Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 13 | Page 73

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology Microsoft and SAP help customers drive business innovation in the cloud ///////////////////////////// M icrosoft and SAP SE have announced integrated offerings to provide enterprise customers with a clear road map to confidently drive more business innovation in the cloud. In a bold show of commitment, the two companies also announced they will be deploying each other’s cloud solutions internally. Through their unique partnership, the companies will co-engineer, go to market together with premier solutions and provide joint support services to ensure the best cloud experience for customers. SAP HANA® Enterprise Cloud – SAP’s privately managed cloud service – on www.intelligentcio.com Microsoft Azure will allow customers to run SAP S/4HANA in a secure, managed cloud. Additionally, Microsoft will deploy SAP S/4HANA® on Azure to help run its own internal finance processes, and SAP will move its key internal business critical systems to Azure. Finally, SAP Ariba is currently utilising Azure and is exploring further use within its procurement applications. Together, SAP and Microsoft will help companies make the most of running SAP applications in the cloud. “As technology transforms every business and every industry, organisations are looking for the right platforms and trusted partners to help accelerate their digital transformation,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Building on our longtime partnership, Microsoft and SAP are harnessing each other’s products to not only power our own organisations, but to empower our enterprise customers to run their most mission-critical applications and workloads with SAP S/4HANA on Azure.” Enterprise companies are increasingly moving business-critical systems to the cloud for the benefits digital transformation provides: better customer relationships, more empowered employees, streamlined INTELLIGENTCIO 73