Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Building relationships in today's sales environment

The relationship between buyers and sellers grows more complex daily. Buyers have more information available to them than ever before and they use it to their advantage. TOPO research finds that most buyers are already 57 percent through the buying process before even talking to a supplier. Yet when the time is right, buyers do still want personal attention from sellers. They are typically motivated to engage with sales reps only when it adds value to them. As a result, the sellers' job is complicated as they must provide useful interactions and seamless transactions. So how can they accomplish this? In this powerful eBook, customers learn how the Microsoft Relationship Sales solution is a combination of three tools that provide sales teams with access to critical data points from disparate platforms in one central location. The sales solution uses AI to analyze data from sales, Office 365, LinkedIn, and information gleaned from a CRM to provide a single relationship health score. What's uniquely powerful about the solution is the unification of data available at seller's fingertips. Use this eBook as an educational tool for customers to gain a strong understanding of why the Microsoft Relationship Sales solution is a superior choice over other applications.

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Teams large gallery view and together mode

One of the aspects students and teachers miss about remote learning is being together in the same space. With Microsoft Teams Large Gallery and Together Mode, everyone appears together—virtual high fives are encouraged! Watch this short video for a quick tip on how to use these new features—and get your students together again.

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Prepare for hybrid learning environment with free Teams tutorials

Whether in the classroom, remote, or hybrid, Microsoft Teams is a teaching and learning platform designed for today's education. Microsoft has created interactive demonstrations of Teams to help you get started quickly, with one customized for teachers and another for parents and students. These tutorials highlight useful features of Teams for everyone—have a look.

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Prepare for hybrid learning environment with free Teams tutorials

Whether in the classroom, remote, or hybrid, Microsoft Teams is a teaching and learning platform designed for today's education. Microsoft has created interactive demonstrations of Teams to help you get started quickly, with one customized for teachers and another for parents and students. These tutorials highlight useful features of Teams for everyone—have a look.

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Cost Savings and Business Benefits Enabled by Windows 10 Security Features

$1.1 million was saved by those using Windows 10 as a result of reduced productivity impact of malware infections. This Forrester Consulting study, commissioned by Microsoft, examines the Total Economic Impact™ of Windows 10 security features. Windows 10 provides a completely integrated solution, which impacts overall security and minimizes use of system resources. Check out the full study to learn more about Windows 10 features to better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment with IMPERF Consulting Limited.

View: Cost Savings and Business Benefits Enabled by Windows 10 Security Features

A Day in the Life of a Construction Pro with Microsoft Teams

Sofia is a construction company superintendent who works at multiple sites and uses Teams to keep her schedule and projects all in one place. View this infographic to get a glimpse of a day in Sofia's life -- and how she uses productivity, collaboration, BI and enterprise mobility tools in Teams to stay on track.

View: A Day in the Life of a Construction Pro with Microsoft Teams

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Just move it to the cloud

This blog outlines the different methods of data migration and use cases. Your method of migrating data to the cloud will depend on many factors. Migrating large amounts of data can be done with any of the methods explained in the blog, including Azure Data Box, File Shares, Site Recovery service, and more.

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Modern teaching and learning

The reality is every education system will have a mix of readiness for all three stages of remote learning. Whether schools are at full connectivity, no connectivity, or emerging connectivity, as the majority are, having one process supports transformation across a whole system or country. This document outlines Microsoft's strategy for providing one process for supporting all three stages of readiness for remote learning. Interested in getting started? We can help.

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Modern teaching and learning

The reality is every education system will have a mix of readiness for all three stages of remote learning. Whether schools are at full connectivity, no connectivity, or emerging connectivity, as the majority are, having one process supports transformation across a whole system or country. This document outlines Microsoft's strategy for providing one process for supporting all three stages of readiness for remote learning. Interested in getting started? We can help.

