Microsoft backs Thai businesses’ transformation

The company says it has joined its business partners to set up Microsoft Experience Zones for customers and it will also set up an Internet of Things (IoT) Centre of Excellence by the end of this year.
Orapong Thien-Ngern, general manager at Microsoft (Thailand), said the firm would drive the business towards digital transformation to improve productivity, identify customers, improve operation process management, and improve services.
The digital transformation will focus on four areas: engaging customers, empowering employees, optimising business, and transforming products and business.
At all organisational levels, the company will support the IoT platform, Microsoft cognitive services, its intelligent cloud platform and cybersecurity. It will provide technologies, solutions and platforms to help businesses to improve efficiency and productivity.
Orapong said the company, along with its business partners, would set up an IoT Centre of Excellence in the next couple of months to provide a platform for proof of concept and prototypes for businesses that want to develop projects.
“I think that our new vision will drive Thailand onwards to success in the digital-transformation journey across all dimensions of development. It will boost Thailand’s capability for innovation, reinforce competitiveness across the business sector, develop next-generation talent and open opportunities for all to harness the true potential of digital technologies in creative, constructive and secure ways,” he said.
The digital transformation will enable small and medium-sized enterprises to create new products and services productively and efficiently.
The Board of Investment has reported that SMEs last year made up 99.7 per cent of the companies in the Thai economy and accounted for 80.3 per cent of total employment. SMEs also accounted for more than 42 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product.
However, providers of financial, retail and consumer products, manufacturers and telecom firms are the top-spending sectors for Microsoft’s business and revenue. They are also the first groups that will undergo digital transformation.
Ekaraj Panjavinin, country lead for the consumer group at Microsoft (Thailand), said the firm planned to set up Microsoft Experience Zones in five locations, including CentralWorld and Mega Bangna.
“We continue to invest heavily in researching and developing new technologies for customers – from Windows 10 as a service, Azure IoT, and intelligent cloud applications to the establishment of a new research department focusing on artificial intelligence – so that people and organisations can achieve more in the mobile-first and cloud-first world,” he said.
He added that the had also also announced its new SMEs IT Pack campaign, which offers 1,000 gigabytes of storage space in the cloud for an affordable price.