Vodafone and Microsoft Corp. have signed a 10-year strategic partnership, which will see companies leverage each other to offer scaled digital platforms to more than 300 million businesses, public sector organizations, and consumers across Africa and Europe.
A Symbiotic partnership
The companies will collaborate to transform Vodafone’s customer experience using Microsoft’s generative AI, hyperscale Vodafone’s leading managed IoT connectivity platform, develop new digital and financial services for businesses (particularly SMEs across Europe and Africa), and overhaul its global data center cloud strategy.
Vodafone will invest USD 1.5 billion over the next 10 years in cloud and customer-focused AI services, developed in conjunction with Microsoft. In turn, Microsoft will utilize Vodafone’s fixed and mobile connectivity services.
Microsoft also intends to invest in Vodafone’s managed IoT connectivity platform, which will become a separate, standalone business by April 2024. The intention is to use the new company to attract new customers, and drive growth in applications, while also expanding the platform to connect more devices, vehicles, and machines.
The digital services provided by the new partnership will utilize the latest generative AI technology to provide highly-personalized and differentiated customer experiences across multiple channels. They will be built on unbiased and ethical privacy and security policies under Vodafone’s established framework for responsible AI.
“Today, Vodafone has made a bold commitment to the digital future of Europe and Africa,” said Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group Chief Executive. “This unique strategic partnership with Microsoft will accelerate the digital transformation of our business’ customers, particularly small and medium-sized companies, and step up the quality of customer experience for consumers.”
Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella, said: “This new generation of AI will unlock massive new opportunities for every organization and every industry around the world. We are delighted that, together with Vodafone, we will apply the latest cloud and AI technology to enhance the customer experience of hundreds of millions of people and businesses across Africa and Europe, build new products and services, and accelerate the company’s transition to the cloud.”
Key Focus Areas
Vodafone and Microsoft have identified five key areas of collaboration, which will be explored throughout the partnership. These are:
- Generative AI: Microsoft Azure OpenAI will be used to deliver frictionless, real-time, proactive, and hyper-personalized experiences across all Vodafone customer touchpoints, including its digital assistant TOBi. Vodafone employees will also be able to utilize Microsoft Copilot’s AI capabilities to enhance work practices and improve digital efficiency.
- Scaling IoT: Microsoft intends to invest in Vodafone’s new, standalone, global Internet of Things (IoT)-managed connectivity platform, which connects 175 million devices and platforms, worldwide. Vodafone, meanwhile, plans to become part of the Azure ecosystem, making the IoT platform available to vast developer and third-party communities using open APIs.
- Digital Acceleration in Africa: Microsoft will help further scale M-Pesa— the largest financial technology platform in Africa— by hosting it on Azure. This will allow for the launch of new cloud-native applications. The companies are also launching a purpose-led program that seeks to reach 100 million consumers, and 100 million SMEs, across Africa.
- Enterprise Growth: Vodafone will extend its commitment to distributing Microsoft services, including Microsoft Azure, security solutions, and modern work offerings such as Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile, as part of its strategy to become Europe’s leading platform for business. This will enable customers to deploy Microsoft’s cloud-based services quickly and efficiently, with low adoption and running costs, as well as support 24 million SMEs across Europe through the provision of a managed and scalable platform.
- Cloud Transformation: Vodafone will accelerate its cloud transformation by modernizing its data centers on Microsoft Azure. This will improve its responsiveness and reduce operational costs, and will enable Vodafone to replace multiple, physical data centers with virtual data centers across Europe.
