Real Time Customer Journey Orchestration

So yesterday as I was recovering from the last of the chocolate fest that is Easter, I watched the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event which provided and in-depth look at the new features and capabilities of the 2021 release wave 1 for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform.

Microsoft have really added a lot to the offerings but one demo that particularly caught my eye was “Customer Journey Orchestration”. Those that know me, know that I love a good automation as well as music, so this title intrigued me with its reference to orchestration...

After the event ended, I decided to have a deeper look into the subject and a wee play in our Dynamics 365 sandbox environment – this is amazing!!!

The real-time customer journey orchestrations capabilities is part of Dynamics 365 Marketing and is being released this month for preview (in Europe and North America) and brings together customer experience and marketing automation.

Under the hood, AI processes each customer’s data, and makes recommendations for content, channel, customer segmentations and analytics, as well as assisting with targeted journey authoring which adapts to customer interactions

If you want to watch a quick video on how it works, check out this video about how the Campari Group is using this capability:

For more detailed information, there is a great session from Microsoft Ignite that you should check out:

New Year Resolutions

As we start this new year you are probably in post Christmas recovery mode trying not to think of the amount of alcohol or variations of Turkey you have consumed over the holidays and contemplating the various personal and business resolutions you want to achieve over 2015.

So with that in mind and to help you make a start "on the business resolutions anyway" here are a few suggestions to help you on your way and might even give you a night or two's better sleep safe in the knowledge that your business is better protected in the process:

1. Make sure you have a backup and recovery plan in place.  Not having this sorted out properly is still the number one reason businesses fail to recover from a disaster.  Bearing in mind that there are now new threats other than fire and theft to consider such as viruses that can encrypt and effectively destroy your data, regular backups with some held off-site preferable really is the number one priority.

2. Make sure you invest in some good antivirus software.  Again this is just a common sense thing to do these days but the main points we would make are that most antivirus software is good but that same antivirus software these days doesn't offer a silver bullet solution like it once did but more makes your PCs and networks safer, but not safe.  That takes the combination of such software and the next point below.

3. Make sure you and your staff know how to use internet and email responsibly.  Please don't misunderstand this point we're not suggesting you or your staff abuse the internet but there are plenty of scams and traps you can fall into if you are not careful.  What we mean that you should develop some simple rules for using the internet and processing email more safely.  For example, don't just open any email that comes in, click on its links or open its attachments and create a list of agreed safe websites with your staff that can be accessed and when they can be accessed.

We hope that these simple points will get you started and even if you only get around to implementing one of these in 2015 you will have benefitted your business and taken a little more stress out of your own life as well.

We hope you have a great 2015 and should you need any assistance with your IT systems please do not hesitate to contact us. We will meet with you and discuss your exact needs free of charge.