Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Did Microsoft Just Become Cool?

Welcome to the Era of HoloGraphicComputing!!!

Microsoft- A Visionary & An industry Leader

The Internet has been been blazing with numerous catchy phrases -Did Microsoft Just Become Cool?, Finally Microsoft nails it with Hololens, Microsoft Builds a Headset and competes with GoogleGlass etc. In my opinion and in the minds of many industry evangelists, Microsoft has always been a path breaker and a leader in technology, never a follower. If Microsoft enters a space it has always been because Microsoft has always brought to the technology platform an inspiring assortment of techniques, products which are much ahead of the times- Looking Beyond What Is Possible! That’s exactly the case with Microsoft HoloLens.

As a consumer, as a technology lover, as a creative enthusiast- HoloLens just raises the bar and shows you truly in its theme- Imagine what… what if you could do with technology?

Microsoft CEO Mr.Satya Nadella once again proves that Microsoft is heading aggressively in the right direction. One of the constant struggles of many product companies as diverse as Microsoft is to not just re-innovate in existing products but also to launch products that are ahead of the curve and still be contextually relevant for the market. Microsoft’s Engineering Leadership has been standing out by helming fantastic products in Satya Nadella’s vision – the vision of products that will drive productivity in the cloud first, mobile first world.

Recently in the Windows10 event, Microsoft launched the stupendous- HoloLens – the world’s most advanced holographic computing platform enabled by Windows10.

The stellar stealer moment in the launch was when Terry Myerson appeared LIVE as a hologram and shrieked out aloud- “I am a freaking hologram, Move Over Shakespeare” ! ;)

What is HoloLens?

Hololens is a headset that fuses the real world with truly amazing and exciting phases in the digital realm. It will create hi-definition holograms integrating with your personal & professional space. The hologram is made out of light.

Windows10 will contain holographic capabilities with every version. Microsoft has said the release of HoloLens can be expected around the same time as Windows10.

hololens

Features:

a.The headset is wireless, which means    you don’t have to deal with any cords, wires, phones etc.

b.Comes with a swanky new “Holographic Processing Unit” (HPU) designed exclusively for this new-gen computing.

c. Has its own CPU, GPU

d. Built-in spatial sound will let the user hear holograms wherever they may be in the vicinity of the room

e. Has a transparent hardware, transparent lens

f. Has advanced sensors- Doesn’t need any mouse, screen to click- uses user movements as indications

How Does Microsoft HoloLens Differ?

HoloLens Leader Alex Kipman, clearly stated “Microsoft isn’t aiming to place people in Virtual World/Reality. Microsoft aims to take you beyond pixels, screens and virtual world.”

the team

Microsoft HoloLens is certainly more than a normal, simple headset display. It uses 3D holograms blended with the real world seamlessly extending beyond augmented reality and virtual reality. It is far more surreal- it will understand your vision, gestures, movements, voice, thus enabling you to interact with information in the most natural yet fantastic way possible today. The Hi-Definition holograms with transparency (doesn’t make you feel inside a box) with a clear line-of-sight will present all new ways to communicate, work and play.

Watch another incredible video to really understand why does after all HoloLens differ 

Satya Nadella has brought forth significant and I must say quite an impressive list of use-cases which will be quite difficult for competitors to match with. Some interesting use-cases being remote collaboration, engineering, design work and research along with Mars exploration experiences for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab thru holograms of Mars Rover images- an experience never possible previously.

To Know More About Microsoft HoloLens, Pls visit: http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

To Conclude..

Microsoft has delivered a fantastic product thru HoloLens which has combined the best of both worlds – best of real images (superior than Glass) and advanced digital 3D graphics for a more spellbinding holographic experience (superior than Sulon, Oculus Rift), doesn’t obscure whole vision (unlike Oculus Rift). Microsoft is also working with developers and creators all over the world to create some amazing and exciting holographic experiences for the user-base. With HoloLens, Microsoft has remarkably developed a prototype in 3D images with Hi-Definition to float around in real world for businesses and consumers. The USP of HoloLens is certainly the fact that it doesn’t take you thru an escapist mechanism of taking you into a different world rather allowing you to interact with your chosen environment. Microsoft has clearly demonstrated leadership in visualizing and translating this augmented reality vision – breaking barriers between technology and humans with jaw dropping artistic elements.

