--- title: "The ERP Minute Episode 157: October 1st, 2024" description: ERP news on Microsoft's Global Engineering Development Center footprint to the UAE, KT Corporation and Microsoft Corp.'s five-year partnership, Salesforce's acquisition of Zoomin, and Smartsheet is being acquired. image: https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/hubfs/ERPM%20%23157%20Thumbnail.jpg --- [![ERPlogo](https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/hubfs/ERPlogo.svg "ERPlogo")](https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com) [**](tel:8664998550) [**](mailto:info@erpadvisorsgroup.com) [Schedule a Consultation](https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/erp-consultant-consultation) We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience and support our analytics. To manage your preferences, visit our [cookie settings page](https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/cookie-preferences). Continue × Cookie Settings # The ERP Minute Episode 157: October 1st, 2024 Microsoft announced it is expanding its Global Engineering Development Center footprint to the UAE. One of Microsoft’s first engineering centers to be launched in the Arab world will be established in Abu Dhabi. KT Corporation and Microsoft Corp. unveiled a five-year, multibillion-dollar partnership which includes an investment from KT in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, cloud technologies, and IT business, and a resource commitment from Microsoft in the areas of infrastructure and people. Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Zoomin, a leading data management provider for unstructured data. Smartsheet announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds managed by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $8.4 billion. Microsoft announced it is expanding its Global Engineering Development Center footprint to the UAE. One of Microsoft’s first engineering centers to be launched in the Arab world will be established in Abu Dhabi. KT Corporation and Microsoft Corp. unveiled a five-year, multibillion-dollar partnership which includes an investment from KT in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, cloud technologies, and IT business, and a resource commitment from Microsoft in the areas of infrastructure and people. Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Zoomin, a leading data management provider for unstructured data. Smartsheet announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds managed by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $8.4 billion.   Click here for the full transcript Hi and welcome to episode 157 of The ERP Minute. I’m your host, Rebekah McCabe. Microsoft has been driving its international growth this week, with announcements for Abu Dhabi and Korea. First, Microsoft announced it is expanding its Global Engineering Development Center footprint to the UAE. One of Microsoft’s first engineering centers to be launched in the Arab world will be established in Abu Dhabi. This center will be part of a global ecosystem of centers dedicated to the creation of AI innovations, cloud technologies, and advanced cybersecurity solutions. Then, KT Corporation and Microsoft Corp. unveiled a five-year, multibillion-dollar partnership which includes an investment from KT in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, cloud technologies, and IT business, and a resource commitment from Microsoft in the areas of infrastructure and people. Through this partnership, the companies will propel KT’s AI and ICT (AICT) transformation and accelerate the advancement of AI services and innovation in Korea. This demonstrates the desire of major vendors like Microsoft to continue to invest in global markets, providing major resources to support the development of technology across the globe. In other news, Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Zoomin, a leading data management provider for unstructured data. Salesforce Data Cloud, with Zoomin’s capabilities, will accelerate the unlocking of unstructured data to power AI agents, making them more personalized and context-aware in every customer interaction. This acquisition will provide users with the ability to make data-informed decisions utilizing data that may have previously been inaccessible. Finally, Smartsheet announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds managed by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $8.4 billion. This is a major step for Smartsheet who is going to receive backing to invest more in the product and deliver more to their growing base of customers. Thanks for tuning into The ERP Minute. We are always looking for newsworthy material to share with our listeners, so send us breaking ERP news! Make sure you subscribe to our Apple Podcast, Spotify, and YouTube channels so you never miss an episode. We’ll see you next week. 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