Press Releases – Page 10

Posted on June 30, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Microsoft to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills needed for the COVID-19 economy

REDMOND, Wash. — June 30, 2020 — Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year.

The announcement comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Expanded access to digital skills is an important step in accelerating economic recovery, especially for the people hardest hit by job losses.

This initiative, detailed on the Official Microsoft Blog, includes immediate steps to help those looking to reskill and pursue an in-demand job and brings together every part of the company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft. This includes:

The use of data to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed to fill them.
Free access to learning paths and content to help people develop the skills these positions require.
Low-cost certifications and free job-seeking tools to help people who develop these skills pursue new jobs.

This is a comprehensive technology initiative that will build on data and digital technology. It starts with data on jobs and skills from the LinkedIn Economic Graph. It provides free access to content in LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn and the GitHub Learning Lab, and couples those with Microsoft Certifications and LinkedIn job seeking tools. These resources can all be accessed at a central location, opportunity.linkedin.com, and will be broadly available online in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish.

In addition, Microsoft is backing the effort with $20 million in cash grants to help nonprofit organizations worldwide assist the people who need it most. One-quarter of this total, or $5 million, will be provided in cash grants to community-based nonprofit organizations that are led by and serve communities of color in the United States. The company is also pledging to make stronger data and analytics — including data from the LinkedIn Economic Graph — available to governments around the world so they can better assess local economic needs.

Microsoft will use its voice to advocate for public policy innovations that will advance skilling opportunities needed in the changed economy.

Microsoft also announced it is creating a new learning app in Microsoft Teams designed to help employers skill and upskill new and current employees as people return to work and as the economy adds jobs.

“COVID-19 has created both a public health and an economic crisis, and as the world recovers, we need to ensure no one is left behind,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “Today, we’re bringing together resources from Microsoft inclusive of LinkedIn and GitHub to reimagine how people learn and apply new skills — and help 25 million people facing unemployment due to COVID-19 prepare for the jobs of the future.”

“The biggest brunt of the current downturn is being borne by those who can afford it the least,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “Unemployment rates are spiking for people of color and women, as well as younger workers, people with disabilities and individuals with less formal education. Our goal is to combine the best in technology with stronger partnerships with governments and nonprofits to help people develop the skills needed to secure a new job.”

“Creating opportunity for every member of the global workforce drives everything we do at LinkedIn,” said LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. “As a part of the Microsoft ecosystem, we have the unique ability to help job seekers around the world — especially those who have been disproportionately disadvantaged during the COVID-19 crisis — gain the skills and find the jobs they deserve. We’re proud to be bringing the right data about what the jobs and skills of the future will be to create the right learning paths to help 25 million job seekers find their next opportunities. We’re making it all available at opportunity.linkedin.com.”

More information can be found at the Microsoft microsite news.microsoft.com/skills.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

Posted on June 30, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Walgreens Boots Alliance creates personalized, omnichannel healthcare and shopping experiences powered by new customer experience management technology and data platform

Company announces strategic partnership with industry leaders Microsoft and Adobe to launch second phase of digital transformation at the intersection of health and technology

DEERFIELD, Ill., REDMOND, Wash., and SAN JOSE, Calif. – June 30, 2020 – Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), today announced an expansion of its strategic partnership with Microsoft and Adobe to launch a world-class digital experience and customer insights platform to deliver personalized healthcare and shopping offerings. It will provide Walgreens and Boots customers with products and services from its global pharmacy and retail businesses wherever, whenever and however they may want them. Establishing this platform will advance WBA into the second phase of its digital transformation, one of its key strategic priorities.

“At WBA, our mission is to deliver extraordinary experiences that enrich our customers’ lives. Capabilities to combine previously disparate customer data sets, including information from more than 100 million members of our loyalty programs, into more singular, unified view of the customer – powered by these modern technology platforms – will enable us to truly personalize our omnichannel healthcare and retail offering,” said Vineet Mehra, global chief marketing officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance. “This digital magic coupled with the valued knowledge and quality of care provided by our pharmacists and team members is what allows us to best serve our customers.”

For more than a century, WBA’s iconic brands, including Walgreens and Boots, have earned the trust of patients and customers by serving their needs in some of the most personal categories – health, wellness and beauty. The strategic partnership with Microsoft and Adobe allows WBA to harness insights to deliver more engaging and personalized experiences, while respecting and protecting privacy choices of patients and customers. This can help increase access to key services within pharmacy and beauty, among other categories, while driving convenience and providing more options to address daily needs. Data privacy and security are fundamental design principles in the development of the technology, underscored by Microsoft’s investments in building a trusted cloud platform.

For example, with this new personalization platform, Walgreens will launch an individually tailored prescription experience for patients at Walgreens, and Boots will launch a bespoke beauty experience for customers by enabling Boots Beauty Consultants to provide custom product recommendations. This new platform will also dramatically enhance WBA’s marketing effectiveness and power the company’s strategic initiative around mass personalization – delivering the right offers and content to the right customer, in the right context, at the right time and through the right channels.

Personalized Customer Experiences

The strategic partnership with Microsoft and Adobe is the cornerstone for these new WBA customer experiences, connecting WBA’s wealth of knowledge related to serving customers in the health, wellness and beauty categories. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights will serve as WBA’s Customer Data Platform (CDP) to provide a unified, 360-degree view of the customer and unlock insights that power personalized customer experiences. Adobe’s Customer Experience Management (CXM) solutions will enable the company to deliver those unmatched customer experiences, with the industry’s only end-to-end solution for analytics, content management, personalization, campaign orchestration and more.

“There’s no denying that the retail industry has been in a constant state of change over the past several years and consumers expect personalized interactions, connected online and in-store experiences, and high-quality customer service when they shop,” said Shelley Bransten, CVP Retail and Consumer Goods Industries, Microsoft. “Through this strategic partnership, Walgreens Boots Alliance is transforming the future of retail, health and beauty, creating digital experiences that make shopping fun and rewarding. Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Adobe’s Experience Cloud will provide deep insights and a single view of the customer, enabling the nurturing of customer relationships on one platform for highly tailored experiences.”

“Adobe has been a strategic partner for global brands in their digital transformation,” said Anil Chakravarthy, executive vice president and general manager, Digital Experience Business, Adobe. “COVID-19 has created a world that is more digital, while redefining the value of physical stores. Walgreens Boots Alliance, a global leader in retail and wholesale pharmacy, is taking this head on and paving the way for its next chapter. With Adobe Experience Cloud, WBA will be able to activate customer data and personalize experiences, while better blending online and offline customer experiences.”

About Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is a global leader in retail and wholesale pharmacy, touching millions of lives every day through dispensing and distributing medicines, its convenient retail locations, digital platforms and health and beauty products. The company has more than 100 years of trusted health care heritage and innovation in community pharmacy and pharmaceutical wholesaling.

Including equity method investments, WBA has a presence in more than 25 countries, employs more than 440,000 people and has more than 18,750 stores.

WBA’s purpose is to help people across the world lead healthier and happier lives. The company is proud of its contributions to healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a sustainable marketplace. The company’s businesses have been recognized for their Corporate Social Responsibility. Walgreens was named to FORTUNE* magazine’s 2019 Companies that Change the World list and Boots UK was recognized as Responsible Business of the Year 2019-2020 by Business in the Community.

WBA is included in FORTUNE’s 2020 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. This is the 27th consecutive year that WBA or its predecessor company, Walgreen Co., has been named to the list.

More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.

