Another Fortune 500 Company to Conduct Pilot Evaluation of OneSoft’s Machine Learning Platform

Edmonton, Alberta, Feb. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OneSoft Solutions Inc. (the “Company” or “OneSoft”) (TSX-V:OSS, OTC:OSSIF) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, OneBridge Solutions, Inc. (“OneBridge”), has entered into a Pilot Program agreement with another U.S.-based, Fortune 500 natural gas, oil and petrochemical company (the “Client”). The Client, whose operations include natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage, primarily in the United States, will evaluate OneBridge’s Cognitive Integrity ManagementTM (“CIM”) SaaS solution. MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY “We are seeing continued traction for OneBridge’s CIM solution,” said Tim Edward, President of OneBridge Canada. “In this case, one of North America’s leading providers of midstream energy services has recognized CIM’s value proposition and is now investigating CIM in pursuit of its commitment to improve its internal processes to detect threats to its pipeline infrastructure, through digital transformation and machine learning. This Client is only one of many companies investigating our new technology, as evidenced by the high degree of interest expressed by numerous attendees that we met at PPIM last week, the world’s largest pipeline integrity management conference held annually in Houston.” Brandon Taylor, CTO and President of OneBridge USA, added, “This pilot is another tangible result of the great support that Microsoft is contributing to help us launch our solution in the marketplace. We continue to work together with Microsoft’s sales teams to pursue opportunities that currently total approximately 350,000 miles in aggregate of U.S.-based oil and gas pipelines.” The initial revenue associated with this contract is a nominal fixed fee which recovers OneBridge costs associated with the project. OneSoft’s objective is to retain this Client as a commercial customer that uses CIM on an ongoing basis to generate recurring revenues in accordance with the Company’s software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) business model. ABOUT THE CLIENT The Client is a USA-based company which, together with its publicly traded partnerships, is a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (“NGLs”), crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. The Client currently has an asset base that exceeds $50 billion, due to expansions from organic growth opportunities and acquisitions. Its operations include multiple NGLs, crude oil and natural gas storage facilities, refineries, processing plants, comprehensive terminal and transportation systems, natural gas marketing and an extensive list of petrochemical and refined products and services. The Client’s major projects include significant investments in software and technology to streamline operations, reduce costs and provide for future growth. ABOUT THE CIM PILOT PROJECT Pursuant to the terms of the arrangement, OneBridge will normalize the Client’s inline inspection (“ILI”) data for segments of its pipeline, ingest and classify the data, and align all features to calculate anomaly growth rates. Using OneBridge proprietary Pattern Detection and Interacting Threats data science algorithms, the solution is designed to detect threats using Predictive Analytics, while providing advanced business intelligence, graphical presentations, and reporting of the data that assists clients to predict pipeline failures and thereby save lives, protect the environment, reduce operational costs and address regulatory compliance requirements. Visit www.onebridgesolutions.com for more information. OneBridge utilizes proprietary data science and machine learning algorithms, and predictive analytics applied to structured and unstructured big data on a highly scalable level to provide pipeline companies with the functionality they require to safely operate, manage and maintain their pipeline infrastructure as smart assets. The OneBridge CIMTM solution is deployed as a SaaS application leveraging Data Science, Azure Machine Learning, Microsoft Power BI Embedded and other components of the Microsoft Azure: Cloud Platform and Services. ABOUT ONESOFT SOLUTIONS AND ONEBRIDGE OneSoft has developed software technology and products that have capability to transition legacy, on premise licensed software applications to operate on the Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT”) Cloud, in conjunction with Office 365, CRM Online, Microsoft BI and Microsoft Azure Machine Learning. OneSoft's business strategy is to seek opportunities to convert legacy business software applications that are historically cumbersome to deploy and costly to operate, to a more cost-efficient subscription-based business model utilizing the Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform and Services, with accessibility through any internet capable device. Visit www.onesoft.ca for more information. OneBridge develops and markets revolutionary new SaaS solutions that use data science and Machine Learning and predictive analytics applied to big data for the Oil & Gas pipeline industry, which assists operators to predict pipeline failures and thereby save lives, protect the environment, reduce operational costs and address regulatory compliance requirements. Visit www.onebridgesolutions.com for more information.

