Swisscom Becomes Microsoft Licensing Solution Provider

The cloud is booming with the variety of cloud offerings and possible combinations increasing all the time. Swisscom is investing in Public Cloud partnerships to ensure that it can continue to offer its customers the best service and a comprehensive managed services portfolio.

In mid-January, Swisscom became the first Microsoft Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) with a focus on Switzerland and has now once again demonstrated its cloud expertise by becoming an exclusive Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP).

In mid-February, following months of intensive preparation, Swisscom successfully passed the audit to become an Azure Expert MSP, the highest possible status for Microsoft managed service providers in the Global Public Cloud environment. Swisscom is the only fully Swiss Global Public Cloud provider to have achieved this exclusive status, which has thus far been awarded to fewer than 100 companies worldwide. In January of this year, Swisscom reached another milestone in its long-standing successful cooperation with Microsoft by becoming a Licensing Solution Provider (LSP). This status, which is only granted to a selected group of providers, allows Swisscom to support customers in choosing the right licensing solutions and to provide them with comprehensive support throughout the entire term of the licence agreement. Together with its ‘advanced specialization’ for migrations, which was acquired in November 2020, Swisscom has now gained the highest possible Microsoft recognition for all elements of its cloud portfolio.

Multi-vendor cloud services
Swisscom’s intensification of public cloud partnerships is, in part, a response to Swiss customers’ increasing use of multiple Public Cloud providers. According to the ISG Provider Lens from November 2020, companies in Switzerland purchase their cloud services from 1.5 providers on average. It is therefore all the more important that, in addition to giving its customers access to the public architecture, Swisscom also provides them with more individual platform features, thus creating added value.

For Urs Lehner, Head of Enterprise Customers at Swisscom, it is clear that “Hybrid IT is the future for many Swiss companies. Swisscom has its own clouds and invests heavily in strategic partnerships with Global Cloud providers. The two new partnerships with Microsoft underpin our commitment to being number one in supporting customers with the implementation and operation of their preferred hybrid models.”

“Azure Expert MSP status adds significant credibility to the Swisscom Cloud offering. Before even being able to apply for the two-day audit, we had to meet a number of pre-requirements, such as a wealth of Azure certifications in various areas and a substantial number of reference customers,” explains Andrea Meier, the driving force behind Swisscom’s Global Public Cloud offerings. “Our success in this audit is clear evidence that our Cloud Managed Services meet the highest standards.”

With more than 250 Microsoft-certified engineers and consultants and around 100 Microsoft Cloud-certified employees – two of whom hold the coveted Microsoft title “Most Valuable Professionals” (MVP) – Swisscom is one of the largest Microsoft partners in Switzerland and, as such, provides companies with comprehensive assistance on their journey to the cloud.