View: Modern teaching and learning

Reduce costs with Windows and Office

70% of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) reinvest saved money into their business thanks to the cloud. Simplify the process of keeping devices up to date while saving time, reducing costs, and gaining control. Check out this infographic--which shows industry trends, pain points, and proof points--to learn why and how. And to find the right Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business solution for your business to reduce costs, contact our team at IMPERF Consulting Limited.

View: Reduce costs with Windows and Office

Reduce costs with Windows and Office

70% of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) reinvest saved money into their business thanks to the cloud. Simplify the process of keeping devices up to date while saving time, reducing costs, and gaining control. Check out this infographic--which shows industry trends, pain points, and proof points--to learn why and how. And to find the right Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business solution for your business to reduce costs, contact our team at IMPERF Consulting Limited.

View: Reduce costs with Windows and Office

Employee empowerment bears fruit

Early adopters of Office 365, Fruit of the Loom uses Microsoft Teams to combine tools that allow 30,000 associates to collaborate across locations and countries around the world. The video in this episode tells the Fruit of the Loom story -- showing that no company is too established to transform. Watch it to discover how Microsoft Teams empowers employees to effectively express ideas and unlock creativity by bringing together chat, meeting, calling, Office 365 apps and third-party tools -- all in one place. In a world where enterprise-grade security and compliance are non-negotiable, Microsoft Teams gives Fruit of the Loom the protection it needs to create a secure culture of knowledge sharing and creativity.

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Improve Sales Productivity and Remote Selling with Sales Accelerator

As if managing the sales cycle wasn't already complex, the limitations of a world restricted by COVID-19 makes it all that more challenging! The truth is, the fundamentals and responsibilities of selling largely remain the same, and sales teams are expected to reach their goals to keep the business intact. Therefore, your customers are likely wondering, just how can I continue to meet my sales goals? The answer to this is that virtual engagement and digital sales must become a priority. The companies that quickly learn to leverage their digital arsenal will come out on top. In this insightful blog, customers learn how Microsoft too, faced this challenge head-on and the steps they've taken to adapt. Thanks to a full-fledged deployment of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Insights, Microsoft Digital Sales were able to scale to demand and continue supporting customers without disruptions. Learn more about these tools and how equipping teams with the power to leverage data and digital tools will drive improved customer experiences—now and into the future.

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

Quantifying the value of collaboration with Microsoft Teams

Employees save four hours each week with improved collaboration and information sharing, according to Forrester's Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams puts everything organizations need into one place. Everything from chats, meetings, calling, and Microsoft 365 Business apps are brought together to make faster, more informed decisions in a single, intelligent hub. With Teams, every type of worker can be empowered to contribute their voice and take shared accountability for business outcomes. Read this blog to learn more and contact us at IMPERF Consulting Limited to get started today.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Up-to-Date infographic

Azure SQL databases are always up-to-date. When you migrate SQL Server databases to the Azure cloud, you can adopt Azure SQL Database managed instance for evergreen SQL that never needs to be patched or upgraded along. At the same time, you gain end-to-end SQL Server Engine compatibility for migration without code changes.

View: Up-to-Date infographic

The Importance of Teamwork and Collaboration

We live in a world of constant disruption where business models are undergoing constant change. This article explores the impact of these trends on collaboration and teamwork and the most important skills for the 2020 workplace.

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Modernize sales productivity

Are you exhausted at the end of your workday, trying to sort through of all of the information being thrown at you? In our modern age of distraction, there's no question that focusing on what's most important can be a challenge! There are so many systems to sort through and often expectations are unclear. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. According to TOPO, 60 percent of companies lack a well-defined sales process. In this week's video, you'll learn how Dynamics 365 Sales Professional is a single, integrated platform that cuts through the complexity and gives you the power to focus on what's most important. Contextual, real-time dashboards show you which metrics to focus on, which puts you firmly in the driver's seat. Now you can take informed and specific action toward your business's goals and eliminate the guesswork once and for all!