Serious Success of Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft CEO spoke about the company’s productivity at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media conference in San Francisco, California. He particularly mentioned Azure cloud infrastructure and its possible opportunities. Hosting different applications has never been easier and now it seems quite promising. Also, Satya Nadella spoke about the Microsoft Power BI service, which has significantly grown in the last days. Microsoft Office 365 has serious potential for growth, said the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella. The software is recording a great success and can outgrow anything that Microsoft has produced in 43 years long history. Microsoft Office 365 business edition has big competitors, such as Google, Dropbox, and Box. All of them are in the same race to bring as many companies as possible to their cloud services. Cooperation in apps managing is obviously very important and the battle is in progress. Despite the fact, Satya Nadella said that the opportunity for growth with different lines from Office 365 is a lot larger than anything we have managed to achieve in the past. Even a company’s high penetration in the client-server sphere cannot be so successful. When a firm moves from a traditional Microsoft licensing to a cloud-based subscription, it is not an equal transition, Satya Nadella said Morgan Stanely analyst at the conference. The company also created and introduced Microsoft 365 package that includes regular Office 365 line with Windows 10 as well as enterprise security together with a mobility service. Nadella discussed the Microsoft potential in the Azure cloud infrastructure field, where the company has very serious competitors, such as Google and Amazon Web Service. It is not an easy thing to play against such opponents, but Microsoft is going to win, according to clear indicators. “The company had a great business in the server business, but this is much bigger and better than what we considered as a successful server business,” said Satya Nadella. Microsoft has also discovered a growing revenue with cloud-based business intelligence sales. The software for mapping and evaluating corporate data compound with a Power Bi-product is bringing a significant income. It also competes with Salesforce’s Cloud and Tableau. “Microsoft started from nowhere and has become the leader in BI and in the cloud, The company assumes Power Bi to reach a $500 million annualized rate for the 2018 fiscal year,” Nadella also added. The Dynamics 365 package that includes tools for administering relationships with clients, grew seventy percent in the last quarter, Nadella explained. Satya Nadella became the head of Microsoft four years ago. Steve Ballmer was his predecessor.

Innovative New Solution Helps Microsoft CSP Partners Deliver Exceptional Customer Service

RESTON, Va., March 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Gold-Certified Partner IOTAP today announced the launch of its innovative Work 365 Apps, a fully integrated customer experience platform for Microsoft Partners and Cloud Solution Providers (CSP) built on Dynamics 365. Work 365 helps Microsoft CSP Partners grow revenue, provide exceptional customer service, and increase profit margins by unifying common functional areas in a single solution. These areas include: - Billing and Invoicing for Cloud and Subscription Service - Customer Service and Incident Management - Self Service and Automatic provisioning - E-commerce and payments "This system was built to overcome the challenges that Microsoft CSP Partners face every day when handling customer billing, subscription and service management," said Ismail Nalwala, IOTAP's co-CEO. "Our solution is built on Dynamics 365 using the Partner's IURs, which allows the partner to keep ownership of all the data. Dynamics 365 is at the core of the digital transformation agenda and partners that use Dynamics 365 to run their business will be able to help their own customers with these initiatives." Work 365 empowers Microsoft direct and indirect CSPs to deliver exceptional customer service experiences by simplifying the sales and billing process so that Partners can focus on creating unique service and product offerings that help them stand out and grow. To learn more about Work 365 or register for a demo, visit www.work365apps.com

Xiaomi signs a strategic memorandum with Microsoft hoping big in the global market

