Welcome to EmergEdge

Insights on product,
technology, and innovation.

A publication exploring the edge of what is emerging — from product strategy to engineering decisions and the ideas shaping modern tech.

Latest posts

2026-11-13

When Email and Chat Go Dark — What the Microsoft 365 Outage Teaches IT Leaders

On November 12, 2026, a Microsoft 365 outage that began with Exchange Online mailboxes spread to Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Copilot and parts of Defender, with more than 120,000 Outlook problem reports on Downdetector at its peak. This post sets out what Microsoft has reported, what is still unknown, and five questions every IT leader should be able to answer about a service they depend on but do not run.

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Microsoft 365OutageBusiness ContinuityITSMAvailability ManagementIncident ManagementIT Leadership

2026-11-12

ERP & CRM — The Systems of Record That Run Everything

Every enterprise platform runs on a vendor clock. SAP's mainstream maintenance for its Business Suite 7 core applications, including ERP 6.0 and CRM 7.0, ends in 2027. Deadlines like that force decisions, and governance decides whether they are good ones. Post 5.1 looks at ERP and CRM as systems of record, and at the four ownership decisions that determine whether these programmes succeed: process, data, customisation and the business case.

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ERPCRMEnterprise GovernanceVendor ManagementMaster DataEnterprise IT Blueprint

2026-11-10

Data Center Cooling: Do You Save Energy by Using Water, or Save Water by Using Energy?

Every cooling design moves its cost from one meter to another. Evaporative systems tend to save energy by using water; dry systems save water by using energy. Uptime Institute's 2025 survey shows average PUE has barely moved in six years, while its earlier research found that only about half of operators track the water they use. This post explains the trade-off, why it matters more as rack densities rise, and the questions to ask before you choose or renew a cooling design.

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Data CenterCoolingPUEWUESustainabilityInfrastructure StrategyUptime Institute