MUMBAI, India, April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to offer its customers Web-based applications with high performance and scalability while maintaining low infrastructure and management costs, multinational conglomerate Essar Group has implemented Windows Azure, Microsoft's cloud services platform, to deliver some of its applications.

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A leader in various business sectors, including steel, energy, power, communications, shipping ports, logistics and construction, and with operations in more than 25 countries across five continents and revenues at $17 billion (U.S.), Essar remains competitive in an aggressive marketplace through a focused effort on superior customer service. With its enterprise customers in mind, the company sought to enhance its offerings with a cloud version of some of its applications.

Microsoft Services approached Essar with a cost-effective solution in Windows Azure that allowed the company to obtain the benefits of both public and private cloud computing while also reducing the level of IT maintenance required to manage the applications on-premises. Because it is hosted in Microsoft datacenters, Windows Azure is able to provide developers with on-demand computing and storage, as well as the ability to scale and manage Web applications.

Essar expects that the delivery of its applications through Windows Azure will enable the company to increase profitability and reduce costs by as much as 65 percent. Because IT staff members are also no longer allocating time to infrastructure management, they can devote more time to mission-critical operations.

"With Windows Azure, we don't have to spend money on hardware and software, and we don't have to spend time on administrative tasks related to infrastructure," said Jayantha Prabhu, chief technology officer, Essar Group. "A scalable, well-defined platform gives us much fewer problems to solve and more time to focus on the overall experience of the application."

In coordination with MindTree, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that delivers a broad range of IT services and software product engineering, Essar seamlessly transitioned four of its applications — HSECAR (Corrective Action Report (CAR) system), AVID (A Voyage into Insatiable Discovery), Saksham and Visitor Management System & Gate Pass System — to the Windows Azure platform in August 2011.

Since implementation, Essar has already experienced the multiple benefits of Microsoft's cloud technology. "We quickly knew that we had made the best choice in selecting Windows Azure," Prabhu said.

In addition to cutting costs, Windows Azure has given Essar the flexibility to scale compute and storage resources up and down as needed. "In fact, we can maintain the high level of scalability needed at a lower total cost of ownership compared with an on-premises solution," Prabhu said.

More information on the Essar Group's move to Windows Azure is available in the Microsoft case study and Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

More information on the services offered by MindTree is available at the company's website.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

SOURCE Microsoft