Microsoft now a Leader in three major analyst reports for SIEM

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We’re excited and honored to be positioned in the Leaders Category in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SIEM (security information and event management) for Enterprise 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US51541324, September 2024)—our third major analyst report in SIEM to name Microsoft as a Leader. We were recognized in the most recent reports as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Information and Event Management and as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Security Analytics Platforms, Q4 2022. We believe this position validates our vision and continued investments in Microsoft Sentinel, making it a best-in-class, cloud-native SIEM solution. It’s always a rewarding experience when trusted analysts recognize the continued work we’ve put into helping our customers modernize their operations, improve their security posture, and work more efficiently. 


 


A Leader in the market with an innovative solution for the SOC


 


Microsoft Sentinel provides a unique experience for customers to help them act faster and stay safer while managing the scaling costs of security. Customers choose our SIEM in order to:  


 



  • Protect everything with a comprehensive SIEM solution. Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native solution that supports detection, investigation, and response across multi-cloud and multi-platform data sources with 340+ out-of-the-box connectors A strength of Microsoft’s offering is its breadth, which includes user entity and behavior analytics (UEBA), threat intelligence and security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) capabilities, along with native integrations into Microsoft Defender threat protection products. 


  • Enhance security with a unified security operations platform. Customers get the best protection when pairing Microsoft Sentinel with Defender XDR in Microsoft’s unified security operations platform. The integration not only brings the two products together into one experience but combines functionalities across each to maximize efficiency and security. One example is the unified correlation engine which delivers 50% faster alerting between first- and third-party data, custom detections and threat intelligence.3 Customers can stay safer with a unified approach, with capabilities like automatic attack disruption—which contains attacks in progress, limiting their impact at machine speed.   


 



  • Address any scenario. As the first cloud-native SIEM, Microsoft Sentinel helps customers observe threats across their digital estate with the flexibility required for today’s challenges. Our content hub offerings include over 200 Microsoft- created solutions and over 280 community contributions. The ability to adapt to the unique use cases of an organization is something called out in both the Forrester and Gartner reports.  


 



  • Scale your security coverage with cloud flexibility. Compared with legacy, on-premises SIEM solutions, Microsoft Sentinel customers see up to a 234% return on investment (ROI).1 This makes it an attractive option for customers looking for a scalable offering to meet the evolving needs of their business while managing the costs of data. We’ve recently launched a new, low-cost data tier called Auxiliary Logs to help customers increase the visibility of their digital environment, while keeping their budgets in check. In addition, Microsoft’s SOC Optimizations feature, a first of its kind offering, provides targeted recommendations to users on how to better leverage their security data to manage costs and maximize their protection, based on their specific environment and using frameworks like the MITRE attack map  


 



  • Respond quickly to emergent threats with AI. Security Copilot is a GenAI tool that can help analysts increase the speed of their response, uplevel their skills, and improve the quality of their work. 92% of analysts reported using Copilot helped make them more productive and 93% reported an improvement in the quality of their work.


What’s next in Microsoft Security 


 


Microsoft is dedicated to continued leadership in security through ongoing investment to provide customers with the intelligence, automation, and scalability they need to protect their businesses and work efficiently. New and upcoming enhancements include more unified features across SIEM and XDR, exposure management and cloud security in the unified security operations platform, and our SIEM migration tool—which now supports conversion of Splunk detections to Microsoft Sentinel analytics rules and additional Copilot skills to help analysts do their job better.  


 


To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity. 

Microsoft named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Sales Force Automation Platforms  

Microsoft named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Sales Force Automation Platforms  

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

As organizations globally grapple with the accelerated development and adoption of AI, business leaders are keen to use the potential of generative AI in transforming revenue-generating functions like sales. Investing in cutting-edge AI capabilities will set up sales teams to bolster customer experience, being able to understand the customer needs and delivering a highly personalized buying experience at a much faster pace.  

retailer conducting a transaction

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

Increase seller efficiency.

Today, many sales teams are bogged down with legacy customer relationship management (CRM) systems designed decades ago, manually entering data and dealing with interfaces built for a slower pace, all of which leaves little time for what truly matters: connecting with customers. Sales leaders are now looking for AI-powered technology that helps them build a stronger pipeline, convert opportunities quicker, and build strong relationships with customers. By using technology that reduces the amount of time spent on manual tasks, sellers gain valuable hours each day to work on opportunities that are already in motion. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2026, B2B sales organizations using generative-AI-embedded sales technologies will reduce the amount of time spent on prospecting and customer-meeting prep by more than 50%.1 

With this context, today, we’re excited to share that Microsoft has been recognized as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation for the fourteenth consecutive year.

