With new cloud offerings, Microsoft targets the healthcare industry

Microsoft is targeting the healthcare sector with a new healthcare cloud bundle — a tailor-made solution that incorporates existing products such as the Azure cloud and the business communication app Teams.

The move shows that Microsoft is planning to deliver more growth in Azure as it competes with Amazon by tailoring its commodities to specific industries in need. The company announced an initiative in 2017 to focus on healthcare and five other industries, such as production and retail. 

The Dynamics 365 and Power Platform products already offer industry customizations, like a patient portal. Now Microsoft is keen to ensure that they work together to deliver the best possible customer experience.

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is available to public preview customers with a six-month free trial, Microsoft corporate vice presidents Tom McGuinness and Greg Moore said on 18 May 2020 in a blog post. How pricing for the bundle will differ from standard fees for individual products in the bundle was not immediately clear. Microsoft will give further details in the fall.

Azure derives a larger share of its revenue from big business than market leader Amazon Web Services, RBC analysts led by Alex Zukin said in a note to customers on 16 May 2020. Go-to collections of products for different industries could yield more widespread adoption of enterprises. In the first quarter, Azure revenue growth slowed from 62 per cent a quarter earlier to 59 per cent, though it continues to grow faster than other parts of the company. Microsoft does not specify dollars for Azure revenue.

The cloud organization of Google also targets healthcare and other individual industries, and Salesforce provides a Health Cloud.

In 2012, Microsoft unloaded health assets to form Caradigm, a joint venture with GE. Last week, Microsoft said it's partnering with United Healthcare to put out an Azure-powered app that can help businesses return their workers to their offices.