Microsoft and NEC Expand Strategic Partnership to Boost Business Resiliency and Growth

TOKYO,
JAPAN and REDMOND, WASH. – Media
OutReach – 13 July 2021 – Microsoft
Corp. (Microsoft) and NEC
Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) on Tuesday announced an expansion
of their decades-long collaboration. Through a new multi-year strategic
partnership, the companies will leverage Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, NEC’s network
and IT expertise, including 5G technologies, and each other’s AI and IoT solutions
to help enterprise customers and the public sector across multiple markets and
industries further accelerate their cloud adoption and digital transformation initiatives.

 

The
partnership will see NEC adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform to
deliver enhanced capabilities to drive sustained digitalization, help customers
transform their business models, and build Digital Workplaces for the post-pandemic
“new normal.”

 

To
accelerate NEC’s Digital Workplace innovation and workforce transformation, the
companies will work together to migrate NEC’s on-premises IT environment to
Azure and deploy Azure Virtual Desktop and other Azure services among the NEC
Group’s 110,000 employees worldwide. This modernization builds on NEC’s existing
Microsoft 365 platform and will enable a highly sustainable environment that is
more secure and robust, accelerating cloud migration for NEC and its customers
throughout the commercial and public sector in Japan and around the world.

 

The
companies will work together to help improve digital services for public sector
and enterprise customers through workplace and workforce transformation.
Greater speed and lower-latency data connections will provide high-performance
network experiences to create more efficient workplaces and empower employees
to realize more personalized work styles for public sector as well as private
sector customers.

 

Leveraging
the assets of both companies, including Microsoft’s Intelligent Edge solutions and
NEC’s private 5G networking technologies, the companies will work together to help
customers across industries transform. In retail, for example, the two
companies will work together to analyze customer transaction data in real time
using AI to better understand buying patterns, improve operational efficiency
and identify new market opportunities.

 

The
combination of Azure and both companies’ AI and IoT technologies and expertise
will enhance NEC’s customer experience through advanced solutions and enable more
secure maintenance and operation of stores. In addition, NEC and Microsoft plan
to explore network innovation initiatives built on Microsoft Azure for
enterprise domains and specific industries.

 

Through
the partnership, the companies will work together to double the number of
digital-focused engineers within the NEC Group who are specialized in Microsoft
technologies. This investment in technical capabilities and the expertise of
NEC’s employees will help ensure customers’ digital transformation success,
benefiting the market and society.

 

“As
we’ve seen over the past year, digital adoption curves are accelerating across
every industry and business function,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO,
Microsoft. “Our strategic partnership with NEC brings together the power of
Azure and Microsoft 365 with NEC’s services and infrastructure expertise to
help public and private sector customers build resilience and transform during
this era of rapid change.”

 

“NEC
is pleased to enter into this strategic collaboration with Microsoft Corp.,”
said Takayuki Morita, president and CEO of NEC Corporation. “With Microsoft’s trusted
cloud and services, the experience that NEC has cultivated in its own systems,
and both companies’ AI and IoT technologies, we will enable companies globally
to use digital services that are safer and more secure than ever before as they
progress with digital initiatives.”

 

“The
need for sustainable transformation to ensure business resiliency and
growth has never been more important in the world and especially Japan,” said Hitoshi Yoshida, president &
CEO, Microsoft Japan. “Our partnership will help accelerate the industry’s
cloud-based digital transformation and utilization of data
migration and help Japan’s continued success globally, leading to greater
economic and societal prosperity.”

 

This
announcement is based on a history of strong collaboration between Microsoft
and NEC spanning more than 40 years.