REDMOND, Wash. — July 2, 2012 — Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is announcing its decision to adopt Windows Azure to manage its Smart TV infrastructure. By choosing Windows Azure cloud technology, Samsung achieved significant reduction in costs, and an increased capacity to meet its growing customer base and higher productivity.

Samsung provides Smart TV service in 120 countries around the world, and more growth is planned. Samsung needed a solution that could support ongoing, reliable service and its continual increase in traffic. In addition, Samsung did not want to be dependent on specific suppliers. The company tested other products but ultimately chose the Windows Azure as the service infrastructure because it offered the required reliability to meet its mission-critical needs and its planned expansion of service.

“After extensive testing, Windows Azure is the only cloud offering that met our exacting conditions,” said an official at Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business Division.

Compared with the cost of expanding its in-house IT services, Samsung achieved a tenfold cost reduction by choosing to manage its infrastructure in the cloud. In addition, Windows Azure gives Samsung the ability to help secure the server and storage resources it needs quickly, giving Samsung the time to focus on providing high-quality software and services to its customers.

Samsung attributes this success to the scalability of its IT infrastructure, including Windows Azure, which consistently provides smooth, fast service. The company also observed greater speed of service in Asia, where it sees most of its Smart TV traffic.

“Samsung Electronics’ Smart TV is taking advantage of the unique capabilities of Windows Azure,” said Bob Kelly, corporate vice president of Windows Azure at Microsoft. “Windows Azure gives Samsung the ability to focus on its business rather than having its technical team deal with problem-solving and troubleshooting issues.”

More information about Samsung Electronics is available at the Samsung website. More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.