Better together: the iManage and Microsoft partnership

One of the highlights of emceeing our 2024 ConnectLive conference in New York, was the opportunity to be up close and personal for a fireside chat between our CEO, Neil Araujo, and Jeff Markowitz, General Manager of Software and Digital Platforms at Microsoft.

During their conversation, they discussed the strong partnership between our companies and the ways that relationship has evolved – and is continuing to evolve – to benefit our customers.

Microsoft and iManage have always had a close working relationship, and over the past couple of years, we’ve worked together to redefine what a strategic partnership could be.

Starting with a shared vision of empowering knowledge workers, we’ve consistently searched for ways to combine forces to help professionals work more effectively, efficiently, and seamlessly.

There have been several important milestones on this front.

For starters, we have successfully worked together to integrate our platforms at a deep, technical level, including our usage of Azure Kubernetes. Many of our customers wanted assurance that we “played nice together”, and we have addressed this at a foundational level.

Thanks to our deep partnership with Microsoft, we have also taken big steps forward in enabling customers to collaborate. For example, we are now able to offer native co-authoring within Microsoft 365. This capability enables users to collaborate on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents simultaneously through any device, with all edits automatically saved to the iManage platform.

This same spirit of partnership is also revealed in the tight integration of the iManage platform with Microsoft Teams, which increasingly plays just as important a role in workers’ everyday lives as their email inboxes.

Unlocking the power of generative AI, together

Perhaps no area better demonstrates the fruits of the Microsoft and iManage partnership than generative AI, which has the potential to completely reshape our work landscape.

During the fireside chat, Jeff asked us to imagine a world where 60-70% of routine tasks are automated, freeing up our time for more creative and strategic endeavors. This isn't just a dream; it's a reality that's within our grasp thanks to generative AI. 

Generative AI stands to significantly boost productivity, with studies suggesting an annual addition of $2.6 to $4.4 trillion across industries. That's a staggering figure that could elevate global GDP by 7% and enhance productivity growth by 1.5 percentage points. The implications are profound, offering us a glimpse into a future where our work is more meaningful, our industries more efficient, and our economic growth more robust. 

iManage and Microsoft have responded to the new reality of AI-powered work by developing an integration between Microsoft Copilot and the iManage platform. This connector bridges our customers’ Microsoft 365 world with their iManage world, all while maintaining a single source of truth in a governed repository. Data is the fuel that powers AI technology – and you need to trust what your technology partners are doing with your data.

Trust is critical to our partnership and the work we do together. We are committed to security, privacy, and compliance across everything we do, and our approach to AI is no different. We are committed to ensuring the proper guardrails are in place so that our customers can leverage AI safely, responsibly, ethically, and effectively.

Ultimately, the phrase “better together” isn’t just a slogan or an aspiration. It defines the essence of the strategic partnership between Microsoft and iManage and the value we continually seek to bring to our customers. We’re excited to continue finding new ways to help our customers achieve more and create better business outcomes.

Learn more about the iManage and Microsoft partnership here.