SAP, Microsoft and Adobe announce data alliance for their Open Data Initiative

Business software companies SAP , **Microsoft** and Adobe said on 24 September they were forming a data alliance that will make it easier for clients running their applications to get a better overview of the customer. The partners announced the Open Data Initiative at a Microsoft conference in Orlando, Florida, saying it would help break down information silos that make it hard for businesses to make the most of their customer base. [caption id=“attachment_4888571” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Representational image.[/caption] “The core focus of the Open Data Initiative is to eliminate data silos and enable a single view of the customer, helping companies to better govern their data and support privacy and security initiatives,” the three said in a joint statement. The initiative will enhance interoperability and data exchange between their platforms — Adobe Experience Cloud and Adobe Experience Platform, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and SAP C/4HANA and S/4HANA — through a common model, the partners said. It comes as a new European data privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), puts a premium on access to customer data given by consent, structurally favoring direct marketing channels over the advertising ecosystem that relies heavily on tracking users online.