Can you be the F1rst Among Equals?

There’s always something special about being the first. You may carry the honour with a devil-may-care nonchalance, but whether you’re the first to own a new piece of tech, or you’ve come first place in the parent’s egg ‘n’ spoon race at your kid’s sports day, there’s a certain swagger that you just can’t shake off.

Imagine, then, the feeling not only of coming first, but of winning a corking prize for doing so. Oh! The smugness would overflow! Well, that’s the opportunity you get with Westcoast F1rsts, in collaboration with Microsoft.

5 Key Learnings from Microsoft Inspire

By Michael Freeman

2017 has been an incredible year for the technology industry. This was displayed with Microsoft holding their largest Partner Conference to date; the attendee numbers were through the roof and we saw the highest number of female delegates than ever before, showing promise that our industry is ever moving onwards and upwards.

The location was Washington DC, one of the most iconic cities in the world and home of the United States congress. This was the perfect setting for many of Microsoft's hard working and innovative partners to gather and share their knowledge and wisdom. I personally met some truly inspirational people who are doing both important and incredible work on Microsoft's platform and beyond.

We're headed for a Big Data-Internet of Things 'Big Bang'

By Paul Harman

Making the most of the Big Data/Internet of Things opportunity

The recent news about Microsoft researchers working on a new project aimed at securing low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) devices really caught my eye.

Hopefully, Project Sopris, as it’s known, will prove to be a significant step forward in the battle to protect IoT microcontrollers against security threats posed by internet connectivity.

It’s a positive play by Microsoft. One that delivers a welcome blast of reassurance given we all recognise security and risk as being the biggest concerns around IoT and its unstoppable rise.

This global proliferation of IoT devices is one of the three main reasons why Big Data is getting even bigger.

Microsoft Azure Deployment Made Easy

By Martin Smith

In today’s world, the term Microsoft Cloud or Microsoft Azure fills people’s minds with exciting prospects. However, when it comes down to the pricing, configuration and implementation, people tend to switch off and/or let Azure fade out of their plans.

The reason for this is not always their fault. This can be a problem with something as simple as terminology and messaging. It could even be a problem with a certain topic, which most people don’t want to start a conversation about, called licensing. Which can be absolutely baffling.