Microsoft Exec: How Enterprises are Democratizing Data

Editor's note: This article was originally published on our sister site, InformationWeek.

If you had to re-live one year over again, Groundhog Day style, it's unlikely that 2020 would be at the top of the list for many people. But for some IT organizations, this year has meant a sharper focus on the goals that really matter, accelerated timetables for projects that further those goals, and the gratification of achievement in accomplishing so much in such a short time.

After all, it's the year when a work-from-home mass migration that would have taken 6 months or longer in simpler times was actually executed overnight. On one hand, 2020 was all about speed.

You could also say 2020 has been about resiliency for some IT organizations. That resiliency will be one of the themes for Interop Digital keynote speaker Alysa Taylor during her address at this event's first online-only edition, which runs from October 5-8. Interop is the independent and unbiased event for IT pros.

Taylor has had a birds-eye seat to what's going on at many IT organizations during the transformational year of 2020. She is a corporate vice president at Microsoft, in charge of business applications and global industry marketing. Specifically, at Microsoft, she leads the product marketing teams responsible for products such as Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform that includes Power BI, Power Apps, Power Virtual Agents, and Power Automate.

Taylor is expected to highlight the opportunities that this challenging year has presented for IT organizations and the IT leaders she speaks with on a regular basis. She will provide insights into how a handful of IT organizations have used the catalyst of 2020 to home in on goals to improve efficiency, internal communications, and improve overall operations through the use of technology.

Part of this advancement comes from the idea of the democratization of data and digital to enable IT to impact the broader business.

For instance, Taylor is expected to discuss a few different technology approaches that organizations have leveraged, such as apps and automation, and share a few in-depth use cases about how specific companies have applied them to achieve their goals. The case studies are expected to include details about the benefits and value these companies have gained using these technologies, providing Interop attendees some ideas to take back to their own enterprises or else spark other new ideas to help organizations prepare for a successful 2021.

At the end of her presentation, Taylor is expected to take a few questions from Interop host Lenny Heymann about some of the hot topics such as what Microsoft's own IT organization looks like and recruiting talent in 2021.

Other keynote speakers scheduled for the first Interop Digital event include Fedex CIO Rob Carter and VMware Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Greg Lavender.