Rogers teams up with Microsoft on cloud, digitization

Rogers Communications Inc. formed an alliance with Microsoft Corp. to support the digitization efforts of small and medium-sized businesses through hybrid work and 5G-enabled services.

The five-year strategic tie-up will see Canadian technology and media company Rogers using Microsoft Azure as its cloud platform for infrastructure and technology workloads, the companies said March 16.

Rogers, through its Rogers for Business division, will also offer Operator Connect Mobile, an all-in-one employee communications and collaboration service built on the Microsoft Teams platform. The service comes with technical support and direct peering to Rogers Network.

The companies will also look into working together on research opportunities in the internet of things and mobile edge computing to develop new 5G-based services, with Rogers getting early access to Microsoft's cloud, artificial intelligence and edge technologies.

The alliance expands a longstanding partnership that saw Rogers becoming a reseller of Microsoft 365 and Teams services.