About Microsoft

About Adobe Experience Cloud

Adobe is reimagining Customer Experience Management (CXM) with Adobe Experience Cloud, the industry’s only end-to-end solution for experience creation, marketing, advertising, analytics and commerce. Adobe Experience Cloud helps brands deliver consistent, continuous and compelling B2C, B2B and B2E experiences across customer touchpoints and channels—all while accelerating business growth. Unlike legacy enterprise platforms with static, siloed customer profiles, Adobe Experience Platform empowers companies to fully understand customers and make data actionable through Adobe Sensei, the company’s AI and machine learning technology. Industry analysts have named Adobe a leader in over 20 major reports focused on experience—more than any other technology company.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to the timing and effectiveness of implementation of plans for the new platform, the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the strategic partnership, and the ability to realize anticipated efficiencies and achieve anticipated financial and operating results in the amounts and at the times anticipated, as well as those described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2019, Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ending February 29, 2020, and in other documents that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. files or furnishes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

(WBA-GEN)

Media Relations Contact

USA / Morry Smulevitz                                                                                            +1 847 315 0517
USA / Molly Sheehan                                                                                               +1 224 303 8105
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Microsoft Media Relations
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Posted on June 26, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Microsoft Store announces new approach to retail

Microsoft to continue to support customers online, with retail team members working remotely and at Microsoft corporate locations

REDMOND, Wash. — June 26, 2020 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) (“Microsoft”) today announced a strategic change in its retail operations, including closing Microsoft Store physical locations. The company’s retail team members will continue to serve customers from Microsoft corporate facilities and remotely providing sales, training, and support. Microsoft will continue to invest in its digital storefronts on Microsoft.com, and stores in Xbox and Windows, reaching more than 1.2 billion people every month in 190 markets. The company will also reimagine spaces that serve all customers, including operating Microsoft Experience Centers in London, NYC, Sydney, and Redmond campus locations. The closing of Microsoft Store physical locations will result in a pre-tax charge of approximately $450M, or $0.05 per share, to be recorded in the current quarter ending June 30, 2020. The charge includes primarily asset write-offs and impairments.

“Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location,” said Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Porter. “We are grateful to our Microsoft Store customers and we look forward to continuing to serve them online and with our retail sales team at Microsoft corporate locations.”

Since the Microsoft Store locations closed in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the retail team has helped small businesses and education customers digitally transform; virtually trained hundreds of thousands of enterprise and education customers on remote work and learning software; and helped customers with support calls. The team supported communities by hosting more than 14,000 online workshops and summer camps and more than 3,000 virtual graduations.

“We deliberately built teams with unique backgrounds and skills that could serve customers from anywhere. The evolution of our workforce ensured we could continue to serve customers of all sizes when they needed us most, working remotely these last months,” said Porter. “Speaking over 120 languages, their diversity reflects the many communities we serve. Our commitment to growing and developing careers from this talent pool is stronger than ever.”

The retail team members will serve consumers, small-business, education, and enterprise customers, while building a pipeline of talent with transferable skills.

“The Microsoft Store team has long been celebrated at Microsoft and embodies our culture,” said Microsoft Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan. “The team has a proven track record of attracting, motivating, and developing diverse talent. This infusion of talent is invaluable for Microsoft and creates opportunities for thousands of people.”

With significant growth through its digital storefronts, including Microsoft.com, and stores on Xbox and Windows, the company will continue to invest in digital innovation across software and hardware. New services include 1:1 video chat support, online tutorial videos, and virtual workshops with more digital solutions to come.

“It is a new day for how Microsoft Store team members will serve all customers,” said Porter. “We are energized about the opportunity to innovate in how we engage with all customers, maximize our talent for greatest impact, and most importantly help our valued customers achieve more.”

About Microsoft

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release that are “forward-looking statements” are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as:

intense competition in all of our markets that may lead to lower revenue or operating margins;
increasing focus on cloud-based services presenting execution and competitive risks;
significant investments in products and services that may not achieve expected returns;
acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances that may have an adverse effect on our business;
impairment of goodwill or amortizable intangible assets causing a significant charge to earnings;
cyberattacks and security vulnerabilities that could lead to reduced revenue, increased costs, liability claims, or harm to our reputation or competitive position;
disclosure and misuse of personal data that could cause liability and harm to our reputation;
the possibility that we may not be able to protect information stored in our products and services from use by others;
abuse of our advertising or social platforms that may harm our reputation or user engagement;
the development of the internet of things presenting security, privacy, and execution risks;
issues about the use of artificial intelligence in our offerings that may result in competitive harm, legal liability, or reputational harm;
excessive outages, data losses, and disruptions of our online services if we fail to maintain an adequate operations infrastructure;
quality or supply problems;
the possibility that we may fail to protect our source code;
legal changes, our evolving business model, piracy, and other factors may decrease the value of our intellectual property;
claims that Microsoft has infringed the intellectual property rights of others;
claims against us that may result in adverse outcomes in legal disputes;
government litigation and regulatory activity relating to competition rules that may limit how we design and market our products;
potential liability under trade protection, anti-corruption, and other laws resulting from our global operations;
laws and regulations relating to the handling of personal data that may impede the adoption of our services or result in increased costs, legal claims, fines, or reputational damage;
additional tax liabilities;
damage to our reputation or our brands that may harm our business and operating results;
exposure to increased economic and operational uncertainties from operating a global business, including the effects of foreign currency exchange;
uncertainties relating to our business with government customers;
adverse economic or market conditions that may harm our business;
catastrophic events or geo-political conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, that may disrupt our business; and
the dependence of our business on our ability to attract and retain talented employees.

For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Microsoft’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft’s Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft’s Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor.

The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company’s expectations.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com

For more information, financial analysts and investors only:

Michael Spencer, General Manager, Investor Relations, (425) 706-4400

Posted on June 25, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Hitachi and Microsoft form a strategic alliance to advance next-generation digital solutions for manufacturing and logistics across Southeast Asia, North America and Japan

Tokyo, June 25, 2020 — Hitachi, Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. on Thursday announced a multiyear strategic alliance to accelerate the digital transformation of the manufacturing and logistics industries across Southeast Asia, North America and Japan. The first solutions will be available in Thailand in July 2020.

The two companies will work together to meet the growing demand for predictive maintenance and process automation in remote areas and support enterprises as they tackle the challenges infused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hitachi will integrate its industry-leading solutions, such as Lumada, and its IoT-ready industrial controllers HX Series, with the Microsoft cloud platform, leveraging Azure, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 to help businesses increase their workforce productivity and operational efficiency. Lumada provides advanced digital solutions, services and technologies to turn data into insights to drive digital innovation.

Hitachi and Microsoft will also work together to support skilling initiatives that empower businesses to grow their digital capabilities and unlock new business opportunities.

Through this collaboration, Hitachi will provide solutions in the following three areas:

Increase manufacturing productivity: Using Hitachi Digital Supply Chain as well as Azure IoT to analyze 4M data collected from manufacturing sites for the visualization and analysis of production processes to optimize factory operations and increase productivity.
Optimize logistics with data analytics: Increasing the logistics efficiency and reducing operational costs by analyzing traffic congestion, storage locations and delivery locations, and enabling smart routing to save miles and deliver faster through advanced digital technologies such as Azure Maps and Hitachi Digital Solution for Logistics/Delivery Optimization Service.

An image of a logistics optimization and operational efficiency tool built with Hitachi Digital Solution for Logistics/Delivery Optimization Service

Predictive maintenance and remote assist: Enabling predictive maintenance, real-time remote assistance and remote training scenarios for first-line workers, leveraging HoloLens 2 and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist as well as other smart devices.