Anita Raj
Technology Evangelist
Team @MSExchangegur

Thursday, January 8, 2015

The Rise and Fall of IT (as we know it)

By Nathan Coutinho

IT is the central nervous system of practically every modern business on the planet. However, most of us have looked at IT primarily as a cost center, endlessly pursuing a lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) through massive budget cuts, technology consolidation and the migration from siloed, analog systems to integrated, digital ones. This became the norm because most companies on average spends over 70% of their annual budget on operations and maintenance. In other words, most of the actual IT budget is spent ‘keeping the lights on’ while very little is used to hire new talent, improve processes and make new technology investments. Also, most IT shops were setup as walled gardens, enforcing a specific set of platforms, applications, desktops, displays, printers etc. This may really sound bad, but for the time period we’re talking about, it was the best way to run IT. But times have changed.


The Fall of the IT Wall

IT is increasingly seeing new business and organizational pressures every day. If handling security, virus outbreaks, disaster recovery and application/desktop upgrades and migrations weren’t enough to deal with in this walled garden, then the consumerization of IT with apps, smartphones, tablets, wearable sensors etc. has created a whole new world of challenges. Initially, most IT shops ignored and sometimes banned these technologies though a company-wide IT policy. While there are some definite security and productivity risks to consider and evaluate, some business units or LOBs (lines of businesses) are now creating clearly visibleincreased business value through the adoption of consumermobile and cloudtechnologies - be it tablets, chromebooks, Pinterest boards, Instagram pages, Salesforce groups, Dropbox shared folders etc.

For the most part, the wall has already fallen, whether we care to admit it or not. This has become evident by the large amount of apps, devices and cloud services that are being purchased directly by business units and individual employees. However, these can have short term gains, as security and compliance aren't exactly a priorty for non-IT folks. Many times, when an unsanctioned service becomes business critical, it has to be handed off to IT for security and integration, and that's where things can get ugly.

Transformation is Necessary

The fall of the IT wall hasn't exactly removed IT from existence (and it won't), but a new bar of expectations has been set. IT now has to build collaborative and effective bridges to ensure that its constituents are optimally consuming IT services. We now have to provide a platform to continually enhance productivity, breed creativity, innovation and most importantly, derive strong, tangible business outcomes from every single technology investment.

This sure is a very different IT than we're used to seeing and knowing, which is what makes this a challenging transition; one that will take many attempts, failures and most importantly, time.

Take Baby Steps

You can't rush transformation, especially since so much cultural change is ahead of us. Here are just a few things we can do as we start our journey down this path.

  1. Get a seat at the executive table. If you haven't already, make sure you have a well respected voice at the executive table.
  2. Change executive perception. Work hard in making it clear how critical IT services are in keeping the business running and how it helps enable growth and competitive advantage. Develop a business outcome-based investment scorecard so executives clearly see the impact of every IT investment.
  3. Change company-wide perception. Integrate IT into each business unit. Hold weekly brainstorming sessions to understand each business unit's needs and wants. Discuss potential system upgrades, new technologies etc. that could positively or negtively impact each area. Ask each business unit to participate in early trials and pilots.
  4. Move from a culture of No to a culture of YesMany business units are going around traditional IT because they are so used to hearing 'no' repeatedly over the years. While you can't exactly say 'yes' to every request, proper listening and being the voice of reason can immensely help strengthen the relationship and ultimately build trust. Expect some level of policy relaxation as well, because in order to be more agile and increase experimentation, you have to elevate risk.
  5. Automate and Orchestrate. Let me be clear here, there seems to be a biggap in most IT environments and this one is fairly simple to fix. We all have gobs of virtualization, converged network, storage and server solutions today. Now all we have to do is stop doing all the manual work associated with operating these environments, use the built-in tools or add new orchestration tools to automate as much as possible. And if you don't want to go down this path or buy new software, consider moving some or all your applications to the cloud, if that makes the most sense for your organization.

So there you have it. IT is still here. IT still matters. But if IT doesn't change to help the business adapt and innovate, the business units will (and have) take matters into their own hands. Quite simply put, disruptive markets and consumerization has created a need for a new and improved IT which will continue to be a strategic enablement weapon for any organization.

Let the transformation begin.

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