Bayer and Microsoft are two well-known giants in the world. One being a major player in the agricultural sector, and the other in the software domain. In the latest development, Bayer is forming a strategic partnership with Microsoft. According to Bayer officials, through this partnership, they will build a new cloud-based set of digital tools and data science solutions for use in agriculture and adjacent industries.
They add that the partnership will create and enable a new business-to-business (B2B) offering. That’ll create off-the-shelf digital capabilities available to startups and established firms who want to innovate in agriculture and adjacent industries.
Notable Points from the Partnership
Bayer officials are positive about the new partnership. They say their agricultural expertise and digital farming platform combined with Microsoft’s cloud technology and B2B solutions will:
- Accelerate both Bayer’s and Microsoft’s ability to innovate within agriculture and across the entire food value chain.
- Create and commercialize off-the-shelf opportunities for other companies to enter and innovate directly in agriculture and other industries.
- Support farmers and other food industry customers with new innovation and continuous improvements to important digital and data science features used to manage their operations.
Bayer will also be a customer of the new B2B offering. They will use it as the digital infrastructure foundation for FieldView and also for other customer-facing solutions.
Once developed, Bayer will leverage Microsoft’s cloud solution as the infrastructure and operating platform for FieldView as well as other digital solutions going forward. Bayer officials also say that there will be no impact to the FieldView user experience, as it remains central to Bayer’s strategy.
Bayer officials say the partnership is part of a strategic step. This step is towards the firm’s target of 100% digitally enabled sales in its crop science division by 2030. It’s also a way to accelerate its ability to deliver outcomes-based, digitally enabled solutions to customers, they add.
Data Privacy: Bayer and Microsoft
Bayer officials also assure that the partnership does not and will not change Bayer’s or FieldView’s privacy statement or commitment to stewarding customer data. Bayer does not and will not share customer farm data with third parties without consent, including with Microsoft, they add.
Microsoft and Agriculture
The partnership is also part of Microsoft’s expansion into agriculture. In July 2020, Microsoft formed a multiyear strategic alliance with Land O’Lakes to develop agricultural technologies that include:
- Mitigating early plant stress to guide precisely where and when farmers should take action during the growing season.
- Maximizing yield potential by planting the right seed varieties.
Overall, Bayer’s pioneering digital innovation within agriculture and Microsoft’s high standard and trusted, global cloud solutions can innovate and implement as a team to deliver the food, feed, fiber, and fuel needed to power the planet.