Going forward, Hitachi intends to extend the rollout to North America and Japan. Microsoft and Hitachi plan to expand the scope of the collaboration to additional industries. Hitachi and Microsoft will also explore options to integrate Lumada and Azure into an industry data platform to deliver added value to mutual customers.

“We are delighted to expand our partnership with Microsoft and combine our OT, IT and products excellence to provide manufacturing and logistics companies with digital solutions. We use Lumada to provide total seamless solutions to solve challenges by connecting cyberspaces with physical spaces. Through this collaboration with Microsoft, we will be able to accelerate our customers’ digital transformation and continue to deliver social, environmental and economic value,” said Jun Abe, Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of Industry & Distribution Business Unit, Hitachi Ltd.

“Building resilient and flexible digital supply chains is critical to grow a business and meet customer needs in today’s fast-changing environments. By expanding our collaboration with Hitachi, we’ll unlock new opportunities for manufacturing and logistics companies as they strive to lead in their industries and pioneer with a data-driven mindset and digital capabilities,” said Çağlayan Arkan, Vice President Manufacturing at Microsoft.

■ About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is focused on its Social Innovation Business that combines information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and products. The company’s consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2019 (ended March 31, 2020) totaled 8,767.2 billion yen ($80.4 billion), and it employed approximately 301,000 people worldwide. Hitachi drives digital innovation across five sectors – Mobility, Smart Life, Industry, Energy and IT – through Lumada, Hitachi’s advanced digital solutions, services, and technologies for turning data into insights to drive digital innovation. Its purpose is to deliver solutions that increase social, environmental and economic value for its customers. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.

■ About Microsoft

All other company names and product names in the above are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Press inquiries:

Business Strategy Management Division, Industry & Distribution Business Unit, Hitachi Ltd.
Attn. Morii or Tsuboi, Public Relations Group,
Brand & Marketing Communications Department, Business Strategy Planning Division, Industry Business Division, Hitachi Ltd.
Sumitomo Fudosan Akihabara First Building,
5-1, Soto-Kanda, 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0021 Japan
Ph: +81-3-6271-7061 (direct)

Attn. Ishii, Corporate Communications Group, Microsoft Japan Co. Ltd.
Shinagawa Grand Central Tower, 2-16-3 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075 JAPAN
Ph: 03-4535-8055 (division)

Posted on June 18, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Microsoft Azure will become the preferred cloud platform for Johns Hopkins inHealth precision medicine initiative

Five-year agreement will support Johns Hopkins Medicine inHealth in driving new medical discoveries to improve disease management and patient care

Medical professional uses a mobile device to consult with a patient — Photo by Getty Images

REDMOND, Wash. — June 18, 2020 — On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. and Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) announced a five-year relationship centered on Microsoft’s Azure and analytical tools that will support new discoveries as part of JHM’s inHealth precision medicine initiative. The work will bring together JHM’s leading global research expertise with the power of Microsoft Azure, and its AI capabilities, to help advance JHM’s discoveries that will benefit personalized health care. JHM will maintain total control over its data.

inHealth embodies Johns Hopkins’ commitment to precision medicine, using new tools to understand and manage patients’ health, informed by their broader health history and environment. This program integrates JHM’s longstanding leadership in health care research and delivery with the expertise of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

In support of inHealth, JHM has established 16 Precision Medicine Centers of Excellence, where researchers are pursuing breakthroughs in numerous disease settings, such as prostate cancer and multiple sclerosis. JHM aims to have 50 centers in the next five years.

“Johns Hopkins is committed to leading the way in precision medicine, and our relationship with Microsoft will help us achieve that goal,” said Paul B. Rothman, M.D., CEO of JHM and the Frances Watt Baker, M.D., and Lenox D. Baker Jr., M.D., dean of the medical faculty. “Using Azure will improve our ability to develop innovative solutions and treatments for our patients, and we are excited to collaborate with Microsoft to push the boundaries of science and medicine even further.”

Ethical use of patient data is a cornerstone of all of JHM’s partnerships with patients, including this important work with Microsoft in precision medicine. All projects are compliant with all appropriate privacy regulations, and JHM maintains strict control over all data, including through the use of its Institutional Review Board and its internal Data Trust Council that reviews data use across JHM.

“It is a distinct privilege to partner with many of the world’s leading physicians, scientists and engineers at JHM as they use Microsoft Azure and its AI and machine learning capabilities to support some of the most advanced research and breakthroughs in precision medicine,” said Gregory Moore, M.D., Ph.D., corporate vice president of Microsoft Health. “I’m inspired by the collaboration and its bold goals to improve health for all by bringing together some of the world’s best minds in medicine and technology to deliver the future of medical science innovation.”

JHM has previously used Microsoft services as JHM developed its pioneering Precision Medicine Analytics Platform (PMAP), a highly innovative data platform that allows collection and analysis information from a broad array of sources in a secure environment. This new agreement will enable inHealth to expand use of other Microsoft resources, such as advanced services, AI, machine learning and analytics.

More information about Johns Hopkins Medicine precision medicine work and inHealth can be found here.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com

Posted on June 15, 2020 by — Leave a comment

SAS and Microsoft partner to further shape the future of analytics and AI

SAS’ AI and analytics more tightly integrate with Microsoft Azure; Microsoft to bring cloud-based SAS industry solutions to its customers

Cary, NC, and Redmond, WA, (June 15, 2020) – Microsoft Corp. and SAS today announced an extensive technology and go-to-market strategic partnership. The two companies will enable customers to easily run their SAS^® workloads in the cloud, expanding their business solutions and unlocking critical value from their digital transformation initiatives. As part of the partnership, the companies will migrate SAS’ analytical products and industry solutions onto Microsoft Azure as the preferred cloud provider for the SAS Cloud. SAS’ industry solutions and expertise will also bring added value to Microsoft’s customers across health care, financial services and many other industries. This partnership builds on SAS integrations across Microsoft cloud solutions for Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and Power Platform and supports the companies’ shared vision to further democratize AI and analytics.

“Through this partnership, Microsoft and SAS will help our customers accelerate growth and find new ways to drive innovation with a broad set of SAS Analytics offerings on Microsoft Azure,” said Scott Guthrie, Microsoft Executive Vice President of Cloud and AI. “SAS, with its recognized expertise in analytics, data science and machine learning, is a strategic partner for Microsoft, and together we will help customers across dozens of industries and horizontals address their most critical and complex analytical challenges.”

Organizations around the world are moving to the cloud to innovate and move faster toward their business goals. As part of this transition, many customers, like St. Louis-based health system Mercy, are migrating their SAS analytic workloads to Azure to improve performance and cost-efficiency.

“At Mercy, we’re focused on how to continuously improve patient care and outcomes and realize the role of data analytics, machine learning in bringing that focus to light. Working with SAS and Microsoft, we can capitalize on analytics software and the Azure cloud platform to strengthen our ability to harness Real World Evidence for improved outcomes and more informed care,” said Curtis Dudley, Mercy Vice President of Data Analytics. “We’re excited about the potential for increased speed, scalability and an expanded catalog of analytics solutions the SAS and Microsoft partnership brings in helping us deliver a new care model.”

To provide a seamless experience and help organizations accelerate their cloud transformation initiatives, SAS and Microsoft are working together to ensure that SAS products and solutions can be successfully deployed and run effectively on Azure.

“SAS and Microsoft have a shared vision of helping customers accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. We both understand that it is about enrichment of data and improving lives through better decisions,” said Oliver Schabenberger, SAS Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operating Officer. “Partnering with Microsoft gives customers a more seamless path to the cloud that provides faster, more powerful and easier access to SAS solutions and enables trusted decisions with analytics that everyone – regardless of skill level – can understand.”

