Microsoft will supply the backbone cloud technologies for Woolworths’ SAP solutions as the retailer migrates its current SAP footprint to Azure. The agreement paves the way for the upgrade path to SAP S/4HANA.
Woolworths CIO John Hunt said: “At Woolworths, we’re harnessing the cloud to provide evergreen infrastructures that foster innovation and improve speed to market.
“Our cloud transformation is making work simpler for our teams, streamlining our supply chains and improving the customer experiences across our vast network of stores and online channels.
Azure is a trusted, resilient and high performing cloud platform, supporting our ongoing digital transformation and we are confident it will provide us with the performance and flexibility required to meet our ever-evolving SAP requirements in providing an exceptional customer experience.
SAP ANZ president and managing director Damien Bueno said Woolworths has one of the largest SAP environments in the world to support business-critical processes including retail operations and finance.
“Migrating SAP applications and platforms to Azure, including SAP ERP and SAP Cloud Platform, will enable this great business to innovate faster than ever. In time, this will also support Woolworths’ move to SAP S/4HANA,” he said.
Woolworths is the first company in the Asia Pacific Japan region, and one of the first in the world to leverage the Embrace initiative, Bueno said. The go-to-market initiative between SAP and Microsoft was launched in October 2019 to simplify customers’ move to the cloud. It encompasses conceptualisation to sales in a bid to accelerate customer adoption of SAP S/4HANA and SAP Cloud Platform on Microsoft Azure, the companies said.
Microsoft Australia managing director Steven Worrall said the company was honoured to be one of Woolworths’ transformation partners to run mission-critical applications.
“The cloud transformation underway at Woolworths will expedite the business for ongoing innovation, for agility and continued growth. Woolworths’ decision reflects our joint commitment to a customer-first mindset and to support their cloud transformation,” Worrall said.
