Rockwell Automation and Microsoft Expand Partnership to Simplify Industrial Transformation

Partnership aims to empower manufacturers with agility, intelligence, and scale to deliver digital transformation initiatives�from the cloud to the edge

 

MILWAUKEE, U.S. - Media OutReach - 7 October 2020 - Rockwell
Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced
a five-year partnership expansion to develop integrated, market-ready solutions
that help industrial customers improve digital agility through cloud technology.
By combining each company’s expertise in the industrial and IT markets, respectively,
teams can work together more seamlessly, enabling industrial organizations to save
on infrastructure costs, speed time-to-value, and increase productivity.

 

Microsoft and Rockwell are working to deliver innovative edge-to-cloud-based
solutions that connect information between development, operations and
maintenance teams through a singular, trusted data environment. This will allow
development teams to digitally prototype, configure and collaborate without
investing in costly physical equipment. This unified information environment also
enables IT and OT teams to not only securely access and share data models across
the organization, but with their ecosystem of partners as well.

“Today, one thing we know for sure is
that no business is 100% resilient. Those fortified with digital capabilities
and assets are more resilient than others, and the cloud is how they will
thrive,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of worldwide commercial
business, Microsoft. “We are pleased to deepen our already strong, decade-long
relationship with Rockwell Automation to help businesses simplify industrial
transformation, accelerate business outcomes and innovate with agility.”

 

To date, the
companies have co-developed over 20 use cases across Food & Beverage,
Household and Personal Care and Life Sciences industries. The solutions
developed from this partnership will augment and enhance our current offerings.

 

“This partnership provides Rockwell Automation and Microsoft
customers with a holistic, simple solution for IIoT development and operations
and removes data silos that hinder industrial digital transformation initiatives,”
said Blake Moret, Chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation. “By eliminating a
core barrier to automation initiatives, industrial organizations establish a
digital thread connecting the entire enterprise, which in turn accelerates
innovation, maximizes productivity and optimizes operations.”

 

“Our team has seen the preview release of this new solution
and we are excited about collaboration between our strategic partners, Rockwell
Automation and Microsoft,” said Tristan Hunter, GM Automation & Operational
Technology at Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited, New Zealand’s largest
company and responsible for 30% of the world’s dairy exports. “Moving data from
our on-premise assets securely with context and providing new workflows for us
to analyze and drive better outcomes is important to maintaining Fonterra’s
high standards across our many plants globally.”

Organizations can access Rockwell Automation solutions now
via the Microsoft
Azure Marketplace with more solutions currently in development. The next
phase of co-innovation solutions will be available to joint customers of
Rockwell Automation and Microsoft customers in Q1 2021 at Automation
Fair At Home.

 

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital
transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its
mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to
achieve more.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell
Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial
automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people
with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the
world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 23,000 problem solvers
dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how
we are bringing The Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises,
visit www.rockwellautomation.com.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements about future growth
and growth acceleration, business performance, the integration and development
of solutions, the closing of the equity transaction and the use of proceeds and
share repurchases. These statements are “forward-looking statements” as defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as
“believe”, “estimate”, “project”, “plan”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “will”,
“intend” and other similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements.
Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of
certain risks and uncertainties, including the fact that growth may not occur
or accelerate as expected, subscription may not grow profitably as expected,
the equity investment may not close when or as expected and any use of proceeds
or share repurchases may not occur as expected, and the integration of the
solutions and development of future solutions may not occur as expected, and
those risks and uncertainties described in the companies’ filings
with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking
statements reflect our beliefs as of the date of filing this release. We undertake
no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.