Figure of Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation Platforms

Figure 1: Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation Platforms** (25 August 2024)  

How Microsoft is making selling easier 

Close more deals and spend less time on tasks 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales enables sellers to close more deals and increase personal productivity with a feature-rich CRM system that includes next-generation AI features out-of-box. Sellers can confidently develop and prioritize their pipeline with lead and opportunity qualification. Sales helps sellers deliver high-quality engagements with prospective customers by helping them prepare with relationship insights, next-step recommendations, and suggestions for improving their interactions. Sales managers can build high-performance sales teams with the ability to identify sellers who need coaching, monitor business health with intelligent forecasting, and scale best practices with automated sales sequences. 

Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales works as a companion for sales representatives by providing generative AI-powered features designed to reduce manual and time-consuming work for sellers. For instance, sellers can quickly get up to speed with accounts, opportunities, contacts, and leads with record summarization and recent changes in the prospective customer organizations. They can also get news updates on accounts along with answers and content recommendations for that account using access to sales documents in SharePoint. Sellers can get help summarizing long email threads and responding to threads with Copilot drafting emails with infused CRM context. Right before taking meetings with customers, sellers can ask Copilot for meeting preparation assistance as well. 

Access sales insights everywhere, no matter where you choose to work 

At Microsoft, we know first-hand that sellers often spend their time outside of their CRM in productivity apps like Outlook and Microsoft Teams. That’s why Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales seamlessly brings CRM insights right into the seller’s flow of work. Copilot for Sales brings together Microsoft 365 Copilot with a role-based agent that connects with your CRM platform to bring sales insights and generative AI into the flow of work. Sellers can simplify their daily tasks by using Copilot to draft e-mails, set up meetings, or summarize previous meetings and e-mail threads. They can save time with Copilot by generating pitch decks, meeting preparation briefs, and data visualizations in PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. When it’s time for a sales call, sellers can use Copilot to get insights right within Teams, with AI-generated sales tips, related information, and answers to customer’s questions. After the call, Copilot provides a rich meeting recap that allows the seller to stay focused on next steps.  

Integration with an expanded ecosystem 

Organizations can unlock the full potential of the Microsoft Cloud to empower their sales teams with seamless integration at every step. The Sales integration with Teams fosters open communication and collaboration across marketing, sales, and service departments. With automatic data synchronization between Microsoft 365 apps and Sales or other CRM platforms, sellers can access customer and opportunity information directly within Teams and Outlook. Additionally, sales operation leads and managers can utilize Microsoft Power BI to analyze trends and generate reports. Microsoft Power Platform further enables sellers to automate workflows, develop apps, and analyze data, enhancing agility and driving innovation. 

Our customers’ success 

First West Credit Union is headquartered in Langley, British Columbia, and operates through four locally-known brands to serve members across the province. After a comprehensive request for proposal (RFP) process involving multiple vendors, First West decided to replace its earlier CRM solutions with Sales. The implementation was completed in record time.

“In my experience, these are typically 24-month journeys. The initial deployment of our Sales system was completed in just 11 months. This expedited rollout enabled us to seamlessly transition from and decommission our outdated legacy CRM systems, marking a significant achievement in our digital transformation journey.”

Darrell Jaggers, CIO & Chief Transformation Officer, First West Credit Union

The sales advisors at First West Credit Union are already realizing value. The manual reporting process used to take 20 minutes, but member discovery now takes only a few minutes with Sales, driving productivity gains of more than 75%. Within the first month of launching Sales, First West’s advisors had completed more than 2,600 member discoveries, marking a 54% surge in adoption compared to the previous approach. 

Alkemy, a specialty chemical systems company, transformed its sales operations by adopting Sales in 2019. Partnering with Intelibis, they automated customer segmentation, digitized sales processes, and integrated with Power Automate and SharePoint. This shift reduced their operational burden by 90%, generated over 2,900 reports, and significantly improved customer service. Alkemy now aims to become fully digital, using predictive controls to expand in the marketplace. 

As organizations continue to adopt AI at an unprecedented pace, at Microsoft we are focused on delivering the most cutting-edge experiences built on trust and security in leading products like Sales.

Learn more about Dynamics 365 and sales 

Contact your Microsoft representative to learn more about the value and return on investments, as well as the best way you can get started with Sales and Copilot for Sales. 


Sources:

  1. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation Platforms, Adnan Zijadic, Guy Wood, Varun Agarwal, Steve Rietberg, 24 August 2024.  

*Gartner is a registered trademark and service mark and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  

**This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.  

The post Microsoft named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Sales Force Automation Platforms   appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Migrate from Customer Service Hub to Customer Service workspace  

Migrate from Customer Service Hub to Customer Service workspace  

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Starting February 2025, new Customer Service customers with Enterprise licenses will only see the Customer Service workspace app. The Customer Service Hub (CSH) app will no longer be available for all new organizations with Enterprise licenses.  

