Microsoft and AT&T Announced a $2B Deal to Run Azure and Office 365
Microsoft has announced that it has beat Amazon Web Services to contract with a very well-known telecommunication brand, AT&T, with significant data storage and services for its more than 250,000 staff. This multi-year deal is worth $2B. Due to the deal, AT&T is going to move most of its non-network workloads to Azure, making it a “public cloud first” company by 2024.
In addition to the internal use of Microsoft’s service, the contract will also be for developing artificial intelligence and 5G wireless tools. “Together, we will apply the power of Azure and Microsoft 365 to transform the way AT&T’s workforce collaborates and to shape the future of media and communications for people everywhere,” said Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella.
The deal is not exclusive, and AT&T is permitted to use other cloud services. Recently, AT&T announce another deal with IBM to use its cloud services. It looks as though Microsoft holds the customer side of AT&T, while IBM gets the business side.
Our Take
Many of Microsoft’s recent big clients are coming from the retail market, such as Walmart, Kroger, and Gap, and they do not want to collaborate with Amazon Web Services. The main reason for this is Amazon’s presence as an e-commerce giant in the retail space. On the other hand, Microsoft has been achieving huge success in cloud services by expanding Azure with a 73% growth rate, driving one of Microsoft’s major success factors to become the most valuable publically traded company.
Check out the reviews for Microsoft Azure on SoftwareReviews, Accessed August 21, 2019