Vodafone is the first telco to join the “Ambizione Italia Cloud Region Partner Alliance”, the ecosystem of Microsoft partners to accelerate
the digital transformation of the country for the next Microsoft Cloud Region in Italy
November 17, 2022 – Vodafone Business and Microsoft announce a strategic alliance focused on the Cloud and Connectivity to accelerate the digitization of Italian companies to help them respond to global challenges and promote their sustainable growth. The collaboration, which includes joint strategic investments in training, marketing and development, aims to offer Italian companies integrated Microsoft Azure cloud managed services solutions and advanced connectivity that simplifies cloud migration.
The strengthening of the collaboration between the two companies is aimed at public and private organizations of all sizes in our country: with a particular focus on small and medium-sized Italian companies that need specific services and solutions, aimed at promoting their digitization. With this agreement, Vodafone becomes the first among the TLC companies in Italy to join the “Ambizione Italia Cloud Region Partner Alliance”, the ecosystem of partners at the forefront of the development of the first Microsoft Data Center region in Italy.
“The digital economy will be the critical factor for Italy’s recovery. Only with digitization will we be able to generate that leap in productivity capable of making our businesses competitive – he declares Aldo Bisio, CEO of Vodafone Italy. With Vodafone Business we accompany companies in this transformation process, also thanks to an ecosystem of national and international alliances. Partnering with Microsoft further strengthens our ability to enable new business and operating models, through integrated solutions that exploit next-generation technologies, 5G, Edge Computing and IoT, and through building cross-sector skills to support digitization.” .
“We are happy to reinforce the collaboration with Vodafone in our country, based on the solid foundations of the initiatives that we have launched in recent years to support the digitization of public and private companies,” he said. Silvia Candiani CEO of Microsoft Italy. Today, in the face of complex global challenges, digital represents both an efficiency and a sustainable development factor for organizations: by combining Microsoft Cloud services, also for the upcoming Data Center in the Italian Region, with advanced connectivity, IoT, 5G, Vodafone’s Edge and the skills of experts can give new impetus to the acceleration of innovation in Italy.”
Within the framework of this new collaboration, the joint objective of Vodafone Business and Microsoft is to develop and make available effective, secure and flexible vertical digital solutions based on Microsoft Azure Cloud and the Vodafone network, taking advantage of technologies such as 5G, Edge Computing and IoT for different sectors, from manufacturing to retail, from the fashion sector to the hospitality sector. At Vodafone Business, a team of experts in digitization and Microsoft solutions will accompany customers on their journey of digital transformation and migration to the Cloud.
Companies of all sizes will be able to benefit from the integration of Cloud platforms and applications with Vodafone Business fixed and mobile connectivity solutions, being able to count on direct access to the services provided by the upcoming Microsoft Region Data Center in Italy in addition to the existing now abroad, and in maximum network performance in terms of speed, security and redundancy, as well as timely and dedicated support.
Vodafone stands as a leading player in supporting organizations to take advantage of the services offered by the upcoming first Microsoft Cloud Region in Italy, to be created in Milan as part of the global network of Azure data centers that includes more than 60 regions, 200 data centers, 4 million servers and 190 Edge Zones. The objective of the “Cloud Region Partner Alliance”, as part of Microsoft Italy’s broader “Ambizione Italia Digital Restart” five-year plan, is to promote innovation on the Italian territory in an increasingly widespread way and to simplify access for Italian companies . to local cloud services with the benefit of an international network and with the maximum guarantees of cybersecurity, compliance and data sovereignty.
Equally relevant, within the framework of the collaboration between both companies, will be the joint development of voice offers in Teams and Cybersecurity. In particular, in this field, Vodafone Business and Microsoft Italy want to promote the creation of a digital culture based on security and data protection, focusing on offering effective cybersecurity services to protect small and medium-sized companies from increasingly sophisticated attacks. and directed.
The renewed partnership builds on an already profitable relationship between the two companies and already includes solutions that support companies in the new hybrid work environment, to boost business productivity while improving employee engagement and well-being in more flexible work patterns. The effective and secure solutions include the integration of Microsoft products (for example, Microsoft 365, Teams) with Vodafone services (from connectivity to the most innovative services such as IoT), with the aim of helping companies create a new workspace in which, in total security, the possibility of connecting remote work with face-to-face work is guaranteed, exchanging and accessing information and data in real time.