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Social Asset B: Reduce up to 80% in administration costs by offloading server/storage infrastructures

When you offload server/storage infrastructures to Azure, you can reduce up to 80% in administration costs.

View: Social Asset B: Reduce up to 80% in administration costs by offloading server/storage infrastructures

Back to school update with Puyallup SD

The traditional educational environment was forced to change this past year, but some school districts already saw the need for transformation, even before COVID required it. The Puyallup School District in Washington state successfully shifted to remote learning last spring through widespread access to devices, integrated technologies, virtual trainings, and open collaboration for more than 23,000 students with Microsoft Education. Read this blog to learn how they did it.

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Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Customer Story: Think Up Consulting | Reduce Costs

Brand strategy and change management firm, Think Up Consulting, has saved nearly $14,000, with more savings on the horizon, with Microsoft Teams. They've replaced several applications with Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business, which feature a wide range of productivity tools. With modern technologies, Think Up has significantly improved efficiency and reduced costs. Want to have cost savings like Think Up? Contact us at IMPERF Consulting Limited to learn more.

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A Day in the Life - Compliance

Meet Diego, a Compliance Officer who works closely with his company's IT team to ensure employees abide by internal policies and regulations set by regulatory bodies. Check out this infographic to see how Diego uses productivity and collaboration tools in Teams across his devices throughout the day to review, define, enforce and report on compliance policies to prevent unethical, illegal, improper and under-use of resources.

View: A Day in the Life - Compliance

Financial tech company gains SQL Server performance and scalability on Linux

The dv01 financial reporting and analytics platform offers institutional investors transparency and insight into consumer lending markets. Based initially on PostgreSQL and Redshift data warehouse, the dv01 applications began to run slower as complexity increased. After exploring multiple solutions, dv01 eventually moved to Microsoft SQL Server 2016 running on Azure Virtual Machines. This move provided the scalability it needed to handle rapid growth, reduce query response time from 30 seconds to 1-2 seconds, and cut management time by 90 percent.

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Technology blueprint for implementing remote learning

Use this detailed guidance document in coordination with the Implementation Guide PPT shared yesterday. This guide offers deeper insight how to implement remote learning as is organized by each specific "Layer" of the Technology Blueprint Implementation—such as Connectivity, Devices, Learning Platform, Learning Resources, and Analytics.

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Remote learning technology blueprint

This deck provides specifics of the technology blueprint implementation of remote learning, accompanied by a more detailed guidance document to implementing remote learning across large education systems. Sectioned by connectivity, devices, learning platform, learning resources, and analytics—it's designed for an implementation team to engage with specific materials as needed.

View: Remote learning technology blueprint

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Dynamics 365 & Office 365 Working as One

Imagine your business has a new sales opportunity. Different teams need to work together to build a presentation to capitalize on the opportunity. If your business applications work in silos, it's up to individual employees to compare and consolidate feedback. Additionally, it can be very difficult to ensure everyone is working in the most up-to-date version. Imagine how collaboration workspaces can totally change the game. Without leaving a workspace, your team members can access connected data and insights to create the presentation. They can easily bring together relevant customer or financial information. And, there are never any issues with version control. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Office 365 work together to make collaboration and sales processes painless and seamless. In this eBook, customers learn how Microsoft Dynamics 365 works with Office 365 to unite people and processes. Learn from practical examples how to streamline sales processes, capitalize on digital selling and deliver an exceptional customer experience.

View: Dynamics 365 & Office 365 Working as One

Secure Infographic

Companies choose Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server because of its unmatched security. Azure delivers multiple layers of security, including the secure foundation of physical datacenters, operational best practices, and engineering processes that follow industry-standard guidelines.

View: Secure Infographic

Secure Infographic

Companies choose Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server because of its unmatched security. Azure delivers multiple layers of security, including the secure foundation of physical datacenters, operational best practices, and engineering processes that follow industry-standard guidelines.

View: Secure Infographic

Open up a new line of communication. Subscribe now.

