(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – Microsoft recently announced astrategic partnership with John Keells ITto accelerate John Keells Holdings’ Digital Transformation journey as well as enable them to build on this value proposition as a Partner across Asia and MENA.
A big step in that direction was John Keells IT’sfirst-ever deployment of Azure—a cloud computing platform built by Microsoft—to host SAP S/4HANA for one of their SAP instancesat John Keells Group. Thehybrid-cloud platformwill enable John Keells IT to propelits advocacy based on Bi-MODAL IT strategy as part of the consultancy’s digital transformation missionto increase value for their customers and other stakeholdersalike.
John KeellsGroup will be one of the first customers in APAC to adopt and deploy SAP S/4HANA on Azure, laying the foundation for the rest of its SAP workload to be moved to the cloud.By leveraging a platform that can accelerate digital transformation, John Keells IT will help the conglomerate realize the growth potential arising from today’s digital economy. This will allow the Group to scale in a more cost-effective, flexible manner and adjust to their specific businessneeds witha secure and reliableenterprise-gradeplatform that will readily extend to any eco-system.
The first-ever deployment of Office 365 in Sri Lankaset the stage for theGroup’s digital transformation journey back in 2012,reflectingstrong ties between John Keells IT and Microsoft. Theirpartnership sincethen hashelped increase Microsoft’s footprint in Sri Lanka and strengthened John Keells IT’sexpertise, capability and capacityin delivering future-ready solutions for its customers in Sri Lanka as well as across Asia and MENA.
“SAPS/4HANA on Azure will give John Keells IT a joint ecosystem that brings unique insights and rich product integration to helptheir customers make the most out of running SAP solutions and applications in the cloud—accelerating their performance, productivity, and innovation with seamless enterprise-class support,” said Hasitha Abeywardena, Country Manager for Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives. “John Keells IT has been at the forefront of digital transformation and innovation and we’re happy to havethem as our partner and see them driving this transformation across Sri Lanka and beyond.”
Ramesh Shanmuganathan, EVP/ Group CIO John Keells Group and CEO John Keells ITadded, “Building innovative and transformative solutions based on a Bi-MODAL strategy and DESIGN THINKING philosophy requires collaboration, co-innovation and co-creation. Microsoft’s partnership strengthens our value proposition and helps us to further our digital transformationmission. With this partnership, we can unlock the true potential of digitalfor our customers and have already expanded on this partnership in MENA and South East Asia’s New Markets.”
This partnership will be pivotal for both Microsoft and John Keells IT in driving the adoption of Microsoft’s enterprise-grade cloud computing platform which encompasses Mobility, Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, IoT and Blockchain. Azure is a world-renowned digital transformation platform known for its seamless integration within existing platforms/eco-systems via APIs.
