Microsoft Highlights New Solutions for 'Connected Experiences' in the Retail and Hospitality Industry at National Retail Federation Annual Convention & EXPO

Microsoft and its community of partners will showcase how they are delivering exceptional business value in enabling retail customers to deploy and manage mission-critical solutions on the Windows platform.

News provided by

Microsoft Corp.

Jan 06, 2011, 12:00 ET

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

Where:	National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention & EXPO
	Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
	655 W. 34th St.
	New York, NY 10001

When:	Jan. 9–12, 2011

What:	At NRF 2011, Microsoft Corp. and its community of partners will showcase how they are delivering exceptional business value in enabling customers to deploy and manage mission-critical solutions on the Windows platform. Microsoft is unique in bringing together a breadth of consumer and enterprise cloud capabilities in conjunction with a familiar technology and productivity platform and a broad developer ecosystem to provide retail enterprises with the IT flexibility and choice they need to run their businesses and compete in today's global economy.

Microsoft Booth No. 836 will feature the following:

Connecting customers. Microsoft and its partners continue to help retail companies succeed in today's competitive global marketplace by meeting the demand for a highly personalized and connected shopper experience. Demonstrations will showcase how retailers can engage and serve their customers at an individual, demographic and local level — critical elements to attract and retain customers in an increasingly connected and mobile world.
Connecting stores. Microsoft will demonstrate advanced technologies to help retailers build a modern store architecture that can make their staff and resources more effective through automating systems administration, improving sales productivity and improving stock management.
Connecting operations. Retailers can help increase productivity and improve operational efficiencies in the back office with technologies that are designed to support tighter store-to-headquarters collaboration and enterprise business intelligence. Demonstrations will showcase how retailers can build an efficient retail operation, fueled by an integrated back office with real-time store data feeds, integrated retail management and enterprise resource planning, multichannel capability, and ubiquitous business insight.
Innovation. Microsoft, through its product and engineering teams, incubation labs, core Microsoft Research organization and university partnerships, is deeply involved in supporting and advancing the state of the art in ways that fundamentally transform people's lives and society as a whole. New product offerings such as Kinect for Xbox 360, speech recognition features in Windows Phone 7 and touch capabilities in Windows 7 are evidence of Microsoft's leadership in natural computing and Natural User Interface that is taking the retail user experience beyond today's mouse and keyboard and offering a much richer natural interaction.

Microsoft and Partner News and Highlights:

Microsoft Dynamics will have a major presence at NRF 2011 to show the progress that has been made with Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail, and to highlight customer centricity solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
- Connected operations. Demonstrations will showcase key capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail, as well as complementary solutions from partners, including Aldata Solution.
- Connected customers. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be central to the customer-centric solutions demonstrated by partners Avanade, HCL Technologies and Retaligent Solutions Inc.
Windows Embedded will showcase its platforms and technologies tailored for the retail and hospitality markets, including Windows Embedded POSReady, Windows Embedded Handheld and next-generation digital signage products.
Microsoft partner Retalix Ltd., a leading provider of software and professional services to retailers and distributors worldwide, will announce a new store system utilizing advanced Microsoft technologies to help ensure scalability and resilience, and support an innovative architecture design.
Microsoft partner Lokad will announce Salescast, a Web application for sales forecasting hosted on Windows Azure, for the retail industry.
The Consumer Goods Forum, together with Capgemini, HP and Microsoft, will publish a new report on the "2020 Future Value Chain: Building Strategies for the New Decade."

Other News:

Microsoft and partner executives will participate in NRF's BIG !deas and Super Sessions:

	Tuesday, Jan. 11, 8:30–9:30 a.m.: Super Session: Making the Retail Business Dynamic
	Speaker: Kirill Tatarinov, corporate vice president, Microsoft Business Solutions, and featured guest Bill Fields, chairman, China Horizon
	Monday, Jan. 10, 11:30 a.m.–noon: Translate Customer Understanding Into Differentiated Strategies
	Speaker: Randy Misener, retail solutions director, Avanade
	Monday, Jan. 10, 3–3:30 p.m.: Connecting Your Business to Devices and Customers with Windows Embedded
	Speaker: Barb Edson, senior director of marketing, Windows Embedded, Microsoft
	Monday, Jan. 10, 4:45–5:15 p.m.: Aligning the Agendas of the CMO and CIO
	Speakers: Tom Kersten, national retail director, Microsoft, and Jeong Woo, retail specialist, Microsoft
	Tuesday, Jan. 11, 11:30 a.m.–noon: Winning in Retail Today and Tomorrow
	Speakers: Dilip Popat, global retail industry director, Microsoft Dynamics, and Michael Griffiths, global retail group product director, Microsoft Dynamics
	Tuesday, Jan. 11, 1:45–2:15 p.m.: Connected Customer Centricity: Customer Relationship Management in the Digital Age
	Speakers: Bill Patterson, director, product management, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and Javed Sikander, global retail technology strategist, Microsoft

Who:

Bill Gonzalez, general manager, Worldwide Distribution and Services Sector, Microsoft
Brendan O'Meara, managing director, Worldwide Retail Industry, Microsoft
Kirill Tatarinov, corporate vice president, Microsoft Business Solutions
David Gruehn, retail industry solutions director, U.S. Distribution & Services, Microsoft
Dilip Popat, global retail industry director, Microsoft Dynamics
Barb Edson, senior director of marketing, Windows Embedded, Microsoft
David Wurster, senior product manager, Windows Embedded, Microsoft
John Doyle, group product manager, Windows Embedded Systems and Services, Microsoft

More Details:

More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/retail/events/nrf.
NRF announcements from Windows Embedded and its partners are available at the Windows Embedded News Center.
For the latest NRF news, links and photos follow @MSFTWEB on Twitter.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.