Xiaomi has gained immense popularity as a smartphone company in its home country, China, as well as in India; but it has yet to make it big in the US. In the latest move today, Xiaomi has signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with Microsoft to deepen its partnership and enhance both product services and sales by cooperating in the fields of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and hardware products. The Strategic Framework MoU outlines the following: 1. Cloud Service Support: Xiaomi plans to utilize Microsoft’s Smart Cloud Azure platform to provide international users with better data storage, bandwidth, computing, and other cloud services. 2. Laptops: Xiaomi and Microsoft shall cooperate through means of joint marketing, channel support, and future product development for Xiaomi’s laptop and laptop-type devices to ensure that the Xiaomi devices can make their way into the international markets. 3. Smart Speakers integrating Microsoft Xiaona (Cortana) and Mi AI: The latest cooperation might contribute to the development of Cortana powered AI speakers by Xiaomi. 4. Extensive AI services collaboration : With Microsoft’s AI technologies like Computer Vision, Speech, Natural Language Processing, Text Input, Conversational AI, Knowledge Graph and Search, and AI products and services, like Bing, Edge, Cortana, XiaoIce, SwiftKey, Translator, Pix, Cognitive Services, and Skype; and Xiaomi’s experience in dealing with smart hardware, big data; its smart device ecosystem, and the significant breakthroughs in core AI technologies; the collaboration is bound to bring together the best hardware-software integration to ensure enhanced user experience. Xiaomi is one of the most innovative companies in China, and it is becoming increasingly popular in various markets around the world. Microsoft’s unique strengths and experience in AI, as well as our products like Azure, will enable Xiaomi to develop more cutting-edge technology for everyone around the world – Dr. Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence and Research Group For his part, Wang Xiang, Global Senior Vice President and Head of International Business, Xiaomi, has said, “Microsoft has been a great partner and we are delighted to see both companies deepening this relationship with this strategic MoU. Xiaomi’s mission is to deliver innovation to everyone around the world. By collaborating with Microsoft on multiple technology areas, Xiaomi will accelerate our pace to bring more exciting products and services to our users. At the same time, this partnership would allow Microsoft to reach more users around the world who are using Xiaomi products.”

Kagan: Why Microsoft Cortana AI is still not well-known

Why is Microsoft Cortana still the great unknown in the world of AI? We’ve all heard the excitement and read countless stories around the continual advancement of artificial intelligence with Apple Siri, Google Home, Amazon Alexa and countless others. Why then can’t Microsoft seem to get any traction? This is a marketing failure on the part of Microsoft. This is the kind of failure we have seen them suffer with the Lumia smartphone over the last decade. This is something they need to correct before it’s too late. Before the AI change wave passes them by and leaves them behind. Past success for Microsoft kept them from learning the importance of tools for growth. Marketing, advertising, public relations, media relations, analyst relations and more have not really been an effective tool for the company. Yesterday, that was not a problem since the company was only about Windows and software like Word and Outlook and their only real competitor was Apple. However, going forward, things are very different. Marketing is weak link in Microsoft chain The future is about AI, the cloud, wireless and so many new and different areas. There is fierce competition from heavy hitters like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple and many smaller players as well. In this new marketplace, winning companies capture the imagination with their marketing and messaging. Unfortunately, marketing is a weak spot with Microsoft, and always has been. While that didn’t matter in the past, it is important going forward. Their failure with the Lumia smartphones over the last decade is an important lesson to them, their customers and investors. Considering how poorly Cortana is doing in the marketplace today with regards to buzz, I don’t think Microsoft has learned this lesson yet. AI is the future. Microsoft can be a key player in that future. They are a player in the AI space with Cortana. However, over the last several years as we have seen artificial intelligence get better and stronger, we have not heard much at all from the Cortana front. Microsoft Cortana is barely visible in AI marketplace Cortana was developed by Microsoft to help users work with Windows 10 using their voice, along with the touch screen and keyboard on their computer. It has been in the marketplace since 2015. It has quietly grown and is now also available on Apple iOS and Google Android devices through an app. That’s all good. However, they are not part of the growing AI discussion. Microsoft says nearly 150 million people use Cortana, but if that is the case, I think we should hear more about this technology. One reason may be that while 150 million people may have enabled it and tried it, many may not use it as much as they use Siri, Home and Alexa. There is a difference. Perhaps one reason is it’s not written about, so it is not talked about. After all, a company can have the best technology, but if it’s not written about and hot on the marketing front, it will never make it. While lesser quality competitors with better marketing can thrive. This is disturbing, but true. Cortana isn’t part of AI conversation like Siri, Google Home, Amazon Alexa Microsoft is a heavy hitter. They have the most customers with Windows on the business side and the consumer side, so they have a rich environment to grow in. That’s why I expected them to really hit it out of the park. If that’s the case, why don’t we hear more about Cortana? It should lead the conversation any time we talk about AI. However, it’s quiet. It’s like Microsoft in the smartphone space. Who do we think about in this space? Apple Siri and Google Now on the iPhone and Android smartphones. We also think of Amazon Alexa or Echo and Google Home with home AI devices. Both of these spaces are rapidly growing and are capturing the attention of consumers and business customers. Their advancements are sometimes rapid and bigger than life. Other times companies struggle with this new technology. AI growth wave rises, crests and falls Either way, Cortana is not part of that discussion and this needs to be fixed. This is an important black hole that Microsoft needs to be aware of. Something that can cause problems in the future if they don’t get a handle on it today. They failed with their smartphones over the last decade. They can’t have another failure with AI. Every company needs to be on the radar of investors, customers, competitors, the media, analysts, everywhere. That means they need to have a great marketing strategy. This seems to be a problem at Microsoft today. So, this is a warning to Microsoft. I always talk about the growth wave. How companies are either rising or growing, or they’ve crested, or they are falling. Companies need to be on the growth side of the wave or it will pass them by. If the growth wave passes them by, they will find it a very challenging job to get back on and ride that growth wave like their hot competitors.

