Walmart said today, July 17, that it is in a strategic partnership with Microsoft based on the wide usage of cloud and AI technologies.
The agreement is for 5 years, where Walmart will take full advantage of the cloud solutions of Microsoft that of course, include Microsoft 365 and Azure. According to the retail giant, this will bring added convenience to its customers, making shopping experiences easier and faster.
The partnership entails the cooperation of the engineers from both the companies for transferring a significant part of walmart.com and samsclub.com to Microsoft Azure. The entire deal is an effort of Walmart in its path to compete with Amazon.
As for Microsoft, this will serve as an excellent opportunity to extend the use of its technology that can eliminate checkout lines and cashiers from stores. Interestingly, this technology of Microsoft is used by Amazon, a rival for Walmart.
This brings up debates and questions as Amazon is basically more powerful on its own as compared to Walmart, with its own cloud service, AWS.
Walmart is a pioneering retailer, committed to empowering its employees and delivering the best experience for its customers wherever they are. The world’s leading companies run on our cloud, and I’m thrilled to partner with Walmart to accelerate their digital transformation with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. – Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
The mentioned tech has been marketed by Microsoft worldwide already, and Walmart may just can’t wait to include this in the agreement. This means that a potential collaboration on using this particular tech is on the way. It would empower Walmart in rivaling Amazon.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said ” Whether it’s combined with our agile cloud platform or leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to work smarter, we believe Microsoft will be a strong partner in driving our ability to innovate even further and faster.”
