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FedEx & Microsoft join forces to transform commerce through FedEx Surround

FedEx and Microsoft have joined hands and entered a new multi-year collaboration on May 18th, 2020. This partnership will help ‘transform commerce’ by combining the global digital and logistics network of FedEx and intelligent cloud by Microsoft. The first service from the companies, FedEx Surround, allows organizations in tracking their supply chain. Now, let us try to understand what FedEx Surround is.

About FedEx Surround

FedEx Surround, according to the companies, is a driving digital illumination of the physical world. The FedEx network links more than 99% of the world’s gross domestic product across 220 countries. Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service, is trusted by more than 95% of Fortune 500 companies. The solution will collect data through FedEx’s IoT technology and analyse it through Microsoft’s broad suite of AI. The solution allows businesses to enhance their supply chain by leveraging data and near-real-time analytics into shipment tracking. It will also help predict issues that might affect delivery, such as clearance issues and weather conditions. 

FedEx to help companies manage supply chain | iTMunch

Mr Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx said that they have been reimagining the supply chain since the first day of operation, & they are taking it to a new level with the announcement about their collaboration with Microsoft.  He added that together with Microsoft, they aim to combine the power of technology with the vast scale of FedEx’s tracking infrastructure to help revolutionize commerce and create a network for what’s next for their customers.

Any company with a supply chain will be benefitted by FedEx Surround. Companies with highly time-sensitive deliveries will be particularly benefited. For example, if a hospital needs a piece of equipment to save a life or a machine part has to reach a manufacturing unit in a specific time frame. FedEx Surround will be available later this year for customers to access.

FedEx and Amazon Rivalry

The full or true nature of the partnership has not been disclosed, including how much FedEx will be paying Microsoft to use its Azure cloud technology. FedEx announced last year that it would end its ground delivery contract with Amazon. The partnership might represent yet another example of Amazon rivals choosing to go ahead with Microsoft’s cloud technology over the Amazon Web Services (AWS). FedEx and Amazon have been in competition with each other as Amazon invests greatly in building its own seamless shipping network. 

All the necessary information regarding FedEx Surround availability will be shared by the companies soon and customer access will be rolled out in the months ahead. FedEx Surround isn’t the only solution that will be a result of this collaboration. Other solutions that are a part of the collaboration will be revealed in the following months. 

SEE ALSO: Walgreens Partners with FedEx to Accept Online Returns

For more updates and latest tech news, keep reading iTMunch

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Featured Image: Image by Nick Morales on Unsplash

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Riddhi Jain
Riddhi Jain
Riddhi Jain is a technology content writer. She is based in India and has been working as a content writer since 2018. Riddhi has been writing content in the tech domain since May 2020 and can’t get enough of it. Riddhi has pursued most of her education from her hometown, Indore. She has graduated as a Bachelor of Business Administration and discovered her love for writing blogs while pursuing an internship during college. Once she discovered her love for writing, she went on to improve this skill set (and hasn’t stopped since).
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