Microsoft Partners with 85 Broads
While being involved with the launch of Microsoft Office 365 - myoffice365, Penny Delgadillo who is the Office 365 Launch Lead, realized that she wanted to focus on customer and partner stories. She did this through unveiling an innovative campaign targeted at women in the workplace called “Your Office, Your Terms.” A key part of the pilot was to syndicate content and reach audiences through non-traditional outlets, such as online communities. Penny met Janet Hanson, CEO and founder of 85 Broads in New York, and from here the alliance between Microsoft and 85 Broads was born. From this meeting they thought about unique ways to extend the cloud story to women-owned and women-run companies.
The purpose of the multi-pronged campaign was to introduce Microsoft Office 365 – the latest in cloud computing technology - to 85 Broads members while driving thought leadership around the topic of remote/flexible working, positioning technology as what makes it an option. Several activities were part of this initiative:
Microsoft awarded six women entrepreneurs in the 85 Broads network a free subscription to Microsoft Office 365 for one year, along with full tech support to help with platform migration and staff training. The selected companies were partnered with Microsoft local partners (BitTitan, Cloud Strategies, Cloudvisors and Ensynch) to facilitate a win-win for both sides. Think of it as an extreme makeover using cloud services for the business. The companies include: EmpowHER: an Arizona-based, award-winning health media company for women Mom Corps: a national staffing and search firm, based in Atlanta, Ga., specializing in alternative working arrangements Astia: founded in California, a global nonprofit encouraging female entrepreneurship Babesta: a New York-based children’s retail store and online shopping site Right + Left: a creative consulting firm in Pittsburgh, Penn. o Two Camel Films: a film production company in based in L.A.
The Office 365 team deployed a survey among 85 Broads members to gain insight into their thoughts and feelings about remote working and technology. The survey garnered several interesting findings, including: The primary reasons women work remotely include better balance of work/home priorities, avoidance of long commutes or traffic or and greater productivity. Productivity increases when women work remotely – 62 percent of respondents contend that their personal productivity improves very much or somewhat when they work outside of the office. 81 percent of respondents agree that remote working enhances job satisfaction and 73 percent of respondents believe that technology helps them to be fully productive. For nearly half (49 percent) of respondents, technology becomes a challenge when working out of the office. Technology purchase is more often a personal selection, rather than company assigned, and aids people in work as if they were in the office even when they aren’t.
The myoffice365 website created a dedicated section to the “Your Office, Your Terms” campaign, which contains several resources related to remote working including: A free downloadable eBook toolkit with tips and tricks to enable remote working, the full remote working survey findings and telework etiquette tips. Several featured bloggers who are writing about the topic of remote working including, Linda Basch of The National Council for Research on Women; Cindy Bates of Microsoft SMB; Beth Blecherman of TechMamas; Kathy Caprino of Ellia Communications; Maggie Chan-Jones of Microsoft Office 365; Carol Fishman-Cohen of iRelaunch; Allison O’Kelly of MomCorps; Joanne Wilson of Gotham Gal; and Cali Williams-Yost of work+life fit.
A regular feature on the Forbes 85 Broads blog, which will showcase Microsoft executives during the month of November. It was kicked-off by a post from Microsoft’s Cindy Bates
To provide a background on 85 Broads, Janet Hanson founded the organization back in 1997. 85 Broads started as a network connecting women who had retired from Goldman Sachs with women who were building their careers at 85 Broad Street, the firm’s Manhattan headquarters. Not long after the network was founded, 85 Broads expanded its membership to include women who shared a passion for excellence – regardless of chosen professional career path. Today, with a global network of more than 30,000 trailblazing women, the members of 85 Broads have a clearly defined mission: to use their intellect and ambition to create professional opportunities for women globally. Located in more than 90 countries, members work for thousands of for-profit companies and not-for-profit organizations and are alumnae and students of the world’s leading colleges, universities and graduate schools.