This will include optimizing SAS^® Viya^®, the latest release of the company’s cloud-native offering, for Azure as well as integrating SAS’ deep portfolio of industry solutions, from fraud to risk to retail, into the Azure Marketplace to provide improved productivity and enhanced business outcomes for customers.

“The partnership between SAS as a leader in the analytics space, and Microsoft as a leader in cloud makes for an interesting strategic alliance. With SAS planning to build integrations across Microsoft’s entire cloud portfolio (Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 & Power BI) it opens up a lot of joint solution potential,” said Steve White, Program Vice President, Channels and Alliances at IDC.

Additionally, through the partnership, Microsoft and SAS will explore opportunities to integrate SAS analytics capabilities, including industry-specific models, within Azure and Dynamics 365 and build new market-ready joint solutions for customers that are natively integrated with SAS services across multiple vertical industries. This further integration will enable SAS customers to capitalize on the scalability and flexibility of the cloud for their analytics and AI workloads. For example, Microsoft and SAS are already empowering customers with solutions that help them capitalize at scale on the vast amount of data being generated by the Internet of Things by combining Microsoft’s Azure IoT platform with SAS’ edge-to-cloud IoT analytics and AI capabilities. Currently, the Town of Cary, NC, is using a joint IoT offering from Microsoft and SAS to power a critical flood prediction solution.

“Localized flooding is something all communities experience, and ours is no exception,” said Nicole Raimundo, Cary’s Chief Information Officer. “Using sensors, weather data, SAS IoT analytics and the Azure IoT platform, we expect to increase situational awareness of rising stream levels, predict where flooding might occur, and improve our emergency response through automation. Cary is also proud to be able to share this data with our neighboring communities to help them better serve their citizens.”

Supported with joint co-selling and go-to-market activities, additional SAS products and solutions will begin rolling out later this year. This will enable SAS and Microsoft customers to address some of their most critical and complex analytical challenges while fostering continuous innovation. SAS is also committed to using Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 to power its internal operations.

Today’s announcement is in conjunction with Virtual SAS Global Forum 2020, the world’s premier analytics conference. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s conference is being held virtually. Register now for the June 16 virtual event to hear more on this partnership from SAS and Microsoft executives during the SAS Executive Welcome at 11 a.m. ET.

To learn more about how SAS and Microsoft are partnering and to register for an upcoming SAS on Azure virtual event, please visit sas.com/Microsoft.

About SAS

Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW^®. SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2020 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

About Microsoft

Editorial Contacts

Shannon Heath
shannon.heath@sas.com
919-531-2676
sas.com/news

Microsoft Media Relations
WE Communications for Microsoft
rrt@we-worldwide.com
425-638-7777

Posted on June 11, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Adaptive Biotechnologies and Microsoft launch groundbreaking ImmuneCODE database to share populationwide immune response to the COVID-19 virus

Decoding the immune response to the virus from thousands of patient samples may contribute to the development of novel diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics

Data will be updated regularly and made freely available to researchers and public health officials around the world

SEATTLE and REDMOND, Wash. — June 11, 2020 — Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. (Nasdaq: ADPT) on Thursday launched ImmuneCODE with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) to begin sharing one of the largest, most detailed views of the immune response to COVID-19 in real time based on de-identified data generated from thousands of COVID-19 blood samples from patients around the globe. The open database contains detailed information on the extraordinarily diverse set of T cells shown to specifically recognize unique features of the COVID-19 virus, called antigens, with unprecedented speed and scale. T cells contain a treasure trove of information that could provide one consistent and trackable measure of the immune response. This could help diagnose and manage COVID-19 from exposure through clearance of the virus, and potentially offer an accurate assessment of immunity. Data from ImmuneCODE will accelerate ongoing global efforts to develop better diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics and answer important questions about the virus to support initiatives to safely reopen society.

“In just a few months, Adaptive and Microsoft intend to generate data for ImmuneCODE sufficient to accurately map how the adaptive immune system responds to SARS-CoV-2 from initial exposure through clearance by using our combined immune medicine platform and machine learning, potentially providing an accurate assessment of immunity,” said Harlan Robins, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies. “The scale and precision with which we are now able to decode the T cell response to the virus may fundamentally change our ability to recover from this pandemic and the way in which all viruses are studied in the future.”

Thousands of de-identified geographically and ethnically diverse patient blood samples from institutions around the world* are being collected and analyzed alongside samples from ImmuneRACE (Immune Response Action to COVID-19 Events), the companies’ prospective study enrolling 1,000 participants across the U.S. to decode how immune systems detect and respond to the virus. Using Microsoft Azure’s hyperscale cloud and machine learning capabilities, the T cell response signature will be continuously refined by extending the number of matches of COVID-19-related T cells to antigens and directly associating this T cell signature with disease and outcomes.

“Adaptive Biotechnologies’ sequencing of T-cells sets up an extremely large but manageable machine learning problem, and thus makes it possible, for the first time, to catalog and share how our adaptive immune system responds to viruses, including the novel virus that causes COVID-19,” said Peter Lee, corporate vice president, Microsoft Research and Incubation. “Making these data freely available to the global research community through the ImmuneCODE database will deepen our collective understanding of the human immune response and thereby help researchers accelerate the development of news drugs and vaccines in the fight against this global health crisis.”

The role of the T cell

Although most efforts to look at the immune response are focused on the B cell or the virus itself, this approach is different because it focuses on the T cell. T cells are the adaptive immune system’s first responders to detect any virus. They quickly multiply and circulate in the blood to attack the virus, often before symptoms appear. Among many other jobs, T cells also recruit B cells to produce antibodies after about a week or two to potentially provide immunity against future infection.

To date, testing for COVID-19 has either been in the form of a viral test to detect the presence of the virus or a serology test to detect the presence of antibodies to signal prior infection. An in-depth understanding of the T cell response to the COVID-19 virus has a variety of different applications. That in-depth understanding may improve accuracy in the existing testing paradigm or potentially provide an assessment of immunity. Additionally, it is possible that identifying and tracking T cell response may provide insight as to the severity of a patient’s illness, the length of any post-infection immunity period, and the potential efficacy of vaccines in development.

As Adaptive generates these data, subsequent updates to ImmuneCODE will provide an increasingly clearer picture of the immune response to the COVID-19 virus. This includes analyzing the immune responses from thousands of infected individuals, linking T cell responses to viral antigens and patient outcomes, and tracking the immune response. In addition to making these data freely available, Adaptive is conducting its own research to develop a new kind of diagnostic looking specifically at the T cell response to the COVID-19 virus.

About ImmuneCODE

ImmuneCODE is an open database that provides a detailed population-level view into the adaptive immune response to the COVID-19 virus. Adaptive Biotechnologies and Microsoft are making these data freely available to any researcher, public health official or organization around the world to accelerate solutions to the global pandemic. The database contains detailed information on the virus-specific T cells as well as the virus-related antigens they recognize. The T cell responses to these antigens will be tracked across the population to create an immune response signature using thousands of de-identified samples combined from organizations around the globe and ImmuneRACE, the virtual clinical study launched in May to help in the race to find a solution to COVID-19.

De-identified blood samples from ImmuneRACE, including patients who were actively infected, recovered or were recently exposed to the virus, are being collected by LabCorp, through its Covance drug development business, using a mobile phlebotomy service. Immune cell receptors from these samples are being sequenced using Illumina platform technology and mapped to virus-specific antigens that are confirmed by Adaptive’s proprietary immune medicine platform to induce an immune response. These study data are being pooled with data from thousands of additional unique de-identified patient samples from many institutions around the world. Using Microsoft Azure’s hyperscale cloud and machine learning capabilities, the accuracy of the immune response will be continuously improved and updated online in real time as more samples are sequenced.

