~ Group receives award as partner with the best track record in Japan ~
SoftBank Corp.
SB C&S Corp.
SB Technology Corp.
SoftBank Corp. (" SoftBank"), SB C&S Corp. ("SB C&S") and SB Technology Corp. (" SBT") are the 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year selected by Microsoft Corporation (" Microsoft") as the "Microsoft Partner of the Year" Country Partner of the Year" as a group.
The Microsoft Partner of the Year award is given once a year to partners who have developed and delivered outstanding solutions using Microsoft technology. The awards are divided into several categories, and this year, more than 4,700 companies from 115 countries around the world entered. Among them, SoftBank, SB C&S and SBT were recognized as the best performing partners in the country in the past year.
SoftBank has entered into a strategic alliance with Microsoft Japan, focusing on cloud services and generative AI (artificial intelligence) with the aim of accelerating the digital transformation (DX) of corporate and local government customers in the Japan market. Through this partnership, we have provided various services such as generative AI using the Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Microsoft 365 to many major companies and municipalities in Japan, especially SoftBank to make the deployment of Azure OpenAI Service quick and easy. The "Generative AI Package" package solution enables companies to efficiently create business value by utilizing AI in a secure environment, including networks and authentication services. In addition, we have started an initiative with Microsoft Japan to accelerate the automation of our call center operations through the use of generative AI. As a result, we aim to shorten the waiting time of customers and respond to customers with uneven quality. These various initiatives were highly evaluated, leading to this award.
SB C&S was recognized for its sales promotion activities, particularly focusing on AI, as an Indirect Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), which have contributed greatly to the market expansion of Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. In particular, SB C&S has strongly driven the AI business through AI awareness seminars held in seven cities across the country, extensive training support for developing engineers for member companies through SB C&S's unique sales partner support program, the C&S Partner Club, implementation support services for Azure OpenAI Service, and a free PoC (Proof of Concept) campaign. The company will implement further measures with the aim of becoming Japan's largest CSP partner in the AI field.
SBT was one of the first to start business in the Microsoft cloud service area in 2009, introducing "Microsoft 365", building business systems using "Microsoft Azure", and building various systems to promote DX centered on "Dynamics 365". We have a track record of introducing it to many major domestic companies and government offices. In addition, we have provided a wide range of services such as the design of guidelines and policies necessary for the implementation of these systems, the design and construction of security, and managed security services. In 2023, in response to the growing demand for the use of generative AI, we launched our own generative AI service "dailyAI" using "Azure OpenAI Service" and contributed to improving the productivity of various customers by introducing systems that utilize the technical elements of "Azure Machine Learning" tailored to individual customer requests. These activities have been recognized for supporting the DX of many companies.
■ Logo for the "2024 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year"
SoftBank SB C&S and SBT will continue to support customers' work style innovation and DX promotion by leveraging each company's know-how and resources in the cloud computing field.
For details and inquiries about related services, please see below.
SoftBank
・ Azure OpenAI Service
・ Generative AI Package (formerly Azure OpenAI Service Starter Package)
<SB C&S>
・ Microsoft 365 Consultation Center
・ Azure Consultation Center
<SB Technology>
・ dailyAI
Contact information regarding this matter
● SB Technology Corp. Public Relations Department
E-mail: sbt-press@tech.softbank.co.jp