Microsoft cloud partnership with KPMG set to boost prosperit

Microsoft cloud partnership with KPMG set to boost NZ prosperity

 Microsoft New Zealand has today announced a local partnership with KPMG New Zealand that is pivotal to both KPMG and its clients in boosting their innovation and digital transformation journeys.

In 2019, KPMG and Microsoft signed a global $US 5 billion alliance designed to accelerate digital transformation for KPMG’s member firms and their mutual clients. With this alliance, Microsoft Azure has been the backbone for the joint, global cloud-based platform that has strengthened KPMG’s range of digital offerings, cloud-based innovations and solutions worldwide. In 2020, KPMG was named the Global SI Digital Transformation 2020 Microsoft Partner of the Year.

Through Microsoft’s Azure cloud and AI technologies, the local partnership agreement will enable KPMG New Zealand to help its clients across the public and private sectors to improve decision-making, increase their productivity and achieve cost efficiencies.

KPMG is already well known for its technology advisory services. It partners with clients to help them obtain more value from their technology and data assets, offering services such as cloud and technology strategy, cyber security and data analytics and AI through its ‘Lighthouse’ centre of excellence. KPMG has developed Microsoft Azure cloud-based solutions for significant clients across the public, retail and utilities sectors. The local partnership will allow KPMG to further develop its own cloud-based solutions and to offer these “as-a-service” to clients.

KPMG New Zealand Chief Executive Godfrey Boyce says that: “At KPMG, our purpose is fuelling prosperity for all New Zealanders. We live in a world of change and disruption, and our ability to reimagine, innovate and create actionable insights is critical to our future. KPMG must continuously digitally transform ourselves and help our clients and communities to do the same”.

“Our global survey of CIOs shows that cloud is one of the top three technology investments required in today’s new normal. By partnering with Microsoft, we can not only advise on cloud strategy, but also facilitate end-to-end cloud migration enhanced with analytics, AI and digital technology.”

IDC research shows New Zealand will see public cloud adoption more than double over the next four years, adding $30 billion in direct revenues and 102,000 jobs to the economy. These jobs will include both those organisations that adopt cloud, as well as the suppliers of hardware, software and services supporting cloud delivery.

As part of KPMG’s global alliance and support of Microsoft Azure, KPMG NZ will migrate its current Azure cloud services to the forthcoming New Zealand datacenters from MS Azure sites hosted in Australia, providing a local future-proofed environment to support the modernised application needs of KPMG’s technical consulting divisions and internal IT teams.

This capability strengthens any technology solutions that are required to meet New Zealand data residency rules, ensuring the data will remain within New Zealand and giving it additional protection under New Zealand privacy laws.

Vanessa Sorenson, Managing Director of Microsoft New Zealand says: “One of the things Microsoft has in common with KPMG is our passion for helping local organisations realise the massive gains digital technologies and cloud are set to bring, so all our communities in Aotearoa can share a better future. That’s why this partnership is so important – a business of the global scale and reach of KPMG has the power to really drive change across all levels of our organisations and accelerate our recovery”.

KPMG intends to develop new Microsoft Azure products and services and deepen its digital capabilities to address the key challenges clients face, such as navigating the exponential rate of change in the digital world, and rapidly evolving customer needs. Services will include everything from digital acceleration to supply chain transformation, change and talent management, data, analytics and AI, and cyber security, governance and risk and compliance.

Boyce says: “Together, with this partnership we combine advanced technologies, industry insight and established excellence to help New Zealand’s businesses succeed, the public sector to achieve more, and our communities to grow.”

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