Teamwork is more important than ever for today's businesses--and Microsoft Teams makes it easier than ever for your business to begin realizing the promise of a digital workspace. Subscribe now to stay informed on how Teams, as the hub in Office 365, can elevate and transform communication, collaboration, and teamwork throughout your entire organization.

View: Open up a new line of communication. Subscribe now.

4 Reasons Businesses Should Make the Move

Are you considering moving to the cloud? As global competition heats up and customers demand more innovative solutions, businesses are adopting cloud services at an increasing pace. What if you could lower your costs, increase productivity and enhance security? Explore this eBook to discover four reasons small businesses should make the move.

View: 4 Reasons Businesses Should Make the Move

Windows and SQL Server: The Best of Azure

Windows Server and SQL Server are best on Azure. This flyer highlights Azure's unmatched intelligent security, seamless hybrid capabilities, unparalleled innovation capabilities, and unique cost savings options.

View: Windows and SQL Server: The Best of Azure

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Distance learning strategic plan

The Microsoft Education Transformation Framework is an evidence-based model for designing system changes and leveraging technology to support that change. UNESCO's Global Education Coalition aims to help countries mobilize resources and implement solutions to provide education remotely, as well as seek equitable solutions and universal access. It also aims to avoid overlapping efforts and facilitate the return of student to school when appropriate. Have a look at this strategic plan and use it as the framework for your organization's distance learning outline.

View: Distance learning strategic plan

Enhance Security with Windows and Office

According to the World Trade Report, it takes hackers 4 minutes to get into servers through email attacks. And that it takes an average of 286 days to detect a security breach and an additional 80 days to repair the damage. Enhance your security and go modern with Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business. Check out this infographic for more industry trends and see how you can protect your company against external threats and leaks with Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business security and compliance tools built into your devices. Don't let hackers access your data. Contact us at IMPERF Consulting Limited to #GetModern today!

View: Enhance Security with Windows and Office

A new generation of communication tools for a new generation of Alcoa workers

At the Alcoa plant in the distant coastal town of Fjardaal, Iceland, employees relied on a magnetic board to assign and trade shifts, while standard email was used to communicate critical information from one shift to the next--both of which required people to be physically present to retrieve messages or confirm changes in shift assignments. The adoption of Microsoft Teams transformed these otherwise manual tasks into a workflow better suited to a new generation of digitally savvy Alcoa employees who all carry smartphones. With Teams, company-wide announcements are now made with the confidence that everyone will see them via their devices, regardless of location, while operational information is quickly disseminated and passed along from one shift to the next to improve processes, safety, and efficiency. Watch the video to see how Teams is delivering the future of communication to a new generation of Alcoa plant personnel.

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Security with Azure SQL Database in Azure Government

This video highlights the types of security features customers have been asking for and how Azure SQL Database wraps these features into a unified package of intelligent security capabilities. You'll also learn about the three major pillars of this advanced data security: data classification, vulnerability assessments, and threat detection.

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Hong Kong Teaches Students with Remote Learning

Last spring, the global pandemic forced schools around the world to experiment with online learning. Schools that leverage technology to elevate education are finding the most success with this transition. Microsoft Hong Kong's #FutureReady Limitless Learning Program supported over 50,000 teachers and 800,000 students from all 1,000 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. Read this blog to see how they did it.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Helping Small Businesses Protect Their Greatest Asset--Their Data

Knowing your customer data is secure can free you up to do what you do best--and put your focus on customers and employees. That's where the right tools and tech come in. Support for Windows 7 and Office 2010 is ending, and it's critical to ensure you not only have the most productive experience, but also the most secure. Work from anywhere, whenever, on a protected modern device. Read the blog and learn more about three small businesses that use Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business to help grow their businesses and remain secure.

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Cloud lessons learned: four companies that migrated their Windows Server and SQL Server workloads to Azure

Read the success stories of companies that increased workload performance and cut costs by moving Windows Server and SQL Server to Azure. Download this eBook to learn about the different cloud migration paths that Allscripts, Carlsberg Group, Epos Now, and TraXall France used. See how Azure helps to smoothly migrate legacy data and keep pace with innovation, among other features.

