The relationship between Adobe and Microsoft is taking a step forward thanks to a new partnership with Avanade — a Seattle-based joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft — to bring key cloud sales and marketing products from the tech giants closer together.
Avanade plans to begin an “Adobe practice” that will start by connecting Adobe Experience Cloud with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Adobe said. The goal is to help customers build customized sales and marketing tools using Microsoft and Adobe software.
“The partnership with Adobe and Microsoft puts us in an excellent position to help our clients create hyper-relevant, future-ready experiences at scale,” Pam Maynard, Avanade’s president of product and innovation and its CEO in waiting, said in a statement. “Recognized alongside Accenture as Microsoft’s 2019 Digital Transformation Partner of the Year, our focus on human centered experiences, through our Digital Studios, will bridge the gap between Dynamics 365 and Adobe to help our clients build best of breed marketing and sales solutions.”
Adobe Experience Cloud and Microsoft Dynamics 365 both feature a suite of sales and marketing tools. Experience Cloud includes analytics tools, content management, advertising features and more. Dynamics 365 features a series of sales, finance, hiring, marketing and mixed reality applications.
Microsoft’s partnership with Adobe dates back several years. Since then the companies have expanded the partnership, teaming up on e-signatures and leveraging LinkedIn for marketing and sales tools.
Maynard will take over the CEO job at Avanade next month when long-time chief executive Adam Warby steps down. During Warby’s time at the helm, Avanade’s revenue nearly tripled from $900 million in 2008 to $2.5 billion in 2018. During that period, the company made seven acquisitions.
During her 11 years at the company, Maynard led the company’s U.K. division and later ran the entire European branch.
Avanade says it has 36,000 professionals in its network in 26 countries. The company makes business technology solutions and is a managed services provider for Microsoft technologies.
