Summary: Walmart selected Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud provider under a five-year agreement that encompasses the full range of Azure and 365 services.
Details: Walmart has been using Azure since its 2016 acquisition of Jet.com and will now deploy Microsoft’s machine learning, AI, IoT and data platform solutions for customer-facing services and internal business apps. It plans to standardise on Azure across its infrastructure and all lines of business, and migrate hundreds of existing apps to Azure as well as a significant portion of its walmart.com and samsclub.com sites. It will also build a global IoT platform on Azure, for a wide range of uses like connected HVAC and refrigeration units to reduce energy use in its stores, and seek to extract greater value from its customer data. Microsoft 365 will be rolled out in stages to boost collaboration, and will incorporate Microsoft Workplace Analytics, Microsoft Stream and Microsoft OneDrive.
Angle: Walmart is never going to be an AWS customer given its intense rivalry with Amazon, but nevertheless this is a big win for Microsoft as Walmart also uses Google in some areas like smart home e-commerce. Microsoft’s strength lies in the breadth of its offering across cloud, AI and 365, and it has also been in talks with Walmart to implement Microsoft cashier-free store technology like the Amazon Go concept. The deal could well open up further retail opportunities for Microsoft.
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