Microsoft Announces a Partnership with Adobe, and New Offerings

Today at its Ignite conference, Microsoft announced a new strategic partnership with Adobe, as the two companies are uniting to assist enterprise companies in delivering personalized experiences to customers at every stage of their journey. In addition, Microsoft launched a number of new products and services, including a personal analytics platform that aims to improve collaboration between team members and leaders, as well as additional artificial intelligence capabilities.

The partnership with Adobe will see Adobe adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform for Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Adobe Document Cloud, a move that will provide Adobe with machine learning and cognitive capabilities. Additionally, Microsoft will make Adobe Marketing Cloud its preferred marketing service for Dynamics 365 enterprise edition, with the goal of providing customers with a marketing service powered by Microsoft’s intelligent business applications. The two companies are also collaborating on data integrations that aim to improve workflows in both Adobe Marketing Cloud and Dynamics 365.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement that the partnership was struck with the digital customer in mind:

"Business leaders in every industry are focused on how to better engage their digital customers, wherever they are. Together, Adobe and Microsoft are bringing the most advanced marketing capabilities on the most powerful and intelligent cloud to help companies digitally transform and engage customers in new ways."

Microsoft also announced a number of security and intelligence updates. The company is set to introduce MyAnalytics—formerly Delve Analytics—a personal analytics platform built into Office 365 that looks to help users better understand how they spend their time at work. The solution will also deliver insights aimed at improving work relationships between colleagues, for both team members and leaders; this focus on collaboration builds on the Delve Analytics platform, which was focused on delivering personal insights. Additionally, the company is exploring new capabilities—such as reminders and health insights—for its Cortana virtual assistant, and it will include a Relationship Assistant in its upcoming Dynamics 365 for Sales platform to improve intelligence around customer engagement.

In a statement, Nadella pinpointed a lofty goal, that of "democratizing AI":

"Core to our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet is democratizing AI for every person and organization to help solve society's most pressing challenges. To do this, we're infusing intelligence into everything we deliver—from the agent to applications, services and infrastructure."  

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