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Tuesday, 9 February 2016 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shehana Dain
Microsoft Corporation last week unveiled the Microsoft Customer Immersion Experience (CIE) facility in Sri Lanka at the Microsoft Sri Lanka office premises.
The CIE provides a facilitated hands-on environment where business and IT decision makers can experience real world scenarios enabled by Microsoft technologies. The CIE facility will also help organisations envision the opportunities available through the adoption of digital technology, which in turn will help drive business productivity and national prosperity.
Moreover, CIE takes Microsoft users through everyday business situations, such as working remotely, analysing sales data and collaborating with co-workers, and lets people see how Microsoft products make it all easy, convenient and secure. CIE sessions are delivered in-person or remotely by a trained facilitator and designed to discover the right solutions for a business in an interactive, experiential and fun way.
Microsoft Country Manager Sri Lanka and Maldives Brian Kealey
Speaking about the newly-opened CIE facility, Microsoft Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Brian Kealey said: “It is an exciting time for us to introduce the CIE facility to Sri Lanka as part of a global Microsoft initiative. This facility is a hands-on experience centre where we will work with organisations and our partners to share industry best practices showcasing how we are re-inventing productivity and business processes. This is a key part of our mission to help every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more. The productivity of Sri Lankan organisations is key to achieving our fullest potential in the global market and I see it as core to our mission of enabling Sri Lanka achieve its potential.”
FurthermoremKealey noted that the facility aims to at least attract two businesses a day and subsequently roll out their products to enhance productivity in the country. “Our customer portfolio is mainly three tears that is the big players, mid-range companies and SMEs. While I’m not fully aware of the mid-range companies in Sri Lanka we have recognised 55 big companies and 17,000 SMEs which need a lot of fine-tuning to be competitive in the global market,” he added.
The CIE is a true-to-life experience that takes participants through common work-related scenarios such as being productive while mobile, using social networking to get the most from teams, and connecting in real time with co-workers and customers. It also gives you a first-hand look at the fast and fluid experience of a number of Microsoft products such as Windows 10, across a variety of devices, including tablets, PCs, and smartphones.
Mirosoft Marketing and Operation Lead Rena Chai
“Microsoft sees Sri Lanka as a high growth market in South East Asia and decided to set-up an in-country CIE facility so that more business leaders in the country can experience the benefits of digital transformation and how best to engage a mobile workforce,” explained Microsoft South East Asia New Markets Chief Marketing and Operations Officer Rena Chai.
Chai also stated that the Sri Lankan office in Microsoft sees that manufacturing sector as the most promising sector to roll out their new products while the banking sector is showing active interest in this process.
Unlike traditional product presentations and demos, the CIE puts the customer in the driver’s seat for a rich, interactive experience. It is a unique, risk-free opportunity to explore Microsoft’s solutions by role- playing in a “true-to-life” environment. A trained facilitator leads executives to discover the right solutions for their business and helps them experience the future of productivity. The CIE is usually set up at a Microsoft or partner office location, a conference room in a hotel or onsite at the customer location. It is designed to be interactive, experiential, and fun.
The CIE highlights key Microsoft technologies including Office 365, Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for business, Project, Visio, Windows, Windows Phone, Dynamics CRM and the Enterprise Management Suite.
Pix by Lasantha Kumara
