From hardware to software
Having spent a large portion of my career in the telecommunications industry, in South Africa, from where I originate. I only really got the opportunity to fully immerse myself in the software side of the business when I started with Microsoft just over four years ago.
The reason why I am so excited by the changes in the industry, is that we are seeing a fundamental shift away from bespoke hardware capabilities with the advent of hyperscale cloud, and this is truly unlocking overlaying software capabilities. What we are starting to see is hardware and compute becoming the enabler of intelligent and agile software capabilities. Of course, one can't go without the other, but hardware on its own can mean a restricted view of the technology journey and it is this we are starting to see dissipate.
All of these opportunities were cemented and accelerated once we had the capacity and underlying integrity of the hyperscale cloud environment. Then it became the right time to overlay the software stack by a multitude of vendors, which really opened up a world of different choices for customers. It is a wonderful time to be a customer because of the availability of services and the velocity of services coming to the cloud.
We see this across the board today with the popularity and acceleration of SaaS services. Customers no longer want to deal with the underlying hardware footprint and the overhead that this brings. Customers are looking for off the shelf solutions that they can buy as a service having the compliance and security wrappers embedded so that it protects their organisations -- in a simplistic way -- goes to show what you can do with software today.
What the software stack also offers is the opportunity to focus, while adding relevant features, functions, capabilities and upgrades for customers in real time without interruption. What Microsoft is constantly doing is trying to integrate the technology so it's simple to use, administer and keep organisations as safe as possible.
This software transformation now impacting the legacy world of PSTN Calling with Cloud Voice and Microsoft Phone Systems, providing the capability to consolidate with simplicity, uniformity and governance. Customers can now consolidate this previously bespoke workload into their Microsoft cloud landscape securely.
This cloud platform ensures a unified and predictable experience not only for the user, but also the IT administrator. This gives an organisation the ability to not only experience but manage the costs and capabilities around their infrastructure.
Don't be too hard on yourself when it comes to software adaption.