Microsoft Azure’s recently launched new Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) feature the Ampere Altra Arm-based processor. These new VMs are engineered to efficiently run horizontally scalable workloads such as web servers, application servers, and open source databases. They deliver excellent price-performance and represent an important addition to Microsoft Azure's portfolio of instance types.

In Enterprise Search 8.4, hybrid ranking for vector similarity is now available from the main querying endpoint, commonly known as the _search Elasticsearch endpoint. Introduced as a standalone query endpoint in 8.0, vector querying functionality (specifically, kNN vector similarity) greatly simplifies and accelerates the process of crafting and issuing queries that leverage the native vector querying capabilities of Elasticsearch along with the tried-and-tested traditional scoring algorithms.

Your search application is more powerful than you realize. With these features, you can harness search data to build a better customer experience. What’s the top thing customers want when purchasing online? It’s ease. Experiencing friction for even a fraction of a second may send a shopper to a competitor’s site. It may also mean they don’t return to your site the next time they’re looking to purchase.

For online storefronts, there’s a fine line between a converted sale and a lost opportunity. The slightest overlooked detail on an ecommerce site can lead to customers quickly clicking elsewhere. The key to retaining site visitors and driving clicks that lead to sales lies in the technology behind the customer experience — specifically, search.

When it comes to delivering exceptional results to customers, having an understanding of all the tools at your disposal will give you a leg up. Especially in these uncertain economic times, this is even more important as companies look to gain any advantage possible. Being able to convert browsers into buyers and customers for life by providing the best customer experience will truly usher in this advantage.