – and only an “official” holiday since 1941. In fact, although U.S. Presidents had declared …more
