Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) scored a five-year strategic deal to provide Coca-Cola Co. (KO) with its business software.
Under the terms of the partnership agreement, Coca-Cola will use a string of Microsoft’s products including Azure, Dynamics 365, its sales software, Microsoft 365 cloud services, as well as its business messaging application Microsoft Teams. Coca-Cola seeks technology solutions to gain new insights from data across the enterprise, enabling a 360-degree view of the business, and providing enhanced customer and employee experiences, it said.
"Innovation and growth are key pillars of our business," said Barry Simpson, senior vice president and chief information and integrated services officer at Coca-Cola. "This partnership with Microsoft allows us to really step change our employee experience through replacing previously disparate and fragmented systems. These platforms allow us to deliver relevant, personalized experiences as we network our organization."
Once Microsoft’s business software is deployed, Coca-Cola’s call center managers will be able to use Dynamics 365 artificial intelligence-driven insights to monitor performance metrics for overall employee satisfaction scores and benefit from real-time insights into which call topics are driving scores.
Moreover, the Atlanta-based beverage giant is leveraging Microsoft’s collaboration technologies to meet the demands of a largely remote workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, Coca-Cola will roll out Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams worldwide, equipping employees with a single hub to connect and work across chat, calling, meetings and documents.
Coca-Cola shares advanced 3% to $46.76 in early afternoon U.S. trading, while Microsoft fell less than 1% to $173.95.
Wall Street analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on Microsoft’s stock based on 27 Buys and 1 Hold assigned in the last three months. The $190.71 average price target provides investors with a 9.6% gain in the shares should it be met in the coming 12 months. (See Microsoft stock analysis on TipRanks)
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