Tony Shakib, GM/Partner, Microsoft Azure IoT, leads the Microsoft Internet of Things (IoT) Business Acceleration team within the Azure engineering organization. He drives the Azure IoT partner ecosystem and strategic business engagements for the top 100 IoT enterprise accounts. Tony is accountable for IoT customer value realization, business development, rapid solution deployment, joint customer go-to-market programs, and accelerating time to large-scale commercial deployments.

In the second video of the new series, “Azure partner insights,” we hear from Microsoft partners directly on how their customers are digitally transforming their businesses using Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The goal of this series of shorts is to share specific insights and learnings in areas where partners will find the most value.

Michael Bruns, Partner, Digital Operations at PwC, sees customers transforming their process manufacturing operations by capturing real-time data and storing and analyzing it in the cloud. Using tools like the PwC Smart Manufacturing Analytics platform, built on Azure, customers gain a 360° view of their plants, key performance indicators (KPIs) and maintenance alerts—and are then able optimize business decisions.

Brendan Mislin, Managing Director at Industry X.O IoT at Accenture, sees industrial clients connecting sensors, devices and equipment to the cloud. One example is that by connecting oil rigs and other equipment to Azure and applying Azure Analytics, Accenture oil and gas clients are able operate and maintain refinery assets with greater safety and efficiency. Similarly, Accenture mining clients can better manage their in-pit operations when they connect equipment to Azure. The consolidation of data from sensor to boardroom is the foundation of digital transformation.

Tim Scanlon, Group Vice-President, Customer Experience Innovation at ABB, cites the value of connecting smart motor sensors to brownfield pumps, motors or drives to collect industrial data in Azure. By applying Azure Analytics to the collected data, industrial businesses can reduce the power consumption of their connected asset by 10%—while reducing the downtime of the same asset by 70%.

Our takeaway? Microsoft customers are digitally transforming their businesses by connecting critical assets to the cloud and storing and analyzing asset data to gain business insights. Considering these types of integrations can help partners develop meaningful solutions that deliver on customers’ specific needs.