Microsoft, Infosys Deepen Cloud Relationship with Office 365

So-called “Cloud Ecosystem Integrator” Infosys has announced a deepening of its relationship with Microsoft, as the two companies will collaborate on putting together custom cloud solutions for customers, especially those in industries with specialized demands such as financial services, manufacturing, retail and health care.

According to Infosys Cloud Services head Vishnu Bhat, the partnership is a match made in cloud heaven: Infosys brings its customer base, its cloud integration expertise and its range of professional services, while Microsoft makes Windows Azure PaaS, Office 365 cloud productivity and Microsoft Private Cloud solutions (including Windows Server Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center) available.

Together, Infosys and Microsoft will collaborate for solution area development, technical proof of concepts and sales and marketing initiatives. And solutions will be delivered on a hybrid cloud basis, with some solutions hosted with or deployed by Infosys and some delivered from the Microsoft public cloud as the situation demands.

Moreover, Infosys handles professional services around Microsoft Office 365, and employs a team of 500 Microsoft experts to handle Microsoft Private Cloud and Windows Azure services. In fact, Infosys was a finalist for Microsoft Windows Azure Partner of the Year. And Bhat expects that the ranks of Microsoft experts will grow to 1,000 by the end of the coming fiscal year.

It’s worth noting that while Bhat confirms that Infosys is a Microsoft Office 365 syndication partner, hosting the suite from its own facilities, it’s still relying on Microsoft for Windows Azure services — though the door is open for Infosys to get the Azure Platform Appliance for itself down the line.

What I find most interesting about this is that it’s not a single joint solution that Infosys and Microsoft are promoting today. It’s the promise of many more to come, as the two work together to help customers in all business segments across the globe reap the benefits of cloud computing. Couple this with the day’s Microsoft Windows Intune announcement, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that Microsoft’s cloud division is waking up to the benefits of working closely with its partners.