On November 10th, Microsoft’s cloud business has won a big deal from GAP, one of the most famous retailers in the United States. The two sides signed a five-year agreement. Under the agreement, Microsoft’s cloud business Azure will become the cloud service provider of the clothing retailer.
Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president of global retail and consumer products at Microsoft, said: “What I hear from all the major retailers undergoing this transformation is that they want to have their own data and they want partners to be in any other business. Some will not be their competitors.”
In addition to using the Azure public cloud, Gap employees will also gain access to Microsoft 365 services, including Windows 10, the Office 365 productivity app package, and the Enterprise Mobility and Security Suite. Gap will also use Power BI business intelligence software.
Brasten said Gap is looking for Azure for E-Commerce operations, inventory and labor systems. The current contract size has not been disclosed.
According to the “Electronic Business News”, Microsoft has already reached a large-scale cloud computing transaction with Wal-Mart earlier this year. Its competitor Google has already reached cooperation with retailers such as Best Buy and Home Depot, and has won a lot of business. It can be predicted that in the future, the two sides will launch a new round of competition in the field of cloud computing.