Microsoft and NTT announce multi-year alliance to build digital enterprise solutions on Azure

Microsoft today announced a multi-year alliance with Japan’s NTT Corporation to deliver enterprise solutions on top of Azure cloud platform. In this partnership, NTT will bring its ICT infrastructure, managed services and cybersecurity expertise to the table, while Microsoft will bring its trusted Azure cloud platform and AI expertise. NTT has also announced that it has selected Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform.

Key initiatives of the alliance include:

• Formation of a Global Digital Fabric: Global Digital Fabric is a combination of Microsoft Cloud and NTT’s globally connected ICT infrastructure. It brings together the strengths of the two companies in the areas of productivity solutions, public cloud, global datacenter and network infrastructure. The Global Digital Fabric aims to create a highly sustainable, secure and robust environment for enterprises to accelerate their digital ambitions around the world.
• Development of digital enterprise solutions: The alliance also covers the development of digital solutions built on Microsoft Azure to empower enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation and to operate more securely from the enterprise to the edge to the cloud. Key initiatives include advanced analytics for cybersecurity threat intelligence, social robotics with relational AI for digital companions, digital workplace solutions, as well as knowledge discovery and management.
• Co-innovation of next-generation technologies: The alliance will also explore research and development of all-photonics network and digital twin computing as part of NTT’s Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) concept. The goal is to provide a more natural interaction between people, nature and technology, and to support sustainable growth with an optical-based networking and information processing platform of the future.

“NTT is committed to helping enterprises realize their digital transformation initiatives to help create a smarter world. We believe that the combination of the Microsoft Azure platform along with NTT’s connected infrastructure and service delivery capabilities will accelerate these efforts. Additionally, the companies will collaborate on IOWN, including areas such as all-photonics network and digital twin computing,” said Jun Sawada, President and CEO of NTT.

“Our strategic alliance combines NTT’s global infrastructure and services expertise with the power of Azure,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “Together, we will build new solutions spanning AI, cybersecurity and hybrid cloud, as we work to help enterprise customers everywhere accelerate their digital transformation.”

Source: Microsoft