* Providence, a large health system with 51 hospitals, including the one near Seattle that treated the first U.S. COVID-19 patient, is an initial clinical collaborator. Other participating institutions include Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), BloodWorks Northwest, Hospital 12 de Octubre, i+12/CNIO (Madrid, Spain), Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS (Meldola, FC – Italy) / AUSL-Romagna and Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), and Università di Bologna (Italy). This list is growing as we continue to work with other investigators globally to collect and sequence valuable patient cohorts. Institutions or collaborators interested in contributing blood samples can direct inquiries to COVID19ImmuneResponse@adaptivebiotech.com.

About the Adaptive and Microsoft partnership

Adaptive and Microsoft partnered in 2018 to create a TCR-Antigen Map, an approach to translating the genetics of the massive adaptive immune system to understand how it works. Together we are using immunosequencing at scale and machine learning to map T-cell receptor (TCR) sequences to diseases and disease-associated antigens. Using these data, we aim to develop a blood test for the early and accurate detection of many diseases, translating the natural diagnostic capability of the immune system into the clinic. In 2019, we confirmed clinical signals in two diseases, and established our first proof of concept in Lyme disease. We expect to submit our first clinical application to the FDA in 2020.

About Adaptive Biotechnologies

Adaptive Biotechnologies is a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on harnessing the inherent biology of the adaptive immune system to transform the diagnosis and treatment of disease. We believe the adaptive immune system is nature’s most finely tuned diagnostic and therapeutic for most diseases, but the inability to decode it has prevented the medical community from fully leveraging its capabilities. Our proprietary immune medicine platform reveals and translates the massive genetics of the adaptive immune system with scale, precision and speed to develop products in life sciences research, clinical diagnostics, and drug discovery. We have two commercial products, and a robust clinical pipeline to diagnose, monitor and enable the treatment of diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions and infectious diseases. Our goal is to develop and commercialize immune-driven clinical products tailored to each individual patient. For more information, please visit adaptivebiotech.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/adaptivebiotech.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to Adaptive. All statements contained in the press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the ability to map adaptive immune responses to COVID-19, the ability to successfully collect a sufficient number and quality of samples through ImmuneRACE, the ability to efficiently and effectively process data with ImmuneCODE, to leverage any findings or data to advance solutions to diagnose, treat and prevent COVID-19, the ability to develop, commercialize and achieve market acceptance of the Adaptive’s TCR-Antigen Map and other current and planned products and services, research and development efforts. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, which are described under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in the documents Adaptive files with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

About Illumina

Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as the global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical, and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit www.illumina.com and follow @illumina.

About LabCorp

LabCorp (NYSE: LH), an S&P 500 company, is a leading global life sciences company that is deeply integrated in guiding patient care, providing comprehensive clinical laboratory and end-to-end drug development services. With a mission to improve health and improve lives, LabCorp delivers world-class diagnostics solutions, brings innovative medicines to patients faster, and uses technology to improve the delivery of care. LabCorp reported revenue of more than $11.5 billion in 2019. To learn more about LabCorp, visit www.LabCorp.com, and to learn more about LabCorp’s Covance drug development business, visit www.Covance.com.

About Providence

Providence is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 51 hospitals, 1,085 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 120,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states – Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, with system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com

Beth Keshishian, Adaptive Media, (917) 912-7195, media@adaptivebiotech.com

Karina Calzadilla, Adaptive Investor Relations, Carrie Mendivil, Gilmartin Group, investors@adaptivebiotech.com

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

Posted on May 29, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Microsoft announces expiration of its exchange offers

REDMOND, Wash. — May 29, 2020 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) (“Microsoft”) today announced the expiration of its offers to (i) exchange (the “Pool 1 Offer”) the ten series of notes described in the table below (collectively, the “Pool 1 Notes”) for a new series of Microsoft’s 2.525% Notes due June 1, 2050 (the “New 2050 Notes”) and a cash payment, as applicable, and (ii) exchange (the “Pool 2 Offer” and, together with the Pool 1 Offer, the “Exchange Offers”) the four series of notes described in the table below (collectively, the “Pool 2 Notes” and, together with the Pool 1 Notes, the “Existing Notes”) for a new series of Microsoft’s 2.675% Notes due June 1, 2060 (the “New 2060 Notes” and, together with the New 2050 Notes, the “New Notes”) and a cash payment, as applicable.

A Registration Statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-237925), as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto (the “Registration Statement”), relating to the issuance of the New Notes has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and has become effective. The New Notes, upon issuance, will be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, pursuant to the Registration Statement.

The table below identifies the aggregate principal amount of each series of Pool 1 Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) in the Pool 1 Offer and the principal amount of each series of Pool 1 Notes, based on the order of acceptance priority for such series, that Microsoft expects to accept on the Settlement Date (as defined below):

Pool 1 Table
Title of Security	CUSIP Number	Consideration Exchanged for	Acceptance Priority Level	Principal Amount Tendered⁽¹⁾	Principal Amount Microsoft Expects to Accept

4.875% Notes due 2043	594918AX2	New 2050 Notes	1	$325,428,000	$325,428,000
5.300% Notes due 2041	594918AM6	New 2050 Notes	2	$229,661,000	$229,661,000
4.450% Notes due 2045	594918BL7	New 2050 Notes	3	$1,711,663,000	$1,711,663,000
4.250% Notes due 2047	594918CA0	New 2050 Notes	4	$1,415,370,000	$1,415,370,000

5.200% Notes due 2039	594918AD6	New 2050 Notes	5	$191,455,000	$191,455,000
4.500% Notes due 2040	594918AJ3	New 2050 Notes	6	$428,829,000	$428,829,000

3.750% Notes due 2043	594918AU8	New 2050 Notes	7	$255,985,000	$255,985,000

3.750% Notes due 2045	594918BD5	New 2050 Notes	8	$1,109,437,000	$1,109,433,000
4.100% Notes due 2037	594918BZ6	New 2050 Notes	9	$1,569,224,000	$583,533,000

4.200% Notes due 2035	594918BK9	New 2050 Notes	10	$325,218,000	$0

The aggregate principal amounts of each series that have been validly tendered for exchange and not validly withdrawn, as of 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on May 28, 2020 (the “Expiration Time”), based on information provided by the exchange agent to Microsoft.

The table below identifies the aggregate principal amount of each series of Pool 2 Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) in the Pool 2 Offer and the principal amount of each series of Pool 2 Notes, based on the order of acceptance priority for such series, that Microsoft expects to accept on the Settlement Date:

Pool 2 Table
Title of Security	CUSIP Number	Consideration Exchanged for	Acceptance Priority Level	Principal Amount Tendered⁽¹⁾	Principal Amount Microsoft Expects to Accept

4.750% Notes due 2055	594918BM5	New 2060 Notes	1	$673,265,000	$673,265,000
4.000% Notes due 2055	594918BE3	New 2060 Notes	2	$1,456,150,000	$1,456,150,000
4.500% Notes due 2057	594918CB8	New 2060 Notes	3	$1,116,223,000	$1,116,223,000
3.950% Notes due 2056	594918BU7	New 2060 Notes	4	$1,693,876,000	$295,490,000

The aggregate principal amounts of each series that have been validly tendered for exchange and not validly withdrawn, as of the Expiration Time, based on information provided by the exchange agent to Microsoft.

In the Exchange Offers, according to the information provided by D.F. King & Co., Inc., the information agent and exchange agent for the Exchange Offers, $7,562,270,000 aggregate principal amount of Pool 1 Notes and $4,939,514,000 aggregate principal amount of Pool 2 Notes were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Expiration Time, as more fully set forth above.

