Microsoft recently announced plans to work with Ernst & Young. The deal is intended to leverage current tools to help consumers with digital adoption, enhance workers’ productivity and offer companies greater return for their investments in digital technologies. Not long ago, the software giant entered into a similar partnership with KPMG.
Azure the main focus
Such partnerships are not new for Microsoft, as the firm’s consulting services have had a relationship with the above-mentioned companies for quite a while. However, the recent link-up with EY will focus not only on getting the companies to use Azure, but also to introduce them to the cloud’s more expensive services, such as data analytics. Moreover, the EY-Microsoft partnership will assist firms in making the most of their investment on digital technologies, as they develop into a ‘highly digitally-enabled enterprise’, as claimed by Mark Weinberger, CEO of Ernst & Young.
Furthermore, the agreement between the two companies also emphasizes delivering advance program management schemes and purpose-driven transformation. Along with this, the deal will strengthen cybersecurity in various industries, and will install a number of enterprise products on Azure.
Will the new deal help Microsoft against Apple-IBM?
This relationship is going to be important for Microsoft considering IBM has linked-up with Apple to try and lure people away from the software giant. Moreover, Azure is expected to encounter considerable competition from Amazon, which is currently the biggest provider of the cloud services in the market. But, as reported by Business Insider, Microsoft is making continuous efforts in expanding its cloud services. The company has succeeded in getting a large number of customers to sign-up for Azure accounts and is now working hard to ensure that they use its cloud service and other expensive Azure-associated services.
In addition, Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, suggested that the company’s reliable cloud abilities coupled with EY’s consulting services will facilitate ‘customers [to] turn data insights into action, deliver measurable business outcomes and accelerate their transformations.’ From EY’s perspective, the new services will support the company’s operations in both data analytics and cyber security.
