Future Tech Trends in Office 365 Has the world of productivity apps already been conquered? explores new vistas in Machine Learning and, with Google in its wake, eyes its newest challenger... Adobe. Office 365 testing the waters Throughout history, groups of people have sought to expand their influence. In the heyday of empires, rarely did a leader say, “Okay, I think we’ve grown enough. Let’s stop now.” On the contrary, the urge to keep on growing and exploring new uncharted territory has been a driving force in human endeavors. With this historical analogy in mind, we turn our eyes to Microsoft. If you’ve been listening to IT buzz throughout 2015, then it won’t come as a surprise that 365 has been growing... and growing... with no end in sight. Google Apps has been left in the dust; Office 365 licenses have grown by over 66%, reaching 18 million subscribers and counting. With Office 365’s success seemingly assured, Microsoft has shifted its attention towards new initiatives outside of the traditional realm of productivity software: Machine Learning and Creativity apps.

getting to know you In March of 2015, a new pair of apps were formally rolled out to all Office 365 users: Office Graph and Office Delve. Office Graph, the brawn of the duo, uses machine learning and predictive analytics to map connections between people and information. Graph retrieves, cleanses, parses, and formats a tremendous amount of raw data using Office 365 environments as its source pool — specifically, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Office 365 videos, e-mail attachments, user actions, and . All of that information is then mapped to individual Office 365 users, effectively connecting together vast quantities of knowledge with all of the people who somehow interacted with that knowledge. Between October 2014 and March 2015, Office Graph mapped over 6 billion actions and interactions. Graph’s little brother, Office Delve, is the brains of the pair — its job is to elegantly present selected content to Office 365 users. The type of “selected content” is special because it is highly relevant to individual users. For example, if Michelle has a meeting at 11am, Delve will proactively retrieve all content that is related to that meeting and then present it to Michelle in a dynamic card-based interface before the meeting starts. This saves Michelle the effort of having to search through e-mails, organize files, and assemble notes. It has all been done for her already. Meetings are just one example of using an event as a presentation trigger — Delve also leverages user searches to present relevant content. In addition, users can click on content filters to view highly specific information, such as “shared with me,” “liked by me,” “modified by me,” “viewed by me,” “presented to me,” and “trending around me.” 1

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So far there is an abundance of coulds, woulds, and mights... and all of them are predicated on predicated and all of them are and mights... woulds, is an abundance of coulds, there So far management if Microsoft party accessibility is pursued, if 3rd developed, If APIs are some big ifs: intranet” “social media break out of the can if Delve ecosystem, outside of the Office 365 thinks and so on. stereotype, the big “if”the in the Office changers game become significant to potential have the Delve Graph and Office Office and the analysis predictive perform with the muscle to team a tag are The apps 365 universe. At the moment, prove. to still a lot is results in an accessible medium. 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Given its “cloud-first” policy, Microsoft is in the favorable position of favorable is in the Microsoft policy, “cloud-first” its Given is no different. Microsoft in and package format, collate, can it that data of user-generated amounts vast access to having the viewing are we now Right and Delve. Graph — in this case, apps of highly marketable the form third party from data to map Graph time, accessible APIs will enable Office over tip of the iceberg: sources. Data science, as a whole, is a rapidly growing field that is applicable across a wide range of range a wide across is applicable field that growing as a whole, is a rapidly science, Data mapping genome from situations, and in a surprising number of real-world industries to continue corporations is huge; on a global basis generated of data . The amount One racing it in a meaningful to present and the noise from valuable data out filter to ways new discover manner. Continuously producing predictive insights improves the overall accuracy and reliability of a and accuracy overall the improves insights predictive producing Continuously With consideration. into taken feedback is when user particularly system, machine learning (Delve) front-end the and grows, data user efficient, more becomes (Graph) back-end the maturity, content. refined more present can the tip of the iceberg the tip of the 2 Office 365 — you supplythecontent andSway makes itbeautiful. summarize, Sway isablankcanvas withintelligent designmechanismsworking behind-the-scenes Suggested endproducts includereports, presentations, newsletters, andpersonal stories. To present thecontent basedonuser-supplied preferences givingpriorityto certain (e.g., photos). a smartphoneortablet. Sway thenusesitsalgorithms anddesignstyles to format, arrange, and enables users to add avariety ofcontent from nearlyany onlinesource orfrom adevice suchas roughly 13%ofallnew Office365 development being Sway-related. Itisa presentation app that “digital platform storytelling” andisbenefitting fromsignificant attention from Microsoft,with Office Sway, ontheotherhand,isabitmore difficult tosuccinctly explain. Swayis brandedasa use inany environment. Inshort,it’s theMicrosoft version ofAdobeCaptivate. marketed specifically for theeducation sector, butits capabilities are variedenough to warrant its interactive content, pollsandquizzes, drawing capabilities, and presentation tools.Theadd-inis Office Mixisa PowerPoint add-in forOffice365 thatenables users to record audioandvideo, add Mix andOffice Sway mold andare now helpingMicrosoft to re-define its familyof products: we’re talkingabout users globally. In2014and2015,however, apps were introduced that broke outofthetraditional all solutionsthat facilitate productivity ina corporate setting and areused byamajorityofbusiness created to supportthesharingofcontent between teams: SharePoint. Sofar, sogood... theseare — thisPower Trio ofproductivity apps hasdefined Office for decades. Overtime, a platform was When someonesays “Microsoft Office” three things come tomind: Word, Excel,and PowerPoint charting anew path manner. WillGraph andDelve bereal game changers? Orwilltheapps beforgotten? Timewill tell. the capability to mapdata points to people,andatool to bringitalltogether inavisuallyengaging Right now, alloftheingredients are inplace:cloudinfrastructure, accessto huge amounts ofdata, . Copyright ©2015 Crow Canyon Systems. Rights Reserved. All Office 3 Office 365 Copyright © 2015 Crow Canyon Systems. All Rights Reserved. Systems. Canyon © 2015 Crow Copyright , is Adobe next?