The Exchange Offers expired at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on May 28, 2020. Following the Expiration Time, tenders of the Existing Notes may not be validly withdrawn. As of the Expiration Time, all conditions to the Exchange Offers were satisfied. Microsoft currently anticipates that the settlement date of the Exchange Offers will be June 1, 2020 (the “Settlement Date”).

Based on the amount of Existing Notes tendered in the Exchange Offers and in accordance with the terms of the Exchange Offers, Microsoft expects to accept, on the Settlement Date, (a) the following Pool 1 Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn): (i) all of the Pool 1 Notes listed in the Pool 1 Table above at Acceptance Priority Levels 1 through 7, (ii) $1,109,433,000 aggregate principal amount of its 3.750% Notes due 2045 (which is less than the amount tendered (and not validly withdrawn) due to minimum denomination requirements of the Exchange Offers) and (iii) $583,533,000 aggregate principal amount of its 4.100% Notes due 2037 with a proration factor for such notes equal to approximately 37.19% of such notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and (b) the following Pool 2 Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn): (i) all of the Pool 2 Notes listed in the Pool 2 Table at Acceptance Priority Levels 1 through 3 and (ii) $295,490,000 aggregate principal amount of its 3.950% Notes due 2056 with a proration factor for such notes equal to approximately 17.44% of such notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) as set forth above. Microsoft does not expect to accept any of the Pool 1 Notes listed in the Pool 1 Table at Acceptance Priority Level 10.

On the Settlement Date, Microsoft expects to deliver an aggregate principal amount of $6,249,997,000 of New 2050 Notes and an aggregate principal amount of $3,750,000,000 of New 2060 Notes and cash payments, as applicable, pursuant to Microsoft’s prospectus dated May 19, 2020 (the “Prospectus”), filed with the SEC on May 19, 2020, relating to the New Notes.

About Microsoft

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release are “forward-looking statements” based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors described above as well as:

intense competition in all of our markets that may lead to lower revenue or operating margins;
increasing focus on cloud-based services presenting execution and competitive risks;
significant investments in products and services that may not achieve expected returns;
acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances that may have an adverse effect on our business;
impairment of goodwill or amortizable intangible assets causing a significant charge to earnings;
cyberattacks and security vulnerabilities that could lead to reduced revenue, increased costs, liability claims, or harm to our reputation or competitive position;
disclosure and misuse of personal data that could cause liability and harm to our reputation;
the possibility that we may not be able to protect information stored in our products and services from use by others;
abuse of our advertising or social platforms that may harm our reputation or user engagement;
the development of the internet of things presenting security, privacy, and execution risks;
issues about the use of artificial intelligence in our offerings that may result in competitive harm, legal liability, or reputational harm;
excessive outages, data losses, and disruptions of our online services if we fail to maintain an adequate operations infrastructure;
quality or supply problems;
the possibility that we may fail to protect our source code;
legal changes, our evolving business model, piracy, and other factors may decrease the value of our intellectual property;
claims that Microsoft has infringed the intellectual property rights of others;
claims against us that may result in adverse outcomes in legal disputes;
government litigation and regulatory activity relating to competition rules that may limit how we design and market our products;
potential liability under trade protection, anti-corruption, and other laws resulting from our global operations;
laws and regulations relating to the handling of personal data that may impede the adoption of our services or result in increased costs, legal claims, fines, or reputational damage;
additional tax liabilities;
damage to our reputation or our brands that may harm our business and operating results;
exposure to increased economic and operational uncertainties from operating a global business, including the effects of foreign currency exchange;
uncertainties relating to our business with government customers;
adverse economic or market conditions that may harm our business;
catastrophic events or geopolitical conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, that may disrupt our business; and
the dependence of our business on our ability to attract and retain talented employees.

For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Microsoft’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q that are incorporated by reference in the Prospectus forming a part of the Registration Statement, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft’s Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft’s Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor.

Posted on May 27, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Microsoft, Workday announce strategic partnership to accelerate planning for today’s world

Workday Adaptive Planning to run on Microsoft Azure Cloud

Workday on Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Azure Active Directory to create greater integrated customer experience

REDMOND, Wash., and PLEASANTON, Calif. — May 27, 2020 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY) today announced a strategic partnership prioritizing enterprise planning in the cloud and expanding the business solutions customers can use to better optimize their everyday work. Through this partnership, Workday customers will also be able to run Workday Adaptive Planning on the Microsoft Azure cloud. Further, Microsoft will adopt Workday Adaptive Planning for its global finance teams for planning, budgeting and forecasting to help accelerate decision-making.

The companies also unveiled new integrations between Workday’s suite of applications and Microsoft Teams and Azure Active Directory that will enable customers to simplify day-to-day tasks, foster collaboration, increase productivity and enhance security.

Planning for what’s next

As businesses adjust and adapt to changing business environments, the need for real-time planning capabilities is accelerating. Making faster, informed decisions across all areas of the business requires a continuous planning process. Workday Adaptive Planning offers customers a modern platform that ties data, people and plans together in one version of truth, accessible in the cloud to finance, HR, sales, functional business leaders, and more. Adding Workday Adaptive Planning to Azure offers increased flexibility as customer demand for cloud-based planning grows.

The addition of Workday Adaptive Planning brings a leading modern planning, analytics and reporting solution at scale to the Azure community. Power users can trust the enterprise security and global availability of Azure to handle robust models, multiple instances and nearly unlimited dimensionality for “slicing and dicing” data in Workday.

Further connecting the Microsoft, Workday communities

Today’s announcement also includes additional integrations and support, focusing on easier access, collaboration and security between Microsoft and Workday applications. Workers are often toggling between applications, and new integrations being announced today deliver a more connected, intuitive workspace and frictionless access for enterprise customers.

Microsoft Teams integration with Workday Financial Management and Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) makes it easier for users to access Workday to simplify day-to-day tasks such as submitting expenses, providing anytime feedback, looking up employees, or requesting time off, all without having to leave Teams. Employees and managers can ask Workday Assistant — a chatbot that uses natural language processing — various questions to help initiate task steps and business processes, enabling them to get daily activities done faster and more efficiently through a seamless, more connected experience. Read more here.
Microsoft Azure Active Directory integrations with Workday applications enable customers to access enterprise data and applications easily and securely through single sign-on. With expanded integrations, joint customers that use Microsoft and Workday applications can confidently secure end-to-end identity lifecycle and entitlement settings for greater privacy and security management. The expanded integrations will streamline HR and IT processes and support new scenarios such as real-time deprovisioning, worker conversion and international assignment changes.

Comments on the news

“Now, more than ever, planning takes center stage as companies return to the workplace, rebuild supply chains, and in some cases reimagine their businesses in our rapidly changing world,” said Tom Bogan, vice chairman of Workday. “With cloud planning at scale and even tighter integration to help customers collaborate, this partnership underscores what Workday was built for — to help customers unlock potential in their people and the business even in the most dynamic environments.”

“At Microsoft, we’re hyper-focused on continually innovating new ways to empower every person and organization around the world with the tools and insights they need to securely drive productivity and business performance,” said Gavriella Schuster, corporate vice president of One Commercial Partner, Microsoft. “In partnership with Workday, we’ll deliver new solutions that connect the people and financial insights of Workday to the cloud productivity of Microsoft Teams and cloud platform of Azure, so our joint customers can do more.”

Availability

Workday for Microsoft Teams is available to all customers on Workday HCM and Workday Financial Management today. Microsoft Azure Active Directory capabilities and Workday Adaptive Planning on Azure will be available next year.

