Microsoft Clinches a 5-year Software Deal with Coca-Cola
Tech company Microsoft secured a five-year contract with Coke’s maker Coca-Cola this week. The software company will help standardize the Coca-Cola Co.’s business operations with its technology.
The company’s Dynamics 365 customer service software, Azure cloud platform, and 365 applications such as Microsoft Teams are under the contract. Both companies announced the long-term deal yesterday morning.
In the past, the Atlanta native soda manufacturer has used cloud services of other companies such as Amazon and Salesforce. And in the recent announcement, the public did not see any financial terms.
And both Microsoft and Coca-Cola did not clarify whether the beverage giant will shift away from the other tech companies.
According to technology news reports, the two businesses describe the deal as a strategic partnership for both.
The software giant said that Coca-Cola’s call center agents and managers will use the artificial intelligence of the Dynamics 365. It can determine the issues and customer complaints from retailers and vendors in Coke’s supply chain.
Aside from that, Microsoft Teams will also be used for smaller meetings of its employees while they’re working from their homes. Coca-Cola will also use the 365 Live Events for larger-scale video presentations like employee town halls.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, the software giant announced its earnings projection for the quarter. The company and analysts are confident that it will reach its revenue and earnings per share forecasts.
Competition in the Industry
One of Microsoft’s biggest competition is nonother than Amazon, the online retailer and software company. Although there isn’t much news about Amazon’s current situation in the cloud computing industry and modern technology, it’s facing a different type of problem.
Sen. Josh Hawley recently called the US Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation on Amazon. According to reports, Hawley said that the company has used predatory acts and exclusionary data practices in its businesses.
The request of the US Senator comes after an investigative report found Amazon employees using data from third-party sellers. The report says the data rivalled privately labelled products under the company’s own brands.
In the letter filed by Hawley to Attorney General Willian Barr, the findings meet the definition of a crime that’s punishable under the antitrust law. Hawley wrote that the company is abusing its power to collect data about merchandise and use it to create copycat products.
The senator is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Amazon user the basis of Sherman Antitrust Act Section 2. That is the same statute that was used to prosecute Microsoft in the landmark antitrust case in the past.