: Apps that address a need, but are not focused on singular feature-sets. not focused a need, but are address that : Apps Solution-based Apps presentations, to design users enabling platform is a creative Sway Microsoft example, For for Business and tools such as Skype and so on. Communication montages, photo websites, from communicate to able time, with users over integrated tightly more becoming Outlook are results eventually apps productivity of individual integration The continual within their Inbox. tasks. capable of handling multiple solution-based apps in new : Apps that focus on a single solution-set. For example, Microsoft example, For on a single solution-set. focus that : Apps Apps Productivity Traditional docs, creating goal — focus on a singular etc., all Outlook, , , well. do it very — they e-mails spreadsheets,

• • With the growth of the cloud and specifically, Office 365, comes an ever-increasing focus on ever-increasing comes an Office 365, of the cloud and specifically, With the growth experience. online user needs and enhance the meet solutions that 100% cloud-based creating and any time soon, but their appearance away going are not apps productivity Traditional users of the dependence on the cloud. Office 365 growing a reflect to functionality is changing and more, more highly specific deliverables; create to solely on singular apps will not rely future integrated tightly and multi-functional, multi-tasking, are that solutions use broader will they within a cloud ecosystem. With the kind of resources that Microsoft has at its disposal, it has ample reason to pursue to pursue reason at its disposal, it has ample has Microsoft that With the kind of resources Office 365 is Increasingly, expected. is the mold of what break that projects non-traditional . a solution-based cloud platform and is becoming suite as a productivity its role transcending flexible solution-based Excel) and apps productivity (e.g., traditional time, the line between Over trend: on the comparative our take Here’s blurred. and more more will become (e.g.,apps Sway) 2015 saw Office 365 surpass Google Apps in terms of adoption rate, which is an amazing story is an amazing rate, which terms of adoption in Office 365 surpass Google Apps 2015 saw Apps. was less than half of Google rate adoption 365’s 2014, Office in October that considering turn work will likely development As 2016 approaches, favor. in Microsoft’s is now The momentum and other non-business sectors, marketing corporate target that apps cloud-based towards more and the public sector. such as education All signs are pointing to a big “Yes!” — Microsoft is, indeed, seeking to conquer new territory by territory new conquer to is, indeed, seeking — Microsoft to a big pointing “Yes!” All signs are now are (who organizations been the domain of other traditionally have solutions that developing its competitors). Office Sway combines multiple rich-media functionalities in the same way that the Adobe Digital that the Adobe way same in the rich-media functionalities multiple combines Sway Office fact, the experiences. In mobile-centric interactive to create content solution uses Publishing makes one Adobe solutions existing products and 365 Office new between number of similarities that Google Now solutions? world of creative the expand into to looking is Microsoft — wonder surpassed has been Apps 2016 and beyond 2016 and 4 Crow Canyon Systems

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