View: Cloud lessons learned: four companies that migrated their Windows Server and SQL Server workloads to Azure

Fresno & EdWeek on hybrid learning

"If we had known the pandemic was coming, we probably wouldn't have done it much differently than we did," shares Kurt Madden of the Fresno Unified School District, the fourth-largest in California. In this webinar, Madden and his colleague Philip Neufeld share how their school district was already implementing elements from the Microsoft Class of 2030 Report and the Microsoft Education Transformation Framework to address future readiness. They were in the midst of transitioning their teaching and learning when the pandemic hit. Even with 90% of their students at poverty level, the district managed to minimize disruption and positioned themselves to successfully navigate with a focus on overall well-being, quality teaching, and health and safety. Listen to this webinar for inspirational insight. You also have the option of reading the transcript of the webinar.

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Carlsberg Group follows a recipe for success with Microsoft Azure, SAP, and a cloud-first strategy

Discover how the Carlsberg Group has successfully migrated SAP to Microsoft Azure. Migrating their environment to the cloud has helped them drive business performance and achieve digital transformation by streamlining their IT infrastructure.

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Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Education reimagined

We are experiencing a paradigm shift in education. Fueled by a continually-increasing demand for student centered learning and continuing advances in digital technology—and now healthy and safety concerns by the fallout of COVID-19—stakeholders are transforming education across entire systems. This paper explores the changing landscape of education. It navigates the disruption, transition, and reimagining phases of teaching and learning, with data, examples, and recommendations for each step.

View: Education reimagined

Customer Story: Think Up Consulting | Most Secure

With its global client base increasing, Think Up Consulting needed to improve its remote working capabilities and enhance security. The company adopted Microsoft Teams to securely accommodate remote employees. And with Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business, Think Up unites its entire team. All employee devices are automatically updated with advanced-level security features, so Think Up can seamlessly deliver the top-notch service their customers expect and trust.

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PizzaExpress feeds digital transformation with Office 365

For PizzaExpress, being open for business means more than a hot oven and fresh ingredients. It's about delivering exceptional experiences through a customer-centric, data-driven approach backed by world-class cloud technology from Microsoft. PizzaExpress adopted a cloud-first approach for its 570 restaurants in the UK, Ireland, Middle East, India and the Far East, including China. Siobhan Fagan, IT Director at PizzaExpress explains, "We saw moving to Office 365 as an opportunity to remove cost, increase security and kind of make everything easier to manage. We're now in one instance of Office 365 across the globe."

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6 Strategies to Boost Sales Productivity

Are your fragmented sales tools lacking the visibility you need into your prospects and customers' buying behaviors? This is the reality for the majority of organizations. In fact, according to a TOPO blog, "Sixty percent of companies lack a well-designed sales process." Fortunately, the right sales tools can help you understand and respond to buyers' demands and needs--no matter where they are in the buyer's journey. In this eBook, you'll learn six strategies to help you leverage the right tools for your sales challenges. Specifically, you'll gain insight into how Dynamics 365 Sales Professional enables you to: - Meet customers at any point in the journey - Streamline engagement - Get holistic performance insights, and more! Share the eBook with your customers so they can start investing in the right technology to put them on the path to success!

View: 6 Strategies to Boost Sales Productivity

Remote learning tips playlist

This series includes just over 50 short "how to" video tutorials that tackle specific remote learning tasks and tips, such as how to create a class Team, how to create an attendance report in Teams, how to add a quiz or poll and more. Great reference videos—you'll want to bookmark these!

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Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Reduce Costs Infographic

While innovation has supplanted cost savings as the primary driver of cloud migration for many businesses, moving to the cloud needs to make sense for your bottom line. Learn about the unbeatable costs offers and benefits of migration to Azure cloud.

