Tigo Business brand from Milicom and Microsoft have come together to reveal the Microsoft Cloud OS Network (COSN) to deliver cloud computing services in the Latin America region.
The collaboration will offer applications and cloud services to the business community in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Microsoft Azure, flexible cloud computing platform from Microsoft, aids hosting of applications and delivers them to end users directly from the cloud.
“Both Tigo Business and Microsoft understand that cloud computing delivers significant efficiencies in costs, allowing organizations to benefit from the flexibility and efficiency of the Microsoft Azure platform, ” said Pablo Lombardero, director for Partner organization Microsoft LATAM New Markets.
The cloud partnership will enable both brands to give out the best array of products and services such as data services, increased security, local currency payments and account management, said Microsoft.
Tigo plays the role of adding service delivery and solutions enabling customers to manage their infrastructure needs better.
The company’s Data Center infrastructure along with Microsoft can result in business biggies and MNOs using the Disaster Recovery services.
The company claims to increase resiliency, and security through the network, offering lower latency and better Service Level Agreements.
Virtual Desktop and Data Base are added features of this service model.
Tigo Business and Microsoft will also provide a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, where CSP licenses of Microsoft will be sold by the former directed to small and medium size businesses.
CSP solutions like Microsoft Office 365 will be offered for businesses collaboration and productivity tools paired by enhanced local support and expert advice from Microsoft certified Tigo Business personnel, reveals the company.
“Now we can also offer truly innovative packages to our clients. Small and medium sized businesses are the engines of the economy in the region, and this partnership will help businesses to continue their digital transformations and capture the growth ahead,” said Marcelo Benitez, VP, Tigo Business.
Microsoft has been investing in the Azure platform, to cope with the increasing competition and demand for computing power.
Main rivals include Google, Amazon, IBM etc. with Amazon leading at present. The cloud market is expected to hit $500 billion by 2020, according to Gartner and IDC. Recently, Microsoft urged its business partners to get on board with the cloud initiative and invest.
Vina Krishnan
editor@telecomlead.com
