Telefonica to improve communication and collaboration for employees worldwide using Microsoft cloud technologies

-- Leading telecommunications provider will deploy Microsoft Office 365 and Yammer as part of a strategic initiative utilizing IT for better business results and a competitive edge.

MADRID, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Telefonica, a leading provider of integrated communication solutions, will deploy Microsoft Office 365 and Yammer across its operating businesses to employees worldwide. These technologies are part of a global IT transformation strategy led by Phil Jordan, group chief information officer at Telefonica, to drive greater simplification, agility and cost reductions, which will strengthen and enhance the company's core digital capabilities and global footprint.

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With more than 130,000 employees in 24 countries, Telefonica is enabling and transforming the employee experience related to collaboration, providing a much faster, intuitive way with seamless digital integrated experience. Moving to Office 365 and Yammer also benefits Telefonica by allowing its people to develop new products and services for its customers and markets while spending less time on infrastructure support of collaboration services. The deployment is also expected to reduce the costs of collaboration services by up to 20 percent while supporting the company's specific security and privacy requirements.

"Telefonica's relationship and transformation journey with Microsoft has brought us to this very exciting milestone. Over the past 18 months, we have built very strong foundations and are now ready to move to the cloud," said Adrian Steel, European production hub lead and global director at Telefonica. "Deploying Office 365 and Yammer is this next step in bringing our global workforce to the forefront of seamless communication and collaboration while still operating at the level of speed and execution we're known for."

"Companies are looking to bring people together across organizational silos and geographies to drive innovation and reduce costs," said Kurt DelBene, president of Microsoft's Office Division. "Moving to the cloud with Office 365 and Yammer makes it easier and faster to collaborate regardless of location or organizational structure. Telefonica is a great example of a forward-thinking organization that understands how the cloud can power its business."

Following a successful proof of concept carried out last year, Telefonica commenced initial deployments across Europe in April, which will later continue in Latin America. Microsoft Cloud Vantage Services will assist in delivering a complete migration to the cloud.

Steel, who oversaw the migration of 30,000 users to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite in a previous role, has seen firsthand the range of new capabilities added to Office 365. One such example is Yammer, which Telefonica is embracing for improved collaboration across geographies. In February, Microsoft announced Microsoft Translator integration within Yammer, allowing users to instantly translate Yammer conversations into their native languages.

"With operations in 24 countries spanning eight languages, we are looking forward to the ability to instantly translate conversations among our employees — a massive benefit for Telefonica," Steel said. "By automatically converting conversations to a person's native language, Yammer will help our people work more efficiently than ever and focus on delivering superior value to our customers. Other critical capabilities included unified communications via Microsoft Lync 2013 and cloud-based storage via SkyDrive Pro."

More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available in the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

About Telefonica
Telefonica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of market capitalisation and number of customers. From this outstanding position in the industry, and with its mobile, fixed and broadband businesses as the key drivers of its growth, Telefonica has focused its strategy on becoming a leading company in the digital world. The company has a significant presence in 24 countries and a customer base that amounts close to 316 million accesses around the world. Telefonica has a strong presence in Spain, Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.