New Partnership between Microsoft, Artesian and Innervate Helps Financial Services Organisations Maximise their Investment in CRM and drive adoption

(MENAFN Editorial) Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Artesian Integration Announcement 19th February 2018: Artesian Solutions, the powerful Artificial Intelligence driven relationship intelligence service that equips client facing teams with the resources they need to succeed in a modern commercial environment, is delighted to announce a new strategic channel partnership with Microsoft and IT services company Innervate Technology Solutions to enable financial service organisations to supercharge their investment in Microsoft Dynamics 365. Artesian logo Financial Service Organisations are always looking for ways to strengthen customer relationships and improve efficiencies. The Artesian-Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration enables businesses to supercharge their CRM investment by augmenting their mission-critical data with real time news, social media and people insights. By providing customer-facing teams with deep, relevant and actionable insights, they are able to understand the needs of their customers better, ensuring they never miss an opportunity to start a conversation, or get an inside track on their most valuable customers. By building a strong partnership with two of the UK's leading experts in transformative IT change for financial services, Artesian is facilitating a rapid deployment service that will assist financial services organisations to optimise the performance of the sales and marketing technology stack. Several of Artesian's existing customers have already deployed the integration including RBS, Metro Bank and Towergate Insurance and in doing so have boosted productivity, increased market share, and met customer demand for more sophisticated, intelligent and responsive engagement. Speaking about the partnership, Andrew Yates CEO at Artesian commented: "This partnership between Artesian, Microsoft and Innervate is a fantastic example of leading vendors in B2B software transformation coming together to bring next generation solutions to market. The integration, which uses AI technology to monitor and filter both structured and unstructured data based on a wide range of attributes, individual preferences and relevance, provides commercial teams with a complete 360° view of the customer ecosystem, and the functionality to respond proactively to live customer dynamics with more accuracy than ever before. The result - financial service organisations can further monetise their investment in Microsoft Dynamics 365 as well as driving adoption and compliance." David Brown, Director Dynamics 365 - EMEA at Microsoft commented on the news: "we have seen great traction with the combination of Dynamics 365 and Artesian particularly in the major banks in the UK. The Artesian service delivers proven relationship intelligence purpose-built for commercial people, fully-integrated into Dynamics 365 (on-premise and cloud) and validated by the Microsoft team." Andy Startin, CEO at Innervate said: "Our continued focus for 2018 is on ensuring that our platforms and solutions reflect the evolving needs of the Financial Services marketplace and our clients. By partnering with Artesian we can use our extensive expertise in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and take this to the next level for our clients by creating a system of engagement (using Artesian) to complement the system of record which is CRM". NOTES TO THE EDITORS For more information about Artesian Solutions please contact: Kelly Prior, PR Consultant Tel: 07730 572878 Email: About Artesian Artesian is a powerful AI driven service that equips client facing teams with the resources they need to succeed in a modern commercial environment. Apps that drive action. MI that measures impact. A service that inspires and coaches. Artesian provides the data, real-time insight and context needed to find customers, create meaningful engagements, sell more and create long-lasting business relationships. With the use of AI technology layered on top of company information, data and news, Artesian helps you uncover opportunities, build relationships and accelerate deals. Artesian continually scans millions of online sources for data on markets, organisations, individuals and topics, and uses sophisticated algorithms to filter and transform that information into commercially valuable insights. With Artesian, you can track your customers, prospects, competitors and partners; spot and capitalise on business opportunities; and manage risks in your pipeline. Artesian helps drive customer alignment, credibility, competitiveness and client satisfaction. Artesian is headquartered in the U.K, with offices in London and Winnersh, Berkshire. Headquartered in the US in Boston, Massachusetts. About Innervate Technology Solutions Innervate is a Microsoft Gold Partner that delivers mission critical solutions to financial services organisations looking to transform the way they provide their services. Innervate solutions can be easily configured to meet the needs of your business, align to your customer's demands and can provide an omnichannel experience to ensure that you stay ahead of your competition. Retaining your existing customer base whilst attracting new customers is an ever increasing requirement as technology changes and customers adopt new ways of interacting and buying. Innervate will advise and lead you through this change, to help you meet today's business demands and tomorrows technology changes. Dynamics 365, a solution for digital transformation together with Artesian, are powerful tools that will provide insight to meet your demands now and well into the future. Innervate is headquartered in High Holborn, the heart of London UK.

