Microsoft today showcased an extensive gamut of technologies designed to deliver agility, scalability, productivity, security, cost-effectiveness and peerless decision-making capabilities to organisations across the region, at GITEX Technology Week 2019.
“Yet again, our presence at GITEX is a reflection of our absolute commitment to the UAE, and its National Agenda,” said Sayed Hashish, General Manager, Microsoft UAE. “We’ve just completed the successful launch of our UAE cloud datacenters that are already empowering several organisations across the country and the Middle East to achieve more. The demand for the Microsoft intelligent cloud has been soaring across all scales and industries. And this year, we come with all the power and intelligence of that cloud, to deliver the benefits of digital transformation to our customers and highlight how they can harness a range of ground-breaking innovations.”
Under the theme of “Trust. Transform. Innovate”, the GITEX 2019 Microsoft experience is split across four zones, each covering a quintessential aspect of digital transformation: datacenters, artificial intelligence, the modern workplace and security.
Digital Horse
This year in spotlight, visitors to the Microsoft stand got a first-hand look at the ‘Digital Horse’ a collaborative project between Microsoft and its partners to promote the well-being of horses and increase their lifespan. The project is part of Microsoft’s overarching efforts such as AI for Good, AI for Earth and AI for Cultural Heritage, a unique initiative dedicated to the preservation and enrichment of cultural heritage around the world.
Built on innovations such as Machine learning, computer vision, advanced analytics, cognitive reasoning, the Internet of Things and augmented reality – the ‘Digital Horse’ creates an ecosystem that allows the 24-7 monitoring of animals – from health and nutrition, to sleeping and training. Visitors saw how nothing was left to chance, with behaviour, identification of potential diseases, as well as external stress parameters all measured- contributing to appreciable drops in horse mortalities.
The ‘Digital Horse’ project is unique for UAE’s Horse heritage enrichment, as it provides a holistic solution covering animal well-being, Stable management and real-time behaviour monitoring – all powered by AI, IoT and Mixed Reality.
Datacenter Zone
The Datacenter Zone, operating under the message of Global Reach. Local Presence., tells the story of Microsoft’s recently launched UAE cloud regions that bring productivity, security, intelligent platforms and services to Middle East customers. The experience zone highlights how these datacenters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are enabling organisations to scale up their capabilities through enterprise grade performance, reliability, security, privacy, data-residency and compliance in the cloud. Microsoft experts in this zone engaged with customers and other visitors on everything from their cloud migration journeys to their issues with skills gaps – and advised them on how to accelerate innovation by hosting applications in the intelligent cloud.
AI Zone
The AI Zone reflects the concept of Innovation is What Creates Tomorrow, through a range of demo stations and that showcase the intelligent frameworks within the Microsoft Cloud, and are available to innovators today. Microsoft’s experts in the AI Zone’s Intelligent Kiosk demonstrated an array of AI innovations including Object, Face and Emotion Detection, Knowledge Mining, image classification and text recognition, with use cases that covered all industries. Delegates also learned how AI, machine learning and cognitive services can contribute to smart city initiatives.
Visitors at the AI Zone also got the chance to experience the power of AI in the logistics industry. Microsoft experts showcased a use case from logistics giant Maersk. Having decided to migrate to the Microsoft intelligent cloud, Maersk was able to take on a series of challenges related to the shipping industry such as route updates in real time, piracy, weather conditions and port backlogs. Selecting Microsoft as its cloud partner, has enabled Maersk to address security, latency and availability issues, as well as transform its operations, bolster customer service, and generate new revenue streams.
Modern Workplace and Intelligent Security Zone
With focus on Teamwork Without Boundaries the modern workplace zone delves into a range of devices and solutions built for today’s office, such as the Microsoft Surface family, Windows 10, Office 365 and Microsoft Teams. Microsoft showed GITEX delegates how businesses can create collaborative environments where everyone will be more productive and achieve more.
The Intelligent Security Zone focused on Microsoft Threat Protection and how the company’s cloud-powered, intelligent security solutions help organisations protect their employees and their entire digital estate from malicious actors. Microsoft’s focus on cybersecurity spans three key themes: security operations that work for you; enterprise-class technology; and driving partnerships for a heterogenous world. Microsoft Threat Protection is built around these foundational elements.
Partners Zone
Microsoft also hosted 32 regional partners and ISVs at its GITEX stand. Each of them showcased solutions and services that have been built on top of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud platform and which serve many different industries.
Partners include Alpha Data, Brams, CDW, Cetastech, Cloud4C, Crayon, DXC Technology, Egnyte, Fortinet, Icertis, Informatica, Intertec, AuraPortal, ClickDimensions, John Keells, Liferay, Link Datacenter, Logicom, Mindtree, myCloudDoor, Netways, New Relic, NourNet Global, NXN, Parallels, Poly Technologies, Spectrum Networks, Sprinklr, Sulava, Trend Micro, VeriPark, and Accenture.
Microsoft’s stand can be found in Hall 7, H7-D1.