About Workday

Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. Founded in 2005, Workday delivers financial management, human capital management, planning, and analytics applications designed for the world’s largest companies, educational institutions, and government agencies. Organizations ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 50 enterprises have selected Workday.

About Microsoft

For more information, press only:

Diane Orr, Workday, (408) 309-0024, diane.orr@workday.com

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the expected performance and benefits of Workday’s offerings. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “seek,” “plan,” “project,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to, risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Form 10-Q for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2020 and our future reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Workday assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Any unreleased services, features, or functions referenced in this document, our website, or other press releases or public statements that are not currently available are subject to change at Workday’s discretion and may not be delivered as planned or at all. Customers who purchase Workday, Inc. services should make their purchase decisions based upon services, features, and functions that are currently available.

© 2020. Workday, Inc. All rights reserved. Workday and the Workday logo are registered trademarks of Workday, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Posted on May 26, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Racing against time, medical researchers, life science companies and COVID-19 survivors launch national campaign to drive blood plasma donation

“The Fight Is In Us” campaign seeks to mobilize COVID-19 survivors to accelerate the development of potentially lifesaving therapies

REDMOND, Wash., USA, and NEW YORK — May 26, 2020 — A coalition of world-leading medical and research institutions, blood centers, life science companies, technology companies, philanthropic organizations, and COVID-19 survivor groups has come together to support the rapid development of potential new therapies for patients with COVID-19. Working together under the “The Fight Is In Us” campaign, the coalition is seeking to mobilize tens of thousands of people in the United States who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their blood plasma, which contains vital antibodies that have fought off the disease and could now help others do the same.

The campaign is working against two urgent timelines: to recruit COVID-19 survivors within two months of their recovery to ensure that their blood plasma contains a robust enough concentration of antibodies to have a positive effect, and to address the substantial seasonal increase in COVID-19 cases anticipated this fall in the Northern Hemisphere by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health experts.

“As an early survivor of COVID-19, I was desperate to do whatever was in my power to be a part of the solution. I started Survivor Corps to mobilize and connect the thousands of people affected by COVID-19 to support all ongoing scientific, medical and academic research, and this coalition is furthering our goal,” said Diana Berrent, founder of Survivor Corps. “Inside COVID-19 survivors is the antibody-rich blood plasma that may help stem the tide of this pandemic. The time is now for superhero volunteers to donate their blood plasma and help stop COVID-19 in its tracks.”

Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, or know someone who has, can visit TheFightIsInUs.org to understand if they may be eligible to donate and find a nearby blood or plasma donor center using a simple self-screening tool. Donating blood plasma is a generally safe and proven process. The coalition offers more than 1,500 locations at which COVID-19 survivors can choose to donate. Donations can be made at both blood and plasma donor centers.

The coalition partners are working on two distinct approaches for treating COVID-19 that both urgently require collection of convalescent plasma now. One approach is the direct transfusion of blood plasma though the Expanded Access Program for convalescent plasma, which is currently being administered with authorization from the Food & Drug Administration by Mayo Clinic. Its safety and efficacy are currently being evaluated through multiple clinical trials in different populations. Blood donor centers throughout the country are currently collecting convalescent plasma from COVID-19 survivors for this purpose. The other approach is the development of a medicine known as a hyperimmune globulin (H-Ig), which is being manufactured now and will be studied in clinical trials this summer. Through the manufacturing process, the plasma is pooled, concentrated and purified, resulting in a vial of medicine with consistent levels of antibodies that is easy to store, distribute and administer to patients. Coalition members developing an H-Ig include CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance (CSL Behring, Takeda, ADMA Biologics, Biopharma Plasma, Biotest, BPL, GC Pharma, Octapharma and Sanquin) and Grifols.

About The Fight Is In Us

The Fight Is In Us will help advance global research and understanding of COVID-19; progress toward effective, sustainable and widely available convalescent plasma-based therapies; and the medically sound allocation and use of convalescent plasma. The organizations and coalitions involved include leading academic medical institutions (the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Expanded Access Program led by Mayo Clinic, Michigan State University and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis); leading plasma companies (Grifols and the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, which includes founding members CSL Behring, Takeda, ADMA Biologics, Biopharma Plasma, Biotest, BPL, GC Pharma, Octapharma and Sanquin); leading blood centers (including the AABB, America’s Blood Centers, Blood Centers of America, New York Blood Centers and Vitalant); healthcare organizations (Anthem and Ashfield Healthcare); COVID-19 survivor groups including Survivor Corps; and media including Ad Council.

The Fight Is In Us is also supported by advisory and technology members. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lasker Foundation are providing advisory support. Microsoft Corp. is providing technology support for the development of TheFightIsInUs.org and a simple self-screening tool for potential donors. MITRE, a not-for-profit organization that operates federally funded research and development centers, is hosting both the website and tool. Uber Health has contributed 25,000 free, roundtrip Uber rides to and from plasma donor centers for those potentially eligible to donate.

The combined efforts of these organizations will contribute specialist advisory expertise, technical guidance and additional support to potentially save more lives — together. But the coalition’s success depends on the urgent support of survivor donors around the world. Those who have recovered from COVID-19 can learn more about how to donate their strength and about the coalition partners at TheFightIsInUs.org.

For Media Inquiries:

Microsoft Media Relations
WE Communications for Microsoft
(425) 638-7777
rrt@we-worldwide.com

About AABB

AABB is an international, not-for-profit association representing individuals and institutions involved in the fields of transfusion medicine and biotherapies. The Association is committed to improving health through the development and delivery of standards, accreditation and educational programs that focus on optimizing patient and donor care and safety. AABB membership includes physicians, nurses, scientists, researchers, administrators, medical technologists and other health care providers. AABB members are located in more than 80 countries and AABB accredits institutions in more than 50 countries. For more information, visit: www.aabb.org.

About Bio Products Laboratory (BPL)
Recognising the power of plasma and with over 60 years heritage in the industry, BPL supplies high-quality plasma derived medicines to meet the needs of clinicians, patients and customers globally. Headquartered in the United Kingdom and with plasma collection centres across the United States, we are dedicated to producing medicines for the treatment of immune deficiencies, bleeding disorders and infectious diseases as well for critical care. BPL invests in the latest R&D, technology and manufacturing methods, and continuously adapts to ensure that we continue to serve all our stakeholders effectively. For more information visit http://www.bplgroup.com.

About the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance

In an effort to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a new alliance was created in April 2020 to help develop a potential plasma-derived therapy for people at risk for serious complications from COVID-19.

The CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance brings together world-leading plasma companies to work on the development of an investigational unbranded polyclonal anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin medicine with the potential to treat patients who are at risk for serious complications from COVID-19.

The “I” and “g” in CoVIg-19 stand for immune globulin, which the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance will use to concentrate the antibodies into a potential medicine.

The Alliance, formed by CSL Behring and Takeda, also includes the leading-edge expertise of Biotest, BPL, LFB, and Octapharma. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing advisory support. Microsoft is providing technology including the Alliance website and the Plasma Bot for donor recruitment. Experts from the Alliance are collaborating across key aspects such as plasma collection, clinical trial development, and product manufacturing.

About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients’ needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company’s products are also used in cardiac surgery, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn. CSL Behring operates one of the world’s largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company, CSL Limited (ASX:CSL;USOTC:CSLLY), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs more than 26,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.cslbehring.com and for inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit Vita www.cslbehring.com/Vita.

About Grifols

Grifols is a global healthcare company founded in Barcelona in 1909 committed to improving the health and well-being of people around the world. Its four divisions – Bioscience, Diagnostic, Hospital and Bio Supplies – develop, produce and market innovative solutions and services that are sold in more than 100 countries.

