Dupont, Spotless Group and Sunoco Move to Microsoft's Cloud

Recently, Microsoft Corporation has introduced the new concept of its new technological innovation called Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite, more simply referred to as BPOS. On October 4^th, they announced three new customers that have decided to take advantage of Microsoft’s new technologies in the hopes of reducing costs and increasing productivity. DuPont, Sunoco, and Spotless Group just joined the ranks of business like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Starbucks, among many others that have utilized Microsoft’s BPOS. This new software is now available in 40 countries and regions, and includes all of the Microsoft programs that companies and employees are used to using in their everyday business transactions.

According to Chris Capossela, a senior vice president at Microsoft, “since the start of the year, the number of businesses using the BPOS has more than tripled and [they’re] seeing growing interest from organizations of all types and sizes.” The customer base for Microsoft’s new BPOS has grown significantly since it first began, and not only includes large industry leaders, but also several other small and medium sized businesses. It is also being used by the government at all different levels, most recently by the State of Minnesota, becoming the first state to use the “cloud” for e-mail and collaboration among it’s 33,000 employees. Falling in line behind companies and the government, many colleges and universities became Microsoft Live@edu customers.

Dupont, Inc. decided to replace their Lotus Notes environment with BPOS. Employing over 58,000 people in approximately 80 countries worldwide, “with a thriving network of more than 1 million partners, suppliers and contractors”, DuPont is hoping that this new modernized technology provided by Microsoft will be the catalyst that augments collaboration in their global networks. BPOS would provide a secure extranet as well as provide a modern template for standardizing their IT environment. Phuong Tram, Dupont’s CIO, reveals that they chose Microsoft’s BPOS because it is “an all-encompassing partner that has the capability to foster a culture of information management and walk along with us into the century of collaboration and communication.”

In the case of Sunoco, the best asset provided by BPOS is the superior IT that allows the company to have better control of their operations, whether they decide to amp up or cut back as they see fit. This scalable platform is ideal for a manufacturing company like Sunoco so they can produce and provide in tandem with the flow of demand. Another important factor that influenced Sunoco’s decision to switch to BPOS is the already user-integrated products provided by Microsoft. The system was not such a shock for employees since they have seen several of the Microsoft Office programs on their desktops for years. Sunoco CIO Peter Whatnell offered that “since BPOS enables close integration between e-mail and Microsoft Office products, [Sunoco] could ensure a smooth transition without incurring abrupt changes for our user community.”

Lastly, Spotless Group, an international contract manager and retail supply chain solutions provider based in Australia, has partnered with Microsoft and its BPOS. The main reason for this is to provide support for its global workforce while simultaneously reducing costs. With employees and customers all over the world, it is important that BPOS gives everyone, no matter their location, access to a secure business server. Microsoft beat out a competitor like Google due to the fact that in addition to reducing their costs, the template used by Microsoft is extremely user-friendly, especially when so many companies already have Microsoft-based desktop platforms. Thus, even with the implementation of brand new technology, the familiarity of Microsoft gives comfort to its customers, making it more desirable than Google.

In all, I believe that Microsoft’s BPOS, will continue to pick up speed. With so many organizations already partnered with Microsoft, it is evident that whether it is through integration, collaboration, comfort, or streamlining costs, Microsoft is a step ahead of the competition. Giving its customers the ability to communicate and access company information on a secure platform over the internet is extremely important, especially in this day and age when everyone has seemingly gone global. This phenomenon is just one more step toward the future of technology that is changing businesses everywhere.

"DuPont, Spotless Group and Sunoco Move to Microsoft’s Cloud." Microsoft.
Microsoft, 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2010.