CASE STUDY
An in-depth description of a firm’s approach to an IT management issue (intended for MBA and executive education)
Working Paper: Case Study
Microsoft Turns to Data to Drive Business Success
This paper describes Microsoft’s journey to becoming a data-driven organization and the key activities that facilitated the company’s progress.
Abstract
Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, in 2017 Microsoft was an $85 billion technology company that employed 114,000 people and operated around the globe. In 2014, Satya Nadella became CEO and accelerated the company’s transformation to a cloud services business model. The transformation inspired new attention to and capabilities around data, particularly in the areas of metrics and dashboards, analytics-powered work processes, and data science services. By 2017, 61 percent of Microsoft’s workforce was using business intelligence monthly. This working paper describes Microsoft’s journey to becoming a data-driven organization and the key activities that facilitated the company’s progress.
Access More Research!
Any registered, logged-in user of the website can read many MIT CISR Working Papers in the webpage from 90 days after publication, plus download a PDF of the publication. Employees of MIT CISR members organizations get access to additional content.
About the Authors
Barbara H. Wixom, MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research (CISR)
MIT CENTER FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH (CISR)
Founded in 1974 and grounded in MIT's tradition of combining academic knowledge and practical purpose, MIT CISR helps executives meet the challenge of leading increasingly digital and data-driven organizations. We work directly with digital leaders, executives, and boards to develop our insights. Our consortium forms a global community that comprises more than seventy-five organizations.
AlixPartners
Avanade
Cognizant
Collibra
IFS
Pegasystems Inc.
The Ogilvy Group
Alcon Vision
Amcor
ANZ Banking Group (Australia)
AustralianSuper
Banco Bradesco S.A. (Brazil)
Banco do Brasil S.A.
Bank of Queensland (Australia)
Barclays (UK)
BlueScope Steel (Australia)
BNP Paribas (France)
Bupa
CarMax
Caterpillar, Inc.
Cemex (Mexico)
Cencora
CIBC (Canada)
Cochlear Limited (Australia)
Commonwealth Superannuation Corp. (Australia)
Cuscal Limited (Australia)
CVS Health
Dawn Foods
DBS Bank Ltd. (Singapore)
Doosan Corporation (Korea)
Fidelity Investments
Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B., de C.V.
Fortum (Finland)
Genentech
Gilbane Building Co.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J)
Kaiser Permanente
King & Wood Mallesons (Australia)
Mercer
Nasdaq, Inc.
NN Insurance Eurasia NV
Nomura Holdings, Inc. (Japan)
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. Systems Consulting Division (Japan)
Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark)
OCP Group
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Posten Bring AS (Norway)
Principal Life Insurance Company
QBE
Ramsay Health Care (Australia)
Reserve Bank of Australia
RTX
Scentre Group Limited (Australia)
Schneider Electric Industries SAS (France)
Stockland (Australia)
Tabcorp Holdings (Australia)
Telstra Limited (Australia)
Terumo Corporation (Japan)
Tetra Pak (Sweden)
Truist Financial Corporation
UniSuper Management Pty Ltd (Australia)
Uniting (Australia)
USAA
Webster Bank, N.A.
Westpac Banking Corporation (Australia)
WestRock Company
Xenco Medical
Zoetis Services LLC
MIT CISR Associate Members
MIT CISR wishes to thank all of our associate members for their support and contributions.