Coca-Cola enlists Microsoft cloud to bring together 700K-strong workforce

• The Coca-Cola Company sealed a five-year deal with Microsoft cloud
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 will monitor the performance metrics of its call center
• The cloud technologies will be used to enhance communications among its 700,000 employees globally

This week, the Coca-Cola Company announced a five-year contract with Microsoft to capitalize on the tech titan’s cloud technologies.

The deal will see the beverage giant transform its “previously disparate and fragmented systems,” with Microsoft 365 (including Microsoft Teams), Dynamics 365, and Azure to standardize its business operations, said Coca-Cola Company’s SVP and chief information and integrated services officer, Barry Simpson in a statement.

The American beverage company will see the deployment of Microsoft’s legacy systems to gain fresh new insights and a “360-degree view” of its business for employees. 

Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 is a collection of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence (BI) applications.

In the first phase, the company will offer the system for internal applications.

One such application would be for call center managers to track real-time performance metrics of call center employees. Overall, employee satisfaction will also be monitored and particular topics driving scores will be assessed.

Besides that, the investments will help align the company’s massive global workforce, which totals more than 700,000 staff.

Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams will enable all Coca-Cola’s employees to connect and collaborate across instant chats, calls, meetings, and sharing of documents in a single hub, encouraging communication and collaboration across internal and global teams.

This comes in a timely manner as the global pandemic has shifted workforces to work from home and the need for accessible collaboration tools is more evident than ever. The soft drink-maker’s move to enlist Microsoft tools will facilitate remote working among its large workforce worldwide.

“Our global workforce is a critical asset and protecting people [Indecipherable] is a high priority,” CEO James Quincey said on the company’s Q1 2020 Earnings Call.

“Teams around the world are being asked to work differently, and they’re rising to the occasion. We have implemented real-time network collaboration routines to accelerate knowledge sharing.”

This coincides with reports that saw a hike in demand for collaboration tools to support the wave of remote workers. Adding to the mix, companies are increasingly recognizing the power of the cloud in scaling up to the large volume of data processing, sharing, and network usage.

Even though the adoption of cloud infrastructure proves mission-critical during the current climate, its impact and transformational value will outlast the disruption of the pandemic.

The company will be able to diversify and expand applications of these cutting-edge cloud technologies. Beginning with unifying processes and gaining access to future-forward intelligence, to equipping employees with insights and enable them to proactively act on data-driven decisions.

Simpson also said in a statement: “At The Coca-Cola Company, innovation and growth are key pillars of our business,” and the partnership with Microsoft enables the beverage giant to “really step change our employee experience.”

“These platforms allow us to deliver relevant, personalized experiences as we network our organization,” Simpson added.