Walmart transfers thousands of business applications to Azure

On November 5, 2018 it became known of transfer of several thousand business applications of Walmart to cloud infrastructure of Azure. The world's largest retailer carries out digital transformation for what he began cooperation with Microsoft.

Under the terms of the agreement, Azure became for Walmart preferable and strategic cloud provider. The American supermarket chain agreed about use not only Azure, but also other corporate tools of Microsoft, including artificial intelligence, the solutions for the Internet of things and Microsoft 365, for updating of the retail transactions. In particular, it is about the cognitive services, machine learning and chat-bots created by Microsoft.

Walmart transfers thousands of business applications to Azure

Microsoft will also help the partner to expand the center of innovations in Austin (the State of Texas, the USA). In 2019 it is going to start so-called "cloud factory" in which 30 technical specialists from Walmart and Microsoft will work. This factory will be located in the same building in which there is "a center of the developing technologies" Walmart with the state in 50 employees.

Software engineers of the companies will work jointly on transfer of business applications of Walmart in Azure and new cloud applicaions which should help with creation of effective business processes and reduction of operating expenses.^[1]

As Clay Johnson told the Chief Information Officer of Walmart VentureBeat edition, joint work with Microsoft on creation of chat-bots for internal use by the retailer is carried out. The first such service, using possibilities of the voice Cortana assistant, will allow employees to ask questions of awards which are due to them.

With direct participation of Microsoft the Walmart company mounted IoT-sensors in refrigerators and freezing chambers in most of the 5 thousand shops in the USA. Sensors define temperature drop below a certain level and allow to send to a support service automatic messages about need to carry out an inspection or repair of the equipment.

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