'Fragmented' Microsoft Tools Undercut Efficiency at Amazon and Whole Foods, Internal Deloitte Review Finds (businessinsider.com)
- Reference: 0180445965
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/23/1830242/fragmented-microsoft-tools-undercut-efficiency-at-amazon-and-whole-foods-internal-deloitte-review-finds
- Source link: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-whole-foods-microsoft-365-software-integration-challenges-deloitte-2025-12
> It's been more than eight years since [1]Amazon bought Whole Foods , but the two companies [2]still haven't aligned their setup for the Microsoft software their employees use . That disconnect was flagged in an 8-week Deloitte review of Whole Foods' use of Microsoft 365 apps earlier this year, according to an internal document obtained by Business Insider. Deloitte found that Whole Foods relies on "fragmented" Microsoft toolsets, has loose security and data-retention practices, and employs a complex user-management setup -- all of which contribute to inefficiencies and lower productivity when working with Amazon employees.
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> The consulting firm recommended a 24-month integration plan that would first move Whole Foods' corporate employees onto Amazon's backend system, followed by its frontline workers. The phased approach would ensure a "smooth transition for users and minimal disruption to business processes," while generating cost savings, the document said. The review, completed in May, highlights Amazon's ongoing challenges in integrating Whole Foods. Since acquiring the chain in 2017, the company has struggled to scale the business and integrate operations, resulting in frequent reorganizations and shifting strategic priorities.
[1] https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/06/16/1347210/amazon-to-buy-whole-foods-market-for-137-billion
[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-whole-foods-microsoft-365-software-integration-challenges-deloitte-2025-12
"Fragmented" is redundant. (Score:2)
May as well have just said that Microsoft tools undercut efficiency - it would be just as accurate.
Waiting for the basic light bulb here (Score:2)
Most people need a few basic applications which need minimal connection between them
- Word processing
- Spreadsheet
- Communication app (calendar,meetings, video calls, text chat with basic cut and past images)
- Shared file storage.
The parts these apps that most users use is a small fraction of what vendors are selling. Most users need almost no communication between the applications other than open link in a different application, cut/past to/from clipboard, save attachment, upload attachment, ...
Re: (Score:2)
From a user perspective, I don't disagree. But what's not visible here is the plumbing. That starts with identity management and a fundamental set of enforceable security policies. Communications apps, in particular, need to have and enforce security rules, and that adds complexity under the covers.
Even 'word processing' has (at least) 2 modalities: (1) The document I write by myself. (2) the document that has multiple contributors. (I suspect most people have seen how difficult it is do pull together
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft's crowning achievement was buying/stealing good software and putting a consistent/predictable UI on it.
The problem is, an information system must be managed so that assets are labelled (directory/filename), protected (backups) and organized (sorted/primary key). How many employees are taught that? How many businesses put data wrangling as a KPI? Employers have never the taught use of general data productivity software (Office Suites). Now, schools aren't teaching the basic metaphors such as "
Fragmented? You don't need to say that... (Score:2)
All Microsoft Tools are fragmented, without argument, and they all have complex, stupid, broken, user setups that can drive administrators insane. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Intune, Office, etc... they all have a different portal, that is completely disconnected from the others, in both functionality and design. Even something simple, like allowing a user to reset their password, is broken, objectively broken, even if configured “correctly” some users can, some users can't.
I don't nee
Re: (Score:2)
In addition to the setups, MS makes dumb decisions when it comes to their UI. For example, in the new Outlook 365, they removed the Decline option for meetings if you open a meeting invite. They only two options are "Accept" or "Decline and Propose New Time". To decline a meeting outright you have to Decline using through the Calendar view not the meeting details. That is dumb on so many levels because details like location and subject factor in whether I decline a meeting.
Re: (Score:2)
I didn't know about that, I knew they removed the “Reply To” header from being visible, I don't know if they put it back, hopefully they did.
Re: (Score:2)
It didnt used to be like this. I remember back in the NT days and while I was solidly in camp linux, I was always impressed at the level of integration between the various components in the microsoft ecosystem. SMB talking to a domain controller overseen by AD syncing it up with exchange and all coordinated by kerberos. It all seemed very smooth. Admining it could get perplexing with all the registry and the like, and when things went wrong they went *really* wrong. But when it worked it was very smooth, pa
Did AI Write That? (Score:2)
What a lot of nonsense to state the obvious.
Whole Foods, operating inside it's own Microsoft 365 tenant, suffers inefficiencies when interacting with Amazon employees, operating in their own separate Microsoft 365 tenant.
The solution: Whole Foods should migrate into the Amazon tenant.
Of course, this will be quite the IT pickle when Amazon decides that Whole Foods is a failed experiment and that they are divesting from the supermarket business. It's relatively simple to merge an organization into another ten
Welcome to consulting (Score:2)
You missed it also being a load of expensive obvious nonsense.
That plan by itself easily cost Amazon 6 digits.
And it was Deloitte, so the report was absolutely written by a robot. A junior consultant signed off on it, and if they care about their job made sure it didn't hallucinate something insulting. Then a senior consultant signed off when they OKed it along with 60 other reports over their morning coffee, and someone with their own motives leaked it to a pet reporter.
Once again... (Score:2)
The cloud is a trap
Run away
Local control is better
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, because nobody ever had fragmented tools as the result of a corporate merger before cloud.
No, sorry, that happens with literally every single merger, and has going back to the days of filing cabinets and steno pools.
Dumb (Score:2)
There's no reason they can't actually convert everything in a month except a lack of will.
This time, MS isn't the problem (Score:2)
Most businesses don't have a data wrangler. They exist when data is the product (EG. computer graphics) or when the workflow must be changed to obey the database dialogs (ERP software).
The most visible part of this, is passwords: A pernicious problem now that Operating Systems and Web Browsers require a password to enable functionality. Passwords are valuable data that is not managed by any business until it forms a dedicated IT department. That means passwords (and accounts) are lost by SMEs as devic
Having to choose between MS or (Score:1)
...Amazon is training for Hell.