Mahindra Group and tech giant Google Cloud on Thursday announced collaboration as part of the homegrown conglomerate's digital transformation strategy to fuel its next phase of business growth. Under the collaboration, Mahindra group's digital, data and cloud centre of excellence, referred to as Mahindra Digital Engine (MDE), will use Google Cloud's secure and reliable infrastructure and advanced data analytics technology, the two partners said in a joint statement.

Mahindra Group Group Chief Technology Officer Mohit Kapoor said the group is building for the future with advanced cloud-based technologies and data-driven strategies to speed decision making and maximise synergies across its business. "Cloud's best-in-class infrastructure and data capabilities, we can innovate faster for competitive differentiation, advance our enterprise sustainability goals, and strengthen our talent pool by attracting the best tech talent in the industry," he added. Google Cloud India Managing Director Bikram Bedi said, "As Mahindra Group's trusted innovation partner, we are leveraging our expertise to help the Group bring its enterprise and consumer ecosystems closer together".

Bedi further said, "Our multi-faceted, multi-year collaboration with Mahindra is a great example of the value we bring to customers and our unique ability to help them accelerate their digital transformation strategies, drive sustained business impact, and unlock long-term competitive advantage". The partnership is aimed at driving innovation across the group's multiple business units, including its core operations, customer-facing channels and employee experience, the statement said.

"The partnership will also embed an agile culture within MDE that will foster innovation, embrace change, and build capabilities by cultivating the right talent," it added. Under the collaboration, Mahindra group will migrate its business-critical applications from its on-premises data centres to Google Cloud under the RISE with SAP programme as well as its data warehouse and data lake. "This will enable teams across the group to gain a deeper understanding of customers' demands and preferences than was available previously," it said.

Further, this shift will help in anticipating trends and consumer sentiments to accelerate product innovation and drive a personalised customer experience via new digital platforms; as well as simplify complex data management, lower the total cost of ownership, and improve security and governance, the statement added. Mahindra group said it plans to fully migrate off its on-premises infrastructure over the next two to three years.