The cloud industry is being driven by acquisitions and partnerships, as companies are looking to leverage the strengths and advances made by other companies in the same field. In a way, every company is also extending its own technology and expertise to other areas of operations by partnering with niche companies. The latest in this series is the partnership between Microsoft and Publicis.

Publicis Groupe is a marketing and advertising company that is expanding its existing alliance with Microsoft. The partnership aims to tap into artificial intelligence and behavioral data segments to offer more targeted email campaigns. Specifically, Publicis will tap into the features of Microsoft Azure and Cortana Intelligence Suite to get greater insights about the behavior and expectations of its customers. Based on this information, it wants to help its clients to create targeted campaigns that will reach out to end-users in an appealing way. More importantly, it is sure to improve the conversion rate and bring in more business and revenue for Publicis’ clients.

Publicis already has its own intelligence system called Cosmos AI, and  this will be made available to business through the Azure cloud platform. From Publicis perspective, this is a lucrative deal as its clients can now have access to both Cosmos and Azure, and this means, Publicis can charge more licensing fees from them. In fact, this combined offering of artificial intelligence can add to the revenue of Publicis in a big way.

For Microsoft too, this is a good deal as it’s another opportunity to extends its platform and collaborate with the ad agency. Microsoft is looking to optimize its platform in the best way possible, especially as it wants to take on AWS – the most dominant player in the cloud market. Also, the fact that the cloud market is growing by leaps and bounds means that more opportunities are coming up for all companies in this market, and Microsoft wants to grab as much as it can.

This partnership between Microsoft and Publicis is not something new, as both the companies have a long history of working together. In 2009, Microsoft had sold its digital agency called Razorfish to Publicis for a sum of $530 million. Interestingly, Microsoft had acquired Razorfish only in 2007 from a company called aQuantive for a whopping $6.3 billion.

So, what does this mean for the cloud industry and the many enterprises that use it?

Almost every partnership augurs well for clients because they have more choices and at the same time, they have access to more features. The same is true for this partnership too. When Cosmos data product is combined with Azure cloud platform, it’s bounty time for marketers, as they can get deeper insights into individual customers, based on which, they can customize their products, create appropriate marketing campaigns and do so much more. The best part is all this information is available in real-time, so they can come with new ways to boost their revenue.

Due to these reasons, this partnership between Microsoft and Publicis works well for everyone.

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Asia, as you know, is the largest continent in the world, both in terms of size and population. It is also one of the fastest growing regions in the world, with China and India leading the way. Over the last few years, this continent has seen many people climb out of poverty, and many countries have a sustainable and growing economy that provides jobs to millions of people. Much of these positive developments can be attributed to education and technology.

Asian companies are always looking for ways to improve their operations , and technology has been a major aspect in its quest for higher efficiency and profits. In such a scenario, it is little wonder that cloud computing is the present and future of these Asian companies. Though the rate of adoption in Asia has been much slower when compared to Europe or the U.S, it’s still picking up fast.

To cater to this growing demand, cloud leaders like Microsoft are going all out. The president of Microsoft Asia, Ralph Haupter, opined that Asian companies are always looking for means to digitally transform their business, and cloud is the technology that will make it possible. His statement is based on a report that Microsoft released recently about the state of cloud affairs in Asia.

According to this report, 78 percent of 1,494 respondents who were surveyed for this report believe that cloud computing is an important component in their digital transformation strategy. In addition, 80 percent think cloud strategy is vital for the long-term growth and economic sustainability of this region. However, only 29 percent of respondents have made plans to implement it.

This difference between those who believe in the need for cloud and those who have plans to execute it, is the opportunity area for Microsoft. If it can talk to the remaining 51 percent of respondents, identify the reasons for non-implementing and provide a roadmap for integrating cloud into their operations, then it can be a huge business for Microsoft. There is even a potential for Microsoft to become the leading cloud provider in Asia, if it plays its cards well.

One of the biggest advantages that Microsoft has over that of its competitors is its brand name. A large number of households in Asia have a computer, so “Microsoft” is a household name here. To top it, Microsoft has 13 data centers in Asia to cater to the demands of its clients, so it’s infrastructure is already in place. Also, all these 13 data centers support Azure, so this makes it easy for Microsoft to expand its cloud presence in Asia.

Further, Microsoft has identified potential cloud partners in different countries and is working with them closely. For example, in China, Microsoft has partnered with a company called 21Vianet to provide local services to clients in Beijing and Shanghai. The obvious advantage is these local players have a better idea of their market conditions, and can provide a better service to local clients.

A combination of these different strategies can help Microsoft take a lion’s share in the Asian market within the next few years. However, it has to keep stay on top of intense competition from companies like AWS and Alibaba.

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