Microsoft presents initiatives and technologies for regional revitalization and strengthening of small and medium-sized enterprises – Japan NEWS

Microsoft Japan held an online event “Microsoft Base Festa 2023” for two days from January 26th to 27th. Under the theme of “Empowering All Japan – Realizing Regional DX”, it targets business and technology decision makers and IT engineers who are promoting digitization and digital transformation (DX) in each region. He introduced the company’s latest solutions and case studies.

On the first day of the event, a lecture titled “Local DX support by Microsoft Base-What is the first step to realize DX with Do more with less?” He explained the efforts of “Microsoft Base”, which is being deployed in 2018, and did a live broadcast by connecting 11 Microsoft Bases. In addition, in the special session “Did you know that regional DX is possible? You can do this! Microsoft now!” provided information.

Shotaro Uehara, Executive Officer and General Manager of Azure Business Headquarters, talked about the company’s “Do more with less (realize more value with less time and resources),” Do more with less by strengthening what we can do, differentiating ourselves in our products and services, and building resilience.”

On top of that, he said, “There are challenges such as global price hikes, energy market volatility (floating system), and labor problems, and managers around the world are facing major changes in the market. growth opportunities have not diminished.” Mr. Uehara, citing a survey, introduced the results that IT investment will not decrease due to price hikes, geopolitical turmoil, and labor shortages. He said, “There is a shift to investments to promote digital growth, with 69% of companies planning to modernize infrastructure or promote DX within the next 12 months.”

In addition, 72% said the pandemic has accelerated the pace of industry transformation, 74% of workloads are scheduled to be modernized, and 85% plan to adopt a cloud-first approach by 2025. Presenting the results, he said, “It is important to invest in the future and increase flexibility, rather than being content with the status quo. Microsoft Japan’s role is to support this.”

In addition to providing comprehensive cloud services with “Microsoft Cloud” and demonstrating that experts with various industry knowledge provide optimal solutions for customers’ DX themes, Microsoft is an artificial intelligence (AI) venture. He also touched on the expanded investment in OpenAI and the general availability of “Azure OpenAI Service” from January 23, “ChatGPT” for understanding and generating sentences, and “Codex” for understanding and generating code. , introduces “DALL-E” that generates images from text commands. “From now on, OpenAI functions will also be implemented in Microsoft’s cloud products. OpenAI will ensure that general-purpose AI benefits humanity, and the future is just around the corner.”

Next, Mr. Hiroyuki Tanaka, General Manager of Customer Solution Marketing, Azure Business Headquarters, explained the efforts of Microsoft Base. “A base that leads to the revitalization and revitalization of the local economy by supporting digitization and DX in the region. place to do it.”

Microsoft Base was established with the aim of supporting DX for companies and local governments nationwide. In addition to activities at physical bases, we are also focusing on disseminating information online. Microsoft Base, which is directly managed by the company, has 3 bases in Tokyo (Daikanyama), Osaka, and Saga, as well as 20 bases as franchises in collaboration with partners. In the future, there are plans to open franchise offices in four locations: Fukushima, Tokyo (Hamamatsucho), Matsue, and Joetsu Myoko, Niigata. Mr. Tanaka said, “In the future, I would like to create a base not only with partners but also with customers.” For some time now, the company has made it clear that it intends to eventually set up Microsoft Bases in all prefectures.

The activity guidelines of Microsoft Base are: “Modern Café, a base for creating ideas and businesses”, “Realization of DX by providing services utilizing the Microsoft Base network throughout Japan”, and “Support for the implementation of events that contribute to regional revitalization”. It will be 3 points.

Mr. Tanaka said, “By using Microsoft Base as a co-working space like a modern café, it will create a place for various local companies to gather and communicate, and to create ideas for revitalizing the region. It will be. Microsoft Base, which has spread from Hokkaido to Okinawa, has its own characteristics, such as specialization in business applications and partners who specialize in modern workplaces. It is also a place where not only partners but also customers plan events.We would like customers who want to promote DX to use the nationwide Microsoft Base.”