While many might not realize this, Microsoft and TM are actually close to each other but most of their collaborations are geared towards SMEs as well as techprenuership. Example of such collaborations include the “Good Bye XP, Good Buy Windows 8” program, Office In The Box packages, and //bina/ 2014. This will change soon though as both companies have decided to expand their collaborations into consumer space as well.
It is a part of a full-scale cooperation that will leverage on Microsoft’s cloud and mobile offerings as well as TM’s expertise in converged connectivity and ICT. Formalized and announced after a discussion between top-level executives from both companies at Redmond yesterday, the cooperation is not limited to consumer market but will also involves enterprise, government, smart cities/Internet of Things, developers, start-ups, and application builders.
Although the announcement didn’t state the exact nature of this so-called integrated product for the consumer space, it apparently will allow UniFi and Streamyx customers to “get things done from virtually anywhere, on any device leveraging Microsoft’s market-leading technologies”. Among products that were apparently part of the discussion include Office 365 Home, Surface tablets, and Lumia smartphones.
Hence, we will not be surprised if this leads to creation of packages that combine those broadband offerings from TM together with Microsoft’s products. However, the rollout timeline and other specific details will only be released at a later date.
All in all, it seems like this cooperation will benefit both companies very well. After all, Microsoft is really pushing its mobile-first, cloud-first agenda which need to be fuelled by connectivity and there’s no one bigger than TM when it comes to that in this country. TM on another hand will now have access to even bigger range of Microsoft products and will be able to use them to spice up its offerings for all segments of the market.
[Header Image: Microsoft News Center, Mohamad Fazli @ Flickr]
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