Login
iscover
Italian multinational company Leonardo has moved its key applications to the cloud-based Azure platform in a new remotely accessible “digital backbone”.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Leonardo made the move in collaboration with Microsoft and Accenture to speed up product research, cut development costs, and enable closer collaboration with customers and other partners, according to a public statement made on 20 April.
Cloud technology is hoped to assist in the delivery of collaborative international defence projects such as the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
Leonardo UK digital and IT director Gareth Hetheridge said the company is investing around £100 million this year in the UK in its ongoing enablers strategy including the Future Factory transformation project.
“With the introduction of the Leonardo digital backbone, employees, partners, and customers can now securely access relevant data and applications anytime, anywhere,” he said.
“This will be vital as industry moves to a model of defence contracting where companies and customers work more closely together than ever before, despite being physically located around the country and internationally.
“Our close partnership with Microsoft UK and Accenture has allowed us to adopt this disruptive technology at pace and we’re very proud to be flying the flag for bringing the benefits of the cloud to the UK defence industry.”
Microsoft UK defence and secure markets director Aaron Neil said the company has worked during the last year with Leonardo UK to better understand its digital transformation aspirations and priorities.
“We are delighted to support Leonardo’s migration to Azure, enabling highly secure access to the cloud; this announcement is testament to our close partnership and an exciting milestone in delivering advanced technology to accelerate capability delivery for UK Defence,” he said.
The company has also announced a new site in Newcastle, England with 200 new science and engineering roles focused on emergent digital and data technologies.
“We are helping Leonardo break barriers in the defence industry with the benefits of a cloud-first environment,” said Accenture Microsoft Business Group lead, managing director Louisa Hainsworth.
Their commitment to continuous reinvention, learning new skills, and embracing new technologies will enable Leonardo to deliver modern defence capabilities at speed.
