Adobe Makes Microsoft's Azure 'Preferred' Service

By Jay Greene 

Adobe Systems Inc. threw some weight behind Microsoft Corp.'s cloud-computing efforts Monday, making the software giant's Azure technology the "preferred" service for some of its offerings to business customers.

Adobe continues to work with Amazon.com Inc.'s Amazon Web Services, but plans to put Azure at the center of its cloud-computing developments going forward.

"We're going to be focusing our innovation and efforts on Azure," Adobe Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen said in an interview.

Financial terms weren't disclosed. In the last quarter, Adobe, which has shifted its business in the last few years to focus on cloud services, posted $1.5 billion in sales.

Microsoft has built Azure into a top competitor to Amazon's AWS, picking up clients such as Boeing Co. and BMW AG.

Microsoft and Adobe are planning several ways to cross-promote products.

Adobe, known for its Photoshop and PDF Reader software, will nudge customers to run its corporate products -- Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Document Cloud -- on Azure. Microsoft will make Adobe Marketing Cloud the "preferred marketing service" for its customer-relationship management offering, Dynamics 365 Enterprise edition.

The partnership should minimize the customized work their customers' software developers have to do to make their products work together, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an interview.

The deal will make it easier for customers to apply Microsoft's analytics technologies on information created and stored on Adobe's services. The companies also will coordinate to bring their products to market together, Mr. Nadella said.

Microsoft and Adobe announced the deal in Atlanta at the Microsoft Ignite conference for corporate-technology workers. Microsoft separately said 400 million devices now run the Windows 10 operating system, up from 350 million in June, when it last disclosed the number. In July, Microsoft said it wouldn't meet its previously stated goal of a billion Windows 10 devices in use by June 2018.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 26, 2016 13:34 ET (17:34 GMT)

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