View: Reduce Costs Infographic

Why companies who hire people with disabilities outperformed their peers

Upwards of 25% of the white-collar workforce have a disability but don't disclose it. Many are afraid of the repercussions of divulging such information. As an employer, it's your job to accommodate your employees and create a community of collaboration that will build teamwork and trust in your company. Ensuring you have a modern workplace can help your team build collaboration and unlock their full potential. Contact us to learn how we can help you find and implement the right solution today.

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Crash Course in Microsoft 365 Business: How it Can Help You Grow Your Business

This e-book "crash course" will show you how adopting cloud-based Microsoft 365 Business gives you ever-improving versions of apps with new capabilities delivered every month. Learn how Microsoft 365 Business empowers you to access content from any device, coauthor with anyone in real time and use the power of AI to create more impactful content with less effort. Contact our team at IMPERF Consulting Limited to learn more about our Office 365 solutions.

View: Crash Course in Microsoft 365 Business: How it Can Help You Grow Your Business

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Igniting SMB Growth with Exceptional Customer Experiences

Today's customers have higher expectations for buying experiences. They interact with businesses across many touchpoints, and they expect those experiences to be seamless and easy. Are you thinking about customer experiences from a customer-centric perspective? In this productive webinar, you'll hear from a Director of Product Marketing at Microsoft and a Vice President and Principal analyst at Forrester. Together, they discuss why the customer experience is so important and the effect it has on top line revenue. Additionally, you'll learn how the right CRM enables you to deliver on your customer's expectations. Now, you can keep the customer at the center of your conversation and focus on the hottest leads and most important deals. Empowered with data and insights, sellers can now exceed the highest expectations.

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10 reasons to use Azure SQL in your next project

There are many new features that developers don't know exist with Microsoft Azure SQL. Learn why Azure SQL is a post-relational, cloud-native database with these ten simple points, including complete storage control, complete monitorability, and full insights.

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Improve Productivity with Windows and Office

Employees spend 50% more time collaborating with other employees. Yet many are still not working to their full potential because of disorganized collaboration, file sharing and decision-making processes. With Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business, you can collaborate in real time and leverage the intelligence of the cloud with the latest from Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business. Check out this infographic for a quick view of industry trends, pain points, proof points and more on how going modern with Microsoft improves productivity. To learn more, contact IMPERF Consulting Limited.

View: Improve Productivity with Windows and Office

Improve Productivity with Windows and Office

Employees spend 50% more time collaborating with other employees. Yet many are still not working to their full potential because of disorganized collaboration, file sharing and decision-making processes. With Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business, you can collaborate in real time and leverage the intelligence of the cloud with the latest from Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Business. Check out this infographic for a quick view of industry trends, pain points, proof points and more on how going modern with Microsoft improves productivity. To learn more, contact IMPERF Consulting Limited.

View: Improve Productivity with Windows and Office

Customer story: Microsoft Super Bowl Commercial 2019: We All Win

When you're playing video games, you need the right tools to achieve success. That can be hard to do when you have specific needs. The game of life is no different. Having the right tools to connect your team and enable flexibility can transform the way you live and work. And modernizing your workplace can help your team collaborate and achieve more. Contact us today to learn how you can plan and adopt a winning modern workplace solution.

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Five revenue killers and how to defeat them

Have you struggled with creating amazing marketing campaigns that just don't drive revenue? You're not alone! In this eBook, you'll hear from several sales and marketing experts who have walked in your shoes. They know how hard it is to sift through the clutter and identify the leads with the most potential. This eBook walks customer's through five of the top revenue killers and then offers solid strategies, tactics, and advice to overcome these pitfalls. For example, most all sellers and marketers can relate to revenue killer no. 1: Most sales funnels leak at the top, not the bottom. Learn how to overcome all-too-common marketing and sales missteps and how Dynamics 365 Sales Professional will help pave the way to for immediate results.

View: Five revenue killers and how to defeat them