For Edgenet, serving up real-time information is its lifeblood. To ensure that its customers receive timely, accurate product data, Edgenet powers its online selling guide with the In-memory OLTP solution delivered with Microsoft SQL Server 2014. Edgenet is also using self-service business intelligence (BI) to improve its own operations. By taking advantage of Microsoft in-memory technologies, the company can provide real-time access to product data, gains seven times faster throughput, and improves both customer satisfaction and business insight.

Ferranti Computer Systems, the developer and distributor of MECOMS™—a business support system for the energy and utility industry based on Microsoft Dynamics AX—needed to help its customers solve an emerging Big Data business problem. Increasing adoption of smart meter technology has created very large volumes of structured data that must be quickly and continuously processed by the energy and utility companies to support business processes. To solve this problem, Ferranti teamed with Microsoft to incorporate the In-Memory OLTP, Reactive Extensions, and HDInsight technologies into its MECOMS™ solution. MECOMS™ can now process a continuous data flow of up to 200 million measurement channels, making the system fully capable of meeting the demands of smart meter technology.

Hong Kong Jockey Club is a leading provider of horse-racing and betting entertainment. To improve the availability of its mission-critical betting system, the club is implementing a solution that includes Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Enterprise and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012. As a result, it will cut failover time from half an hour to two minutes. The club is also consolidating its server infrastructure by 30 percent, cutting deployment time from two days to three hours, and gaining better support for operational goals.

Webzen, an online game developer, wanted to support the global launch of Arctic Combat, a new massively multiplayer game that would be played online by thousands of users. To minimize lag time in dynamic combat scenarios, Webzen decided to run Arctic Combat in a hybrid-cloud environment based on the Windows Azure platform. As a result, players can enjoy a smooth gaming experience, including first-person-shooter (FPS) combat, without communication errors. The solution also seamlessly transfers data between the cloud and on-premises infrastructure, so Webzen can offer its games in regions where cloud services are not available. Arctic Combat launched successfully in the North American and European markets in December 2012.

VRX Studios, which provides photography and content management services to the global travel industry, needed a digital asset management solution that could handle thousands of concurrent users and hundreds of terabytes of data. For optimal scalability, the company created MediaValet, a cloud-based asset management system that runs on the Windows Azure platform. Geo-replication and triple redundancy ensure continuous availability, and the company can quickly increase its computing and storage capacity to handle more users. By using Windows Azure to improve performance, functionality, and usability, the company believes that MediaValet will become its most successful endeavor yet. VRX Studios plans to keep evolving together with the Windows Azure platform, continually adding more features that improve the end-user experience.

V8 Supercars is an international motorsport, media and entertainment company based in Australia. It employs 70 full-time staff with a network of approximately 1600 contractors and volunteers to manage race teams, events and broadcasts to more than 130 countries and online. V8 Supercars had outgrown its current IT infrastructure and wanted a cost-effective and flexible platform to support its expansion plans. With a highly mobile team setting up, delivering and broadcasting race events all over the world, it was critical to provide fast, efficient access to email and company files from virtually any location. V8 Supercars moved to Microsoft Office 365, giving everyone in the business stable, reliable access to their files, email and modern collaboration tools when they’re working in their Gold Coast headquarters, Sydney office or from various trackside locations in Australia and the world.

10th Magnitude designs, builds, and operates custom software solutions in the cloud. When a customer needed to quickly and cost-effectively create a new online payment-processing application, 10th Magnitude relied on Windows Azure to develop a cloud-based solution that uses Windows Azure SQL Database to process transactions. With Windows Azure, 10th Magnitude can develop solutions 30 percent faster, so its customers save on IT costs and can focus on expanding their business.

Holland America Line, one of the world’s leading cruise-ship companies, is using Microsoft business intelligence (BI) software to increase revenues and give guests a more memorable experience. By using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, employees can mine data more deeply without help from the IT staff, giving the IT staff more time to improve IT solutions. The company has also eliminated expensive third-party licensing fees.

The University of Tokushima, a national university, set up a new section, “Information Strategy Room” for planning its overall information strategies. And, to implement these strategies, the university established “Center for Administration of Information Technology." Since then, Center for Administration of Information Technology of the university has implemented various reforms to provide better IT services for students and faculty members. In March 2012, as one of these efforts, the existing email systems were renewed with a hybrid email system of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Microsoft Office 365 for Education. This renewal enables ensured security and 24/7 operation. Focusing on developing international academic ability of its students, faculty members, and institutions, Tokushima University obtained a key communication infrastructure.

In 2004, the Queensland Department for Education, Training and Employment (Queensland DETE) devised a strategy that has revolutionised education in state schools in Queensland. Called �Smart Classrooms’, it involves using IT to help transform education at every level: automating student record keeping; improving digital learning materials; enhancing how teachers use the technology in the classroom; and providing virtual environments where students can collaborate practically anywhere at any time. With Microsoft as a strategic delivery partner, Queensland DETE staff have brought Smart Classrooms to life. Now, approximately 490,000 state school students have virtually anywhere, anytime access to many of Queensland’s best digital learning materials, and can easily collaborate in state-wide virtual learning environments.