Following the #FutureUnleashed keynote in Mumbai, India, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella charted out agreements with e-commerce companies JustDial, PayTM and Snapdeal. The collaboration will see the companies leveraging Microsoft's cloud technologies to deliver a better customer experience. Also announced was a smart city initiative that sees Microsoft providing Azure access to local startups delivering innovative solutions.
Here are the highlights of the collaboration between the e-commerce companies and Microsoft:
- Justdial and Microsoft will explore the use of Bing and cloud-based analytics to provide and enhance customer experience.
- Paytm and Microsoft are working on three core areas of partnership. The companies will integrate the Paytm app and Paytm Wallet into Cortana to enable consumers to pay for their utility bills and carry out mobile transactions easily. Paytm will use Office 365 for their merchants' inventory and account management. Lastly, Paytm will facilitate and support Microsoft service sales via their merchant network.
- Snapdeal will work with Microsoft cloud platforms to create a digital automotive dealership that is expected to change the way customers make automotive buying decisions. Snapdeal and Microsoft will use Skype, Bing and Cortana to provide new engagement platforms for Snapdeal customers.
Microsoft has mentioned that it will work with local startups to deliver solutions aimed at modernizing infrastructure:
Working with start-up accelerators, these start-ups can now apply for individual access up to USD 120,000 (INR 80 lakhs) worth of Azure computing to help India's smart cities explore solutions and run smart city digital pilots.Cities can also apply for access to these services and solutions on Azure through a new portal which connects start-ups with cities and their needs. This initiative is anticipated to impact over 50 smart cities in the next year through a catalog of over 50 start-ups and ISV solutions.
More information on the smart city initiative can be found here.
Source: Microsoft
