Microsoft and UK Gov sign digital transformation deal & Rossum introduces Aurora 1.5

PEX Network’s weekly bulletin rounds up the latest industry vendor news including product releases/updates, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and leadership changes.

This week includes:

• Microsoft and UK Government launch five-year digital transformation partnership
• Rossum introduces Aurora 1.5 and Copilot to streamline document processing for global enterprises
• Celonis launches cross-company collaboration Networks for shared process transparency

Microsoft and UK Government launch five-year digital transformation partnership

Microsoft has entered a five-year agreement with the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to provide eligible public sector organizations with exclusive access to Microsoft’s suite of AI-powered solutions. Starting on November 1, this strategic partnership will enable public bodies to tap into substantial cost savings on Microsoft 365, the Azure cloud platform and business applications, with Microsoft 365 Copilot (an AI tool that streamlines repetitive tasks and facilitates content creation).

This initiative is designed to support the UK Government’s ambition to drive innovation, boost departmental collaboration and improve services for citizens. Research from Public First suggests that advancing digital adoption could contribute an additional £550 billion to the UK’s GDP by 2035.

Highlighting the importance of this partnership, Clare Barclay, CEO of Microsoft UK, stated: “AI technologies offer a transformative opportunity for public services and can serve as a catalyst for the UK’s economic growth. Through this new five-year partnership, Microsoft aims to support the creation of a world-class, digital-first infrastructure for the public sector.”

To meet the demands of an AI-led future, the agreement includes a heavy focus on upskilling the public sector. Microsoft will expand its training opportunities through certifications and skill development programs, including events, workshops and self-paced learning options tailored to government employees.

The UK Government’s goal of building a cloud-enabled public sector is also a major part of this deal. By improving data quality and productivity, Microsoft’s cloud solutions will empower government departments to make more informed decisions, enhancing the efficiency and responsiveness of public services.

“This agreement enables public sector organizations to drive forward their digital transformation efforts, leveraging the collective scale of the UK public sector to secure better outcomes for all,” says Roger Gonourie, Chief Commercial Officer at CCS.

Cherise Crenshaw-Holmes PhD, top 100 diversity, equity and inclusion executive, strategist, scientist, founder at Modern Work Consultancy, talked about the importance of building inclusion into digital transformation strategies

Rossum introduces Aurora 1.5 and Copilot to streamline document processing for global enterprises

Rossum has launched Aurora 1.5 and a new Copilot feature, aiming to elevate intelligent document processing (IDP) for global businesses. Building on its previous version, Aurora 1.5 offers a 25 percent boost in data extraction accuracy and can process documents over 100 pages four times faster than before. With support for 276 languages, this update is tailored for enterprises managing high volumes of multilingual and complex documentation.

An innovative addition is Rossum Copilot, a feature that allows business users to handle data transformations through natural language commands, removing the need for IT support. With Copilot, users can easily automate tasks including calculating order discounts, ensuring document ID consistency with leading zeros, enforcing uppercase for BIC/SWIFT codes and removing spaces from IBANs. This functionality makes document automation more accessible across departments, empowering users to make adjustments without technical assistance.

Tomas Gogar, Rossum’s CEO, sees Aurora 1.5 and Copilot as a major step forward in human-AI collaboration, designed to help businesses achieve a quicker return on automation with less IT overhead. “What excites me is how Rossum Copilot makes complex tasks as simple as having a conversation,” he said.

Celonis launches cross-company collaboration Networks for shared process transparency

Celonis has introduced Celonis Networks, a new feature in its Process Intelligence platform, designed to improve collaboration across company boundaries. Presented at the Celosphere conference, this tool allows businesses to share real-time process insights, moving beyond traditional data exchange methods like EDI and APIs.

Supply chain management is a sector expected to particularly benefit from this development. Already, companies such as Conrad Electronic, Schukat Electronic and TD SYNNEX are using Celonis Networks to enhance order management and procurement. By automatically sharing 5,000 daily order updates, they are able to resolve mismatches in delivery dates, pricing and shipment details more efficiently.

For Conrad, Europe’s largest B2B sourcing platform, the added transparency reduces the need for manual updates, allowing its partners to directly manage and update orders. This new feature is important because, according to Pablo Fernández, Process Innovation Director at TD SYNNEX, “the market demands fast, accurate data sharing.”

Currently in beta, Celonis Networks aims to set a new standard for cross-company process optimization by establishing a shared data model that users can easily configure, integrating new partners with minimal setup.

READ MORE PEX VENDOR NEWS

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• SAP launches collaborative AI agents, Microsoft expands AI capabilities for “healthier future”
• IBM makes Granite LLM available to SAP users, Workday wins huge UK Gov ERP contract