The recent release wave introduced an exciting set of new features to help support representatives be more productive. Dynamics 365 Customer Service users from all over the world are incorporating Copilot capabilities into their day-to-day contact center operations, as well as taking advantage of multisession improvements, such as omnichannel experiences and inbox enhancements. When you migrate to Customer Service workspace, you can use all these features out of the box. 

What is Customer Service workspace? 

Customer Service workspace is a multisession app that increases support representatives’ productivity by enabling them to multitask as they work on multiple cases. The app provides a browser-like, tabbed experience within one window. By contrast, its predecessor Customer Service Hub is a single-session app, so users must open multiple browser windows as they take on more work items. 

Customer Service workspace enables representatives to respond to email, chats, messages from configured social media channels, and calls from our native voice channel, for a truly omnichannel experience. They can view, filter, and sort all their conversations and work items in the Outlook-style agent inbox. Administrators can create custom inbox views to meet the specific needs of the organization.  

Out-of-the-box Copilot capabilities 

For users who want to try Copilot, we recommend Customer Service workspace because it eliminates the need for additional configuration work. When administrators enable Copilot, support representatives can use these generally available capabilities: 

  • Summarize cases with Copilot 
  • Summarize conversations with Copilot 
  • Ask Copilot a question 
  • Draft an email response 

The ability to summarize cases and conversations with Copilot can drastically reduce the amount of time representatives need to type notes and bring themselves up to speed on cases. Administrators can enable these capabilities on the Summaries page of the Customer Service admin center. For case summaries, admins can specify which fields Copilot uses to generate a summary. For conversations, admins can specify when to generate a summary or let representatives generate one on demand. In both cases, Copilot requires about 38 words to create a summary. 

When admins enable Copilot features in the Customer Service admin center, representatives can ask questions and get answers in natural language. Copilot bases its answers on knowledge sources and up to five trusted domains that the admin specifies. Copilot can process up to 100,000 of your organization’s published knowledge articles, but you must have at least 50 published articles to get started. 

With Customer Service workspace, you can leverage your organizational knowledge in new ways and streamline workloads to make your representatives more productive. The result is smoother contact center operations and happier customers. 

Note: Customer Service workspace is not supported in mobile devices, Unified Service Desk, and with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (on-premises). 

Next Steps 

In February 2025, new organizations with Enterprise license will no longer see Customer Service Hub (CSH). We will continue to support the application for all existing organizations and new customers of other license types (e.g., Customer Service Professional license).  

If you are an existing customer and are setting up a new environment for testing purposes, you can enable Customer Service Hub, if needed. You can also refer to our migration frequently asked questions document to help answer any other questions you may have about the migration process.  

Please contact your Success Manager, FastTrack representative, or Microsoft Support if you have any additional questions. 

Learn more

For more information, read the documentation:  

The post Migrate from Customer Service Hub to Customer Service workspace   appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Skill up to strengthen your organizations cybersecurity posture

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Today, cybersecurity is everyone’s job. Although specialized engineers are vital, the best defense is from the ground up and from end to end.


 


You’re not imagining it—the number of major cybersecurity incidents is increasing. And according to Forbes Advisor Cybersecurity Stats: Facts And Figures You Should Know, “The repercussions of cyberattacks are far-reaching and costly. A data breach costs $4.88 million on average in 2024. In 2023, compromised business emails accounted for more than $2.9 billion in losses. These alarming figures emphasize the danger of cyber vulnerabilities and highlight the need for skilled cybersecurity professionals.”


 


Even small and medium-sized organizations can inadvertently provide cybercriminals with a pathway to bigger targets, which means that every organization needs to skill up its teams to protect against ransomware, data breaches, and other security incidents.


National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an ideal time for organizations of all sizes to refocus and make a plan to build strong, year-round defenses. Microsoft Learn for Organizations can help your teams build skills to protect and secure your data, information, and systems.


 


Apply security first, across the board


Even the most sophisticated cyber defense is built on the basics. The US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Cybersecurity Basics include using strong passwords and multifactor authentication, keeping all software and systems updated, securing backups, and of course, remaining on the alert against phishing.


 


Another good start is Microsoft Security 101, which explains security-related vocabulary, core concepts, and best practices. Or check out the Security hub on Microsoft Learn, which offers technical guidance and resources for aspiring and experienced cybersecurity professionals.


 


Beyond these foundations, organizations should cultivate a true security-first culture, as embodied by the Microsoft Security First Initiative (SFI). Upskilling across all roles and teams can minimize weak links in the protective chain, empowering your entire organization to prevent, detect, and mitigate issues.


