Walgreens and Microsoft partner to use Azure at scale

Microsoft and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)—the parent company of Walgreens, Boots and other pharmacy groups—have announced a multi-year strategic partnership to conduct research and development with Microsoft Azure and to deploy Azure and Microsoft 365 across WBA.

As part of the partnership, the two companies indicated they will bring on-board subject matter experts, technology and tools in an effort to develop new healthcare solutions, improve patient outcomes and lower the cost of care, with a particular focus on solutions for patient engagement and chronic disease management.

Starting in 2019, WBA is piloting 12 digital health corner "store-in-store" sites to sell healthcare devices and hardware. In addition, the two companies said that they might also set up joint innovation centers focused on different segments of the market.