Published
Sep 08 2018 07:35 AM
2,298
Views
First published on CloudBlogs on Oct 08, 2015
One of the biggest changes inside of Microsoft since Satya took over has been an intense focus on what Satya calls the “leading indicators” of success rather than the “lagging indicators” of success. What are leading and lagging indicators? Revenue is a great example of a lagging indicator. We can all think of examples of companies whose revenue was growing while their market and customer base was steadily eroding. Usage is the ultimate leading indicator of success . If you are doing what is right for customers, those customers will love what you are delivering and how it addresses the challenges they’re facing – and then usage will increase. All of the engineering teams at Microsoft are now focused on usage. It is, without rival, the number one priority we spend our time discussing. You can ask any engineer in my organization, “What are the revenue goals for this year?” or, “How much revenue have we generated to-date?” – and they will have no idea . But , if you asked them the number of devices under active management today or the goal for the year – they can tell you exactly! A year ago, the Office 365 team pioneered an innovative program to help customers deploy the services they purchase. The program was called FastTrack . The program was started (and continues to operate) in the Office 365 engineering team, and this means the O365 engineering teams are the ones responsible for deployment. The FastTrack program focuses on helping customers “envision” their successful rollout, “onboard” to the service, and then “drive value” from the service. It has been an incredibly successful program and it has helped thousands of customers get up and using Office 365.
In July, we added the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) to the FastTrack program.
EMS customers (or prospective EMS customers) can now use this service
to envision their roll out plans, get onboarded, and drive value. In many (most!) cases, customers want to envision how they get the most out of Office 365 + EMS because using these services will transform their business.
One of the biggest changes inside of Microsoft since Satya took over has been an intense focus on what Satya calls the “leading indicators” of success rather than the “lagging indicators” of success. What are leading and lagging indicators? Revenue is a great example of a lagging indicator. We can all think of examples of companies whose revenue was growing while their market and customer base was steadily eroding. Usage is the ultimate leading indicator of success . If you are doing what is right for customers, those customers will love what you are delivering and how it addresses the challenges they’re facing – and then usage will increase. All of the engineering teams at Microsoft are now focused on usage. It is, without rival, the number one priority we spend our time discussing. You can ask any engineer in my organization, “What are the revenue goals for this year?” or, “How much revenue have we generated to-date?” – and they will have no idea . But , if you asked them the number of devices under active management today or the goal for the year – they can tell you exactly! A year ago, the Office 365 team pioneered an innovative program to help customers deploy the services they purchase. The program was called FastTrack . The program was started (and continues to operate) in the Office 365 engineering team, and this means the O365 engineering teams are the ones responsible for deployment. The FastTrack program focuses on helping customers “envision” their successful rollout, “onboard” to the service, and then “drive value” from the service. It has been an incredibly successful program and it has helped thousands of customers get up and using Office 365.
Here’s how the program is structured:
In July, we added the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) to the FastTrack program.
EMS customers (or prospective EMS customers) can now use this service
to envision their roll out plans, get onboarded, and drive value. In many (most!) cases, customers want to envision how they get the most out of Office 365 + EMS because using these services will transform their business.
Updates to the FastTrack Program
Yesterday, we announced some significant updates to the FastTrack program. FastTrack now consists of best practices, tools, resources, and personalized remote assistance available through a new web experience ( FastTrack.microsoft.com ) and through the FastTrack Center. The FastTrack Center is a team of hundreds of engineers who are focused on providing IT professionals and partners all over the world with remote onboarding and migration assistance. Going forward, the expanded focus areas for the web and FastTrack Center experiences are:- Envisioning Through FastTrack.microsoft.com , we now offer resources and tools to help you build tailored success plans that include both technical implementation and user adoption strategies across Office 365, EMS, Azure, and other services.
- Onboarding Once you’re ready, request onboarding to get remote and personalized assistance from our FastTrack engineers who help you assess your technical environment, as well as work with your IT staff or partner to ensure a smooth onboarding + migration experience.
- Driving business value Our goal is to help you get the most out of your IT investments. To do that, we will provide you with best practices, guidance, and resources on Office 365 and EMS user adoption to help you get started. We’ll also connect you as needed with qualified partners who can help you do even more. Meanwhile, you’ll benefit from tools and guidance to help you transform your existing IT practices and effectively manage the change.
Getting started is as easy as visiting FastTrack.microsoft.com .
Do you need help with an Intune or Azure AD Premium proof-of-concept? Go to FastTrack.microsoft.com . Need help migrating from the point products you are using for EMM today to an integrated solution of Office 365 + EMS? Go to FastTrack.microsoft.com . Need help connecting your SCCM deployment to Intune to give you that single solution that enables your users on all their devices? Go to (wait for it…) FastTrack.microsoft.com . This is a program built by engineers and run by engineers to help you get the most from Microsoft’s services!