 


Microsoft Learn for Organizations includes Plans on Microsoft Learn that cover security training for various job roles, such as:



 


Build skills with cybersecurity training from Microsoft Learn


Microsoft Learn offers self-paced, on-demand security training for many roles, skill levels, and products, and Microsoft Learn for Organizations curates this content for you and your teams to make it easier to reach your goals. The new Microsoft Security Technical Training poster highlights key offerings—whether you’re just starting out or you want to earn an expert Certification.


 


Get started with cybersecurity basics


Begin your learning journey with self-paced training on the essentials:



 


Build core skills


The core security training on the new poster dives deeper with self-paced offerings that help you skill up to earn Microsoft Certifications:



 


Earn scenario-based credentials


Microsoft Applied Skills credentials focus on validating in-demand technical skills in specific scenarios, proving your readiness to take on new tasks and projects for your team. Security-focused Applied Skills scenarios include:



 


Be cybersmart—always vigilant and always learning


Technology is ever evolving, and so is cybercrime. And building a strong cybersecurity defense is a journey. You and your teams can build your skills anytime—not just during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month! The resources, offerings, and opportunities on Microsoft Learn—curated for teams on Microsoft Learn for Organizations—can help you and your organization build the skills needed to address today’s security requirements and empower your teams to better meet tomorrow’s cybersecurity challenges.

Microsoft named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms 

Microsoft named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms 

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

In an ever-evolving business landscape, the pressure to create meaningful, real-time connections with customers has never been greater. At Microsoft, we understand this challenge, which is why we’re incredibly proud to announce that Microsoft has been recognized as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.*

Figure showing Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
Figure 1: Gartner Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms** (23 September 2024)  

We feel this recognition, for the third consecutive year, highlights the strides we’ve made in enabling marketers to harness the power of data, AI, and automation to drive personalized customer experiences. Last year, we took the bold step of connecting customer data and journeys directly within one product—Customer Insights—to strengthen the connection between data and engagement. This move has allowed us to focus even more on breaking down silos, empowering teams, and delivering a unified understanding of customers across departments.

online retailer working from a coffee shop

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights

Create engaging experiences.

Innovation fueled by AI 

In 2023, we introduced Microsoft Copilot as part of our commitment to evolving the way marketers and data analysts interact with customer insights. By using generative AI, marketers can now automate time-consuming tasks, such as drafting emails, designing forms, and segmenting customers. In the past year alone, we’ve expanded these capabilities with over 15 new Copilot features, including the ability to: 

  • Use Copilot to draft, revise, and optimize marketing content. 
  • Automatically align communications with brand guidelines. 
  • Build customer segments with conversational AI. 
  • Summarize lead interactions and even predict customer behavior patterns. 

By incorporating Copilot into Customer Insights, we’re not just enhancing efficiency—we’re enabling creativity and strategic thinking that can transform a company’s marketing efforts. 

Breaking down data silos for better customer experiences 

One of the key advantages Gartner identified is our ability to unify customer data across marketing, sales, and service functions. Too often, customer experiences are fragmented as information remains stuck in departmental silos. With Customer Insights, companies can create seamless journeys by ensuring data flows smoothly between touchpoints, providing a cohesive customer experience from start to finish. 

This unified approach has been crucial in helping our customers, including Kodak Alaris, Lynk & Co, and Team Rubicon, revolutionize how they engage with their customers. For example: 

  • Kodak Alaris has saved more than 60% in costs while gaining visibility into customer journeys with Customer Insights. 
  • Lynk & Co uses the platform to capture and utilize customer data to create personalized, seamless car sharing experiences. 
  • Team Rubicon enhances its volunteer and donor engagement efforts using Customer Insights, helping to build and maintain lasting relationships that fuel their critical disaster work. 

Global support with local expertise 

Our vision of making personalization accessible to organizations worldwide remains a cornerstone of our strategy. We provide support in more than 40 languages and maintain a direct sales presence across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. This, combined with a robust network of more than 350 partners and 7,000 resellers, allows us to deliver powerful solutions globally while tailoring them to local market needs. 

The road ahead

As we reflect on this recognition from Gartner, we remain focused on continuing to innovate and support our customers. Whether it’s through the expanding capabilities of Copilot, deeper data integration, or our commitment to breaking down barriers between departments, Customer Insights is positioned to help businesses create more meaningful, personalized, and scalable customer engagements. 

To learn more about how you can use Customer Insights, or for a deeper dive into the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms, contact your Microsoft representative. 

Learn more about: 

Sources

Figure 1: Gartner, Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms, Rick LaFond, Jeff Cohen, Alan Antin, Upasna Chandna, Nicholas Mortensen, 23 September 2024.  


*Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose 

**This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.  

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. 

The post Microsoft named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms  appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.