“We are lucky to be in the tech industry.” This was what Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft shared at the Microsoft Inspire and Ready 2018. And there’s not many who will disagree that now is one of the most exciting times to be in the industry, especially if you belong to the Microsoft ecosystem.
Earlier this year, in partnership with IDC Asia Pacific, we produced a study titled “Unlocking the Economic Impact of Digital Transformation in Asia Pacific”. An important data point from the study tells us that, by 2021, approximately 60 percent of Singapore’s GDP will be derived from digital products and services, adding an estimated US$10 billion to the local economy.
This represents not just the opportunity for the Microsoft partner ecosystem to be agents that help Singapore and our customers accelerate their digital transformation ambition, but also a reminder that each of us has the responsibility to ensure that this race to digital transformation is responsible, ethical and inclusive.
#winningtogether was the theme for the evening as we celebrated the achievements of our partners at the Microsoft Singapore Partner Awards 2018. We also celebrated Microsoft Singapore being crowned the Sub of the Year 2018 for the Medium Developed cluster at Microsoft Ready in Las Vegas with our partners as they are an integral part of Microsoft and made the win possible.
Last year, I made the point that the Microsoft partner ecosystem is a unique one that holds the key to accelerating digital transformation of organisations in Singapore, and I believe that the best is yet to come.
Navigating an AI-ready future for Singapore.
2018 is the year that artificial intelligence (AI) comes to the fore. While IDC’s Worldwide Semiannual Cognitive Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide released in March predicted that global spending on cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) systems will reach US$19.1 billion in 2018, its latest report released in September revised the forecast upwards to US$24 billion, with spending poised to hit US$77.6 billion in 2022.
While there is little doubt that governments and businesses around the world are accelerating their investments in AI, we know that new technology inevitably raises complex questions and broad societal concerns. How do we ensure that AI is designed and used responsibly? And how will AI impact employment and jobs?
To fully realise the benefits of AI on the economy and society, and to minimise the negative outcomes, together with other public and private organizations, we – as the technology providers – need to come together with a sense of shared responsibility. I hope that you join us on this journey to navigate towards an AI-ready future for Singapore.
At Microsoft, we will invest in these four key areas and call upon our partners to join us as we: enable digital transformation on Microsoft’s intelligent cloud; build coalitions for responsible innovation; close the skills gap and enhance employability by empowering everyone with the skills they need to succeed in an AI-enabled world; and create sustained societal impact by applying Microsoft AI technologies to address pressing societal challenges.
Celebrating our partners’ achievements
One year ago, the Microsoft partner organisation underwent one of our biggest transformation to become the One Commercial Partner organisation with a clear objective to unify our resources to serve our partner ecosystem better, simplify the way we work together with our partners and amplify the solutions that partners built for our customers. I want to take a moment to appreciate and thank all our partners for embarking on this journey of change with us; and celebrate the success that we have achieved together.
This year, we are pleased to recognise some of our partners who have delivered innovative offerings to address customers’ demands for digitisation at the annual Microsoft Singapore Partner Awards 2018.
I want to also express my gratitude to all the partners that participated in this year’s awards, and to the individuals who took the time and effort to write, revise, and submit the nominations of your company’s accomplishments.
Our award winners represent the best and most forward-thinking innovators coming out of our partner community. They bring cutting-edge solutions to complex business challenges and provide digital transformation opportunities to their customers. Most importantly, they demonstrate with customer obsession and the right mindset, they differentiate and raise above their competitors.
Please join me congratulating all winners.
2018 Microsoft Singapore Partner of the Year Awards
Country Partner of the Year
| Ingram Micro Asia Ltd |
Microsoft 365
| Modern Workplace Transformation Partner of the Year | Insight Technology Solutions Pte Ltd |
| Security and Compliance Partner of the Year | Insight Technology Solutions Pte Ltd |
Business applications
| Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement | Total eBiz Solutions Pte Ltd |
Azure
| Artificial Intelligence and Analytics Partner of the Year
Datacenter Transformation Data Estate Modernization Open Source on Azure Partner of the Year Internet of Things (IoT) Partner of the Year |
Ernst & Young Advisory Pte. Ltd
T-Systems Singapore Pte Ltd Telstra Singapore Pte Ltd Cloud Kinetics Tech Pte Ltd NCS Pte. Ltd. |
Partner solutions
| Cloud Solution Provider (Indirect) Partner of the Year | Ingram Micro Asia Ltd |
Industry
| Industry ISV Partner of the Year
Industry Channel Partner of the Year |
AvePoint Singapore Pte Ltd
NCS Pte. Ltd. |
2018 Microsoft Singapore Partner Recognition
Learning Partners
| Learning Partner (Community)
Learning Partner (Solutions) |
NTUC LearningHub Pte Ltd
NetAssist Services Pte Ltd |
Partner for Social Impact Technology for Good
| Total eBiz Solutions Pte Ltd
Feezmodo Consulting iShine Cloud Limited |
Partner Seller Excellence in Technology and/or Sales Recognition
| Ivan Chan – T-Systems Singapore Pte Ltd
Othniel Liew – Singapore Telecommunications Limited Martin Lonneryd – Telstra Singapore Pte Ltd |