Unlocking ANZ's AI Potential

At a glance

This case study outlines a multi-faceted challenge Microsoft faced in helping its Australian and New Zealand partners capitalize on AI opportunities, hindered by issues like lack of focus and internal alignment.

Through strategic interventions, including tailored go-to-market frameworks and industry-focused guidance, the partners not only accelerated their time to market but also achieved remarkable growth, thereby enhancing their competitive positions and contributing to Microsoft's AI ecosystem.

The Challenge

Microsoft realised that partners in Australia & New Zealand were struggling to make the most of the AI opportunity, lagging behind other regions like US and APAC. Not only was this limiting their ability to bring leading technical innovation to their customers, it was also limiting Microsoft’s AI mindshare and ability to grow.

Microsoft knew they needed to help their partners seize the AI market opportunity. But a lot of partners were struggling to kick start their AI journey. Some of the key challenges were an inability to choose a focus area, complex solution portfolios, and lack of internal alignment.

AI is an interdisciplinary capability, sitting at the intersection of maths/data science, software engineering and user-experience—it can be difficult to turn complex systems into simple customer-led solutions.

Plus, as one part of a larger ecosystem of existing (data) solutions, partners needed to align any new AI solutions with the right business and marketing model to make it a success.

The Solution

We developed and executed a programme to help selected Microsoft partners in Australia accelerate their AI journey.

Our strategic work focused on helping each partner define value propositions and differentiators, moving away from complex and siloed technical products and services towards integrated business-outcome focused solutions.

In our experience, verticalisation is one of the most critical ways to accelerate time to market. That’s why we used our deep industry knowledge and understanding of AI to guide each partner towards focusing on an industry or audience-based vertical.

This improved solution relevance and helped define a clear target audience. Each solution combined Microsoft’s leading AI technology, with the partner’s own services and unique industry skills.

We also developed a go-to-market framework to ensure the launch was successful and scalable and built out assets for partner sales teams and  marketing to ensure solutions were market-ready and could cut through the noise.

Solutions Delivered

AIM: Intelligent Marketing for D365.

An intelligent solution that uses AI to collect, sort, and analyse huge sets of data, so marketeers can improve the customer experience, grow customer life-time value and hit growth targets with ease.

‍SQL management that speaks for itself.

An AI-enabled SQL tool that allows service providers to monitor as well as predict database issues, so they can address potential problems before they occur and improve client performance.

Personalised education, powered by AI.

An AI solution for educators that monitors student performance and wellbeing, as well as predicting when intervention is needed to drive more personalised learning outcomes.

‍Limitless potential, out of the box.

An out-of-the-box AI-powered digital twin solution for predictive maintenance and product innovation that can be set-up and scaled-up for a fixed cost, speeding up ROI and avoiding unwanted disruption.

Why this projects results are remarkable

We empowered Microsoft's key Australian partners to develop and launch AI-powered solutions in their industries, enabling them to offer customers more options for innovation with AI and Microsoft technology. Through strategic goal-setting and a scalable, repeatable model, we expedited each partners' time to market, catalysing both their growth and the delivery of innovative solutions to their customers.

Why this story matters

This case study provides insight into how effectively supporting partners can help them bring their solutions to market more swiftly and effectively. It also highlights the critical role that equipping partners with the right strategic alignment and a solid go-to-market framework can play in helping them capitalise on market opportunities, thereby accelerating their growth and enhancing their competitive edge.

About Microsoft's Partner Program

Microsoft's commitment to empowering partners through a connected technology ecosystem, offering tools for AI-driven app development, device solutions, and long-term profitability. By leveraging Microsoft's innovative AI capabilities and extensive resources, partners can accelerate their growth, maximise customer value, and achieve a sustainable, impactful presence in the market.