Pioneers in the plasma industry, Grifols operates a growing network of donation centers worldwide. It transforms collected plasma into essential medicines to treat chronic, rare and, at times, life-threatening conditions. As a recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Grifols also offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to enhance safety from donation to transfusion. In addition, the company supplies tools, information and services that enable hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare professionals to efficiently deliver expert medical care.

Grifols, with more than 24,000 employees in 30 countries and regions, is committed to a sustainable business model that sets the standard for continuous innovation, quality, safety and ethical leadership.

The company’s class A shares are listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange, where they are part of the Ibex-35 (MCE:GRF). Grifols non-voting class B shares are listed on the Mercado Continuo (MCE:GRF.P) and on the U.S. NASDAQ through ADRs (NASDAQ:GRFS).

For more information, please visit www.grifols.com.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news and An Inside Look at Mayo Clinic for more information about Mayo.

About Octapharma
Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines. Octapharma employs more than 10,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 118 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Hematology; Immunotherapy and Critical care. Octapharma has seven R&D sites and six state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany, Mexico and Sweden, with a combined capacity of approximately 8 mil litres of plasma per annum. In addition, Octapharma operates more than 140 plasma donation centres across Europe and the US. For more information, visit www.octapharma.com.

About Survivor Corps

Survivor Corps is the largest grassroots movement in America dedicated to actively ending this pandemic. We are mobilizing all those affected by COVID-19 to support all ongoing scientific, medical and academic research to find a vaccine and a cure. We hope to get people back into their communities and back to work, all while fostering the spirit of unity and solidarity that is urgently needed during this time of crisis.

With every passing day, thousands of people across the country are being infected with COVID-19. The vast majority will survive and most will likely develop antibodies to the virus. The mysteries to this virus will be solved, in part, by individual donations to scientific research.

Survivor Corps is the epicenter of HOPE. For more information, visit www.survivorcorps.com.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to patients by translating science into highly-innovative medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Diseases, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people’s lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries.

For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

About Microsoft

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Additional Quote Sheet will also be included in press package

AABB

“AABB is proud to support blood centers throughout the country that are collecting potentially lifesaving plasma from COVID-19 survivors. The blood banking community is an integral part of our health care system, and their heroism has truly been on display during this pandemic. Convalescent plasma can be a game-changing therapy for patients in need, and we are pleased to be part of a coalition that recognizes and supports the vital work blood centers do.” — Debra BenAvram, CEO of the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)

Ad Council

“We are proud to join this critical campaign to educate and empower COVID-19 survivors to donate plasma to help save the lives of others. During this time of uncertainty, we know that this will be a powerful tool in the fight against COVID-19.” — Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council

America’s Blood Centers

“Community blood centers continue to be at the forefront of the nation’s efforts to collect convalescent plasma from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19. ABC member blood centers remain committed to ensuring the availability of convalescent plasma as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients and are pleased to have the support of Microsoft and other partner organizations in expanding the collection of convalescent plasma throughout the U.S. Community blood centers will remain mobilized in assisting the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts.”— Kate Fry, Chief Executive Officer, America’s Blood Centers

Anthem

“At Anthem, we recognize the importance of building a convalescent plasma biobank in the fight against COVID-19, and are proud to support the efforts to help COVID-19 survivors, patients and their caregivers. Joining the coalition and The Fight Is In Us campaign expands on our partnership and leadership in collaborative efforts with community and healthcare organizations to lead through care, guide the recovery and help shape public-private solutions for the future of healthcare.” — Steve Friedhoff, Chief Clinical Officer, Anthem

Ashfield Healthcare

“Ashfield Healthcare is extremely proud to be part of this collaborative partnership in the fight against COVID-19. Patients are at the core of the healthcare services that we provide, and we’re passionate about leveraging our industry-leading contact center service to support COVID-19 survivors. We are committed to supporting the survivors who will be participating in this critical campaign to donate their plasma.” — Greg Flynn, Global President, Ashfield Healthcare

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“Safe and effective treatments for COVID-19 are urgently needed, and convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulin could play a key role in saving lives and protecting frontline responders from infection until vaccines are widely available. We’re excited that major academic research institutions and life science companies have joined forces to accelerate the development of potentially lifesaving products, and we’re incredibly grateful to COVID-19 survivors for their essential commitment to this fight.” — Trevor Mundel, President of Global Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance

“Partnership and collaboration are critical to the success of all the coalition development programs that rely on convalescent plasma donation. The more plasma we can collect, and the earlier we can collect it, will directly impact the speed and scale of our efforts. The growing and active involvement of leading public and private companies from outside the plasma industry, who support the drive for plasma donation, underscores the potential of convalescent plasma to fight this public health crisis. Together, we all share the same goal — to save lives by using the power of this scarce resource in different ways.” — Julie Kim, President of Plasma-Derived Therapies Business Unit, Takeda, and Co-Leader, CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance

“During times of uncertainty, leaders must lead. The hyperimmune globulin therapy has the potential to be one of the earliest treatment options for COVID-19 and also can be scaled and distributed. We look forward to working with NIAID and health authorities to bring this therapy to patients as early as possible. One of the stated goals of the alliance is to be an effective partner for important institutions such as NIAID and also to help develop coherent regulatory strategies that can give global health authorities the confidence to streamline the approval process of hyperimmune globulin therapy for COVID-19.” — Bill Mezzanotte, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, CSL Behring, and Co-Leader, CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance

Grifols

“The development of a hyperimmune globulin for treatment as well as pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis is not just a rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to its attributes as a readily available therapy, it can bridge the time necessary to develop a vaccine. The technology also forms the basis for rapid deployment of a therapy in response to future outbreaks of emerging viruses and other pathogens. The Fight Is In Us provides the opportunity to harness biology’s natural solution to fighting disease.” — David Bell, Chief Innovation Officer, Grifols

Mayo Clinic

“It’s important to know that convalescent plasma is a biological product that has to be obtained from a specific set of patients who have recovered from COVID-19. It cannot be made in a lab. There’s no other source. That’s why reaching as many of these volunteers as possible is so essential.” — Michael Joyner, M.D., Anesthesiologist, Mayo Clinic, and Principal Investigator, Expanded Access Program (EAP) for convalescent plasma to fight COVID-19

“Mayo Clinic’s researchers are working around the clock to accelerate discoveries related to NB SARS-CoV2, the virus, and COVID-19, the disease. Successful outcomes have never been more urgently needed, and we continue to depend on the collaborative efforts of many across the nation and the globe to rapidly discover, translate and apply scientific advances.” — Gregory Gores, M.D., Kinney Executive Dean for Research, Mayo Clinic

Microsoft

“Microsoft has provided the technology infrastructure for a health bot that guides people through their eligibility as a plasma donor and directs them to the nearest donor center. Basically, we’re asking people who have survived COVID-19 to contribute to helping others do the same.” — Peter Lee, Corporate Vice President, AI and Research, Microsoft

The MITRE Corporation

“We are privileged to serve as a trusted partner to host the website to spread the critical message on how recovered patients can help others in need. Building an army of donors to rapidly develop effective plasma-based treatments is an exemplar of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.” — Rich Byrne, Senior Vice President, The MITRE Corporation

Uber Health

“There is a long road ahead in the fight against COVID-19, and we must continue to support those on the front lines and those working towards a potential treatment. We at Uber are committed to helping move what matters, and Uber Health is proud to donate rides to the Plasma Collection Coalition, eliminating transportation as a barrier to plasma donation for those who are eligible, and willing, to participate.” — Dan Trigub, Head of Uber Health