Microsoft and AT&T Announce Strategic Alliance

New innovations with AI, 5G, and cloud on the horizon

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Unified Communications

Published: August 6, 2019

Rebekah Carter - Writer

Rebekah Carter

Leading technology company, Microsoft recently revealed details on its decision to invest in a multi-year alliance with communications company AT&T this year. The two brands will be working together to combine cloud, AI, and 5G technologies to enhance the way we live and work today. The partnership will make Microsoft the go-to cloud provider for AT&T’s non-network applications. Additionally, Microsoft will be supporting AT&T on its mission to consolidate its data centre operations and infrastructure.

The new alliance with Microsoft is a bold step on AT&T’s journey towards becoming a public cloud-first company, migrating non-network workloads into the public clouds at speed. The company hopes to have most non-network loads on the cloud by 2024. This new initiative will help AT&T to focus on accelerating its innovation for customers while reducing expenses.

What Does the New Partnership Mean?

According to the new agreement, AT&T will be providing its workforce with a selection of state-of-the-art cloud-based tools for collaboration and productivity. These tools are coming from Microsoft 365, and AT&T is planning to migrate their non-network infrastructure apps into the Microsoft Azure cloud platform going forward too.

The connection between the two brands is intended to open the door to a more innovative tech future featuring things like 5G connectivity and edge computing. AT&T was the first brand to bring 5G mobile to the United States, and the company expects to have this tech available nationwide by 2020. Microsoft is also going to be tapping into the innovative 5G network to design and build new edge-computing offerings. With lower-latency connections and edge-computing, AT&T’s network infrastructure devices will be able to process data much faster.

This collaborative strategy comes soon after Microsoft and AT&T worked together to test a tracking and detection system designed for drones using edge-computing. The potential of AT&T’s domestic 5G capabilities combined with the incredible scale of Microsoft’s Azure cloud will enable the two companies to create unique solutions for their customers. Together, they’ll be bringing integrated solutions to the market in the areas of intelligent edge networking, collaboration and conferencing, voice, IoT, cybersecurity and public safety.

Expanding on an Existing Partnership

John Donovan
John Donovan

AT&T and Microsoft already have joint enterprise solutions in place for blockchain initiatives, IoT, and networking, and they expect that new services will be available this year. The power of 5G should allow both organisations to deliver almost real-time communication for people using AI-powered voice translation to connect with people speaking different languages.

According to the CEO of AT&T, John Donovan, both Microsoft, and AT&T are committed to designing technology that improves quality of life around the world. Working together on 5G, cloud, and AI tech will help the brands to deliver amazing opportunities for their communities. The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, also noted that he was delighted that AT&T had chosen to work alongside Microsoft on these new efforts for accelerated innovation. Microsoft will be applying the power of Microsoft 365 and Azure to AT&T’s workforce, to change the way that the team collaborates and innovates.

Alongside their tech-based partnership, Microsoft and AT&T will also be working together on tech-enabled approaches aimed at supporting the social good. The two brands have been working on addressing community challenges like homelessness in recent years.

 

 

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