“Two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”
Summary
“We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months. From remote teamwork and learning, to sales and customer service, to critical cloud infrastructure and security—we are working alongside customers every day to help them adapt and stay open for business in a world of remote everything,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft on the announcement of strong Q3 results today.
“Our durable business model, diversified portfolio, and differentiated technology stack position us well for what’s ahead.”
According to CFO Amy Hood: Commercial Cloud revenue generated $13.3 billion, up 39% year over year.
Report
Analysis
No company is more representative of digital transformation than Microsoft. The company’s results and Nadella’s comments on the unprecedented acceleration of digital transformation underlines the extent to which COVID‑19 has served as a catalyst—one that is not only forcing companies of all stripes into digital technology, but that is also separating digital winners from losers in an accelerated manner.
Microsoft’s y-o-y growth in commercial cloud is proof that companies are migrating to the cloud faster than ever before out of operational necessity. Companies that entered the crisis as strong managers of technology have outperformed both the broader benchmarks and those that entered the crisis as poor managers of technology across all industry sectors. Poor managers of technology heading into the crisis have more dramatically underperformed broader benchmarks. The Cyber Governance Indices prove this.
It is not only a company like Microsoft that is well positioned for what is ahead. All companies that outperform on cyber governance are also well positioned for a post-COVID‑19 future in which digital technology is no longer a competitive advantage for those that do it well, but also an operational necessity for every firm.