SunCulture success story: Remove labor to let water flow

“Work smarter, not harder” has become the motto of the digital age. Yet in some parts of the world where modern technology is not accessible, hard, manual labor is the only choice people have to get things done.

For example, in parts of Africa where running water is not available, farmers like Monica must manually extract water from a well and distribute it amongst her family, crops, and animals. This isn’t just exhausting but also extremely inefficient, and can lead to small yields for such an extensive level of effort. To make matters worse, seasonal changes greatly impact the amount of water available, making life for people like Monica that much harder.

So, how can you leverage the power of modern technology to help these farmers produce more food and secure a better future? Watch this video to learn how SunCulture is using solar energy to bring hope and prosperity to Monica and more farmers like her in Kenya.

SunCulture success story

If you’re reading this, then chances are that getting easy access to clean, running water isn’t an issue for you. But for around 43 percent of the world’s total population, this simply is not the case. For them, obtaining the drinkable water they need to sustain their families requires hard work and commitment.

To make matters even more critical, most of them live in rural areas in which farming is their main source of income. This means that any available water must be carefully distributed between their crops and family, an exhausting situation that can take all day just to keep a small patch of land in farmable condition.

Such is the case for Monica, a Kenyan farmer who every day must assume the roles of mother of four, farmer, merchant, and housekeeper just to make ends meet. In this video, you’ll learn how she managed her dwindling water supply to keep her farm yielding, family fed, and trade at the local market—a situation that was soon to improve dramatically thanks to modern technology.

Expand your service portfolio by leveraging real-time customer data. Learn more about Azure IoT.

How do you create brand loyalty? In other words, how do you make customers trust your business based on objective reasons that go beyond just brand recognition? To be fair, there is no single answer to this question, but if we’ve learned anything from the digital age, it’s that giving your customers unwavering support and optimizing your products based on their feedback can go a long way to ensuring a business’ survival.

So how are today’s leading enterprises gathering data to obtain accurate insights into their customers to create new products and services? And, more importantly, how can your organization learn from their success to disrupt the market and become a top player in the industry?

Subscribe now to stay updated on the latest digital trends and how you can create a more connected business with Microsoft Azure IoT.

View: Expand your service portfolio by leveraging real-time customer data. Learn more about Azure IoT.

Rolls-Royce and Microsoft collaborate to create new digital capabilities

If you’ve ever experienced a flight delay, you know how frustrating it can be to sit in an airplane for what seems like an eternity, especially if you have other flights to catch or someone is waiting for you at your destination. But you’re not the only one negatively affected by these extended pit stops. Like any other transportation business, airlines make a profit the more their planes are in transit, and they lose millions of dollars per year to unexpected maintenance delays.

Within this context, Rolls-Royce—one of the leading suppliers of aircraft engines across the world—saw an opportunity to disrupt the traditional sales model and leverage digital transformation to make flights safer while decreasing delays. Watch this video to learn how Rolls-Royce is using Microsoft Azure and IoT to obtain, analyze, and filter critical component data to ensure their engines always fly in the best condition possible and that thousands of passengers reach their destinations safe and sound every day.

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The ‘Internet of Things’ Is Changing the Way We Look at the Global Product Value Chain

IoT is no longer a novelty, and still it surprises us each day with new, innovative solutions to everyday tasks. When was the last time you checked the TV for the weather, or had to download your photos to a computer so you could share them with friends or relatives? Unless you’re a meteorologist or professional photographer, chances are it’s been a long time since you did either of those things.

Today, our devices do almost everything for us. From scheduling our appointments to letting us know when our heart rate is above or below safe levels, to everything in between. Our IoT devices truly get to know us better than we thought we knew ourselves. So why not utilize this data to create amazing experiences with the products and services we use every day?

In this article, you’ll learn how the IoT is helping businesses reevaluate the way they interact with their customers to create new, non-intrusive, and relevant business opportunities that are changing the way we look at the Global Product Supply Chain.

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The 4 main types of secure hardware

IoT is everywhere: industries, smart cities, homes, and wearables are just a few examples. It’s an everyday reality and the number of connected devices is rising rapidly. But with connectivity comes vulnerability. IoT devices present always-on targets for hackers looking to access your business’ network and device cloud, gain malicious control of the device, or steal critical data.

Since there are so many potential ways in which cybercriminals can hack into online devices, it’s no secret that their connections to each other and the cloud need scalable and easily deployable security solutions. Read this infographic to learn about the 4 most commonly used standards for secure hardware used to protect today’s devices.

View: The 4 main types of secure hardware

Start your IoT journey with industry-leading SaaS and PaaS offerings. Learn more about Microsoft Azure IoT.

Regardless of your business or industry, it’s most likely that your digital transformation initiatives require a stable, secure, and flexible platform that can scale and adapt to your projected growth. You also want a flexible business partner, one that can adapt to your established methodologies and effectively complement your teams’ unique strengths.

Subscribe now to learn how you can leverage Microsoft Azure IoT and the Microsoft Partner Program to create growth-enabling digital transformation and long-term partnerships that drive success for your business.

View: Start your IoT journey with industry-leading SaaS and PaaS offerings. Learn more about Microsoft Azure IoT.

FINNING | Value of Partners in Azure Cloud Application Building

Team synergy is critical to ensuring the success of a project. But this isn’t just a matter of putting people together in a project and expecting results. An active effort must be made to ensure everybody is well aware of their role, scope, and how to collaborate so that all teams can create a methodology that pushes the project forward on time and within budget.

In this video, you’ll learn how Finning, the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer, has created a culture of collaboration with their digital transformation partner to drive successful IoT initiatives, and how they made it all possible by using Azure IoT.

The Importance of Marrying IoT to Consumer Products for Ease of Life

The number of connected IoT devices in 2017 was 27 billion, and by 2030 it’s expected to grow to 125 billion. This means that the functionality and use scenarios for the IoT will continuously expand and permeate across all areas of consumer products, therefore improving the lifestyles and health of users worldwide.

But exactly how are IoT devices being used in the consumer product space to increase customer satisfaction and make businesses more efficient? Read this article to gain an accurate perspective into the reach that the IoT will have in the consumer product space and how businesses will leverage IoT devices to drive innovation across the industry.

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The 7 properties of highly secure devices

Every day, new IoT devices are powering up around the world. Each one represents a source of insights into customer behavior and provides the data required to create and monitor impactful strategies. On the flip side, all of them also represent a possible entry point for malicious software and cybercriminals to steal sensitive business information and permanently damage an organization’s reputation.

To counter this threat, enterprise security has gotten increasingly elaborate and effective at creating multiple security systems depending on the property of each device and its relationship with the customer.

In this infographic, you’ll learn about the 7 properties that help modern IoT devices stay safe from cyber attacks and keep hackers at bay.

View: The 7 properties of highly secure devices