Microsoft and Xiaomi to collaborate on AI, cloud computing and hardware

After Microsoft signed a deal to test Windows 10 on Xiaomi devices in 2015 and then Xiaomi bought a trove of patents to help run other Microsoft services on its devices in 2016, today the two companies announced another chapter in its collaboration. Xiaomi and Microsoft have signed a Strategic Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work more closely in the areas of cloud computing, AI (including Microsoft’s Cortana business) and hardware. To date, Xiaomi has largely focused its mobile phone strategy in Asia Pacific, where Gartner revealed yesterday that it (and Huawei) were the only two vendors to increase their market shares at a time of general decline. This deal could point to how Xiaomi is looking to raise its game in the West, specifically in the US, especially as it eyes up an IPO that has been reported to potentially value the company at $100 billion. On the side of Microsoft, it’s particularly interesting given that the company has largely pulled back on a lot of its hardware efforts, and has visibly had some major stumbles in this area especially in mobile — most recently with its failure to take on and grow the Nokia mobile business and Windows Mobile. Understanding that mobile isn’t an area that Microsoft can quite step away from altogether, it seems that the company is going to have one more go now on with a different partner (one that is still on the rise) and a different approach. “Xiaomi is one of the most innovative companies in China, and it is becoming increasingly popular in various markets around the world,” said Harry Shum, EVP of Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence and Research Group, in a statement. “Microsoft’s unique strengths and experience in AI, as well as our products like Azure, will enable Xiaomi to develop more cutting-edge technology for everyone around the world.” “Microsoft has been a great partner and we are delighted to see both companies deepening this relationship with this strategic MoU,” Wang Xiang, Global Senior Vice President and Head of International Business, Xiaomi, added in his statement. “Xiaomi’s mission is to deliver innovation to everyone around the world. By collaborating with Microsoft on multiple technology areas, Xiaomi will accelerate our pace to bring more exciting products and services to our users. At the same time, this partnership would allow Microsoft to reach more users around the world who are using Xiaomi products.” The deal covers four major areas of services for the two companies. Cloud support will include Xiaomi using Microsoft Azure for data storage, bandwidth and computing and other cloud services. Meanwhile, Xiaomi’s efforts in laptops and “laptop-style devices” that run Windows will be co-marketed by Microsoft. Then Microsoft is also going to be talking with Xiaomi on how to improve collaboration on AI-powered speakers using Cortana. That appears to be just the start for the company’s AI collaborations. They also “intend to explore multiple cooperative projects based on a broad range of Microsoft AI technologies, such as Computer Vision, Speech, Natural Language Processing, Text Input, Conversational AI, Knowledge Graph and Search, as well as related Microsoft AI products and services, such as Bing, Edge, Cortana, XiaoIce, SwiftKey, Translator, Pix, Cognitive Services and Skype,” Microsoft said in a statement. No financial terms to the arrangement are being given at this time, a Microsoft spokesperson said.