This month, Microsoft celebrates its 50th birthday. Our CEO, Chris Clark reflects on the influence that the technology giant has had on our mere 14 years in business as a Microsoft Partner.
Since founding our ‘born in the cloud’ company – Prosperity 24/7 – in 2011, we’ve seen incredible changes in the technology landscape — few more influential than those driven by Microsoft, a company celebrating its 50th birthday this year. Our aspiration as a born in the cloud partner of Microsoft was to always put our clients’ first and to deliver impactful business outcomes at speed.
Why? Because this strategic approach continues to align harmoniously with our purpose, namely “if we look after our colleagues, clients and community, we will prosper“.
From our first days as early cloud adopters, to the transformative rise of AI, we have been supporting our colleagues and clients, since the launch of Microsoft’s Bot Framework and deep investment in conversational AI, way back in 2016. Our persistent evolution, as well as Microsoft’s, has played a defining role in shaping modern business tools and digital workflows that we embrace, understand and deploy, to help our clients simply be ‘better businesses’.
As we reflect on our own journey, it’s worth highlighting some of the key innovations from Microsoft in just the last 14 years which have helped us — and so many others — to stay ahead in business while the geopolitical situation may have led us all to be reticent to embrace change. This is a worthwhile consideration when many are fearful to embrace technology at times when the World goes through unprecedented ‘dynamics,’ which seem to pivot with a level of agility that makes business planning a challenge.
A timeline of Microsoft’s most impactful innovations (2011–2025) and what was happening in the World at that time:
- 2011: As the political uprisings of the Arab Spring swept across the Middle East and North Africa – we launched Prosperity 24/7 at the same time as Microsoft Office 365 goes live — The shift to cloud-based productivity tools begins in earnest and we are at the forefront of innovation and liberation from traditional on premise legacy technology.
- 2012: Obama was re-elected in the US providing political continuity amidst global uncertainty, at the same time Windows 8 and Surface are launched — Microsoft begins its first-party hardware journey providing me with a mobile device that I have never gone back from – I love my Surface!
- 2013/2014: Edward Snowden leaks NSA files: Mass surveillance programs are exposed, sparking global debate on privacy and the extreme scrutiny on security of technology that is pervasive today. At Microsoft, Satya Nadella becomes CEO — A cultural and strategic transformation begins, with a focus on cloud, openness, and innovation. Three strategic strands which I personally feel are akin to a technology version of the ‘Norns’ in Norse mythology, – three goddesses who shape human destinies – only these do that while leveraging Microsoft’s platforms!
- 2015: Paris Climate Agreement signed: Nearly 200 countries commit to combat climate change. At the same time there are two terrorist attacks in Paris – heightening the Global focus on counterterrorism and indeed, Microsoft play a strategic role by responding to lawful requests following the November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris and the Paris attack on Charlie Hebdo.
- 2016: Brexit vote: The UK votes to leave the European Union and across the pond, Donald Trump is elected US President, marking a significant political shift globally. Despite the potential challenges both initiatives could introduce, Microsoft acquire LinkedIn — Integrating professional data into Microsoft’s ecosystem.
- 2017: North Korea missile tests: Nuclear tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula, meanwhile the #MeToo movement occurs: Positively shifting gender and workplace dynamics worldwide. In the world of diversity and inclusion –Microsoft Teams launches — Transforming communication and accessibility within and external to companies, changing the way we will all work, forever with a central hub for modern collaboration.
- 2018: US-China trade war begins: Tariffs and tensions disrupt global markets and some may say, fuelled by Brexit and the US elections in 2017. Populism and nationalism is ‘given oxygen’ and on the rise in Europe : Italy, Hungary, and others to challenge EU norms. With a fluid geopolitical backdrop, Microsoft acquires GitHub — A strong signal of its support for developers and open source community.
- 2019: Climate activism surges: Greta Thunberg and global climate strikes gain momentum. Azure Arc is launched — Extending Azure’s reach into hybrid cloud, simplifying governance and management by delivering a consistent multi-cloud and on-premises management platform. We love it!
- 2020: COVID-19 pandemic: Global lockdowns, economic disruption, and health system strain. Teams becomes essential — Remote work accelerates global adoption and in parallel our colleagues work with the Government of Jersey leveraging Microsoft Dynamics to deliver the Island’s Track & Trace platform, saving lives and unlocking our Island’s visitor economy in July 2020. In America, Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump amid a highly polarised election.
- 2021: Global vaccine rollout: COVID-19 remains central to geopolitics. Israel–Palestine conflict escalates again: Clashes in Gaza and Jerusalem. During the turmoil, Windows 11 is announced — Focused on hybrid work, design, and productivity laying the foundational platform for future productivity.
- 2022: Russia invades Ukraine: Full-scale war triggers energy crises and global food insecurity. Inflation surges globally: Triggered by post-COVID recovery and war-related disruptions. Microsoft share their threat intelligence report Defending Ukraine: Early Lessons from the Cyber War — Enabling Industry to gain insights into the very real nexus of geopolitics and technology.
- 2023: Climate disasters: Extreme weather highlights the urgency of climate policy. Copilot for Microsoft 365 launches — Bringing generative AI directly into everyday tools like Word, Excel, and Outlook. Prosperity 24/7 move into our new purpose built offices at Castle Quay hosting the Channel Islands’ launch of Microsoft Copilot with Microsoft Executives.
- 2024: Major elections worldwide: US, India, Indonesia, and more head to the polls — a pivotal year for global leadership. AI regulation and tech sovereignty debates: Nations scramble to define their stances on AI and data governance whilst at the same time Industry embrace AI everywhere — Copilot becomes ubiquitous — From developer tools to security, Microsoft fully embraces AI integration across platforms and Prosperity deliver our ‘Great Minds’ series of events to help Industry to upskill their workforce to drive up productivity for all.
- 2025: US Presidential inauguration: Donald Trump takes the presidency once more, setting the tone for the next four years in global diplomacy, tech policy, and trade. Microsoft, on its 50th anniversary, unveiled significant enhancements to Copilot, transforming it into a more proactive and personalised AI assistant. This evolution aims to keep pace with AI leaders by integrating more “agentic” functionality into Microsoft’s products further extending productivity opportunities.
Why am I reflecting in such detail…?
This timeline isn’t just a retrospective — it highlights how Microsoft’s strategic shifts over the last 14 years, let alone the last 50, have directly influenced how businesses operate, collaborate, and innovate while all around geopolitical challenges persist.
As a company that has grown alongside these developments, we’ve felt the impact of each major enhancement and have balanced the opportunities with the external headwinds that are sadly far too constant but as we would like to think, have not proven to be insurmountable not only for our business but for yours too.
Ultimately, Prosperity in partnership with Microsoft help you to stay agile in a fast-moving world.
With AI, data, and hybrid work continuing to evolve, Microsoft’s innovation curve is far from over. We’re excited to see — and build on — what comes next as we stand side by side with our clients to help them to achieve more and continue to prosper.
