Microsoft and Walgreens announced a new partnership today that will see the retail pharmacy chain transition its IT infrastructure to Azure as both companies work to "[make] health care more convenient to people through data-driven insights."
As part of the partnership, the companies say that they will collaborate on a research and development investment to fund new health care solutions, improve outcomes, and lower the cost of care. "This investment will include funding, subject-matter experts, technology and tools," Microsoft says. "The companies will also explore the potential to establish joint innovation centers in key markets. Additionally, in 2019 WBA will pilot up to 12 store-in-store "digital health corners" aimed at the merchandising and sale of select health care-related hardware and devices."
The partnership will also see Walgreens transition its IT infrastructure to Microsoft's Azure platform, with the goal of gaining new capabilities in data and analytics and "new transformational platforms in retail, pharmacy and business services." The move will also involve rolling out Microsoft 365 to more than 380,000 Walgreens employees.
