Microsoft could see a big boost of customers from the coronavirus crisis - but it needs to invest now to make sure it can handle them, one analyst says

Getty Images

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

• The coronavirus crisis could drive new customers to Microsoft, Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman told Business Insider.
• But Microsoft, he said, needs to make sure it has the capacity to accommodate the new customers and that its products and services run smoothly.
• Newman's comments come after Microsoft Teams chat app had an outage on Monday as more people started working from home.
• Click here to read more BI Prime stories.

Microsoft could see a boost of customers during the coronavirus crisis - but the company is going to have to invest now to make sure it has the capacity to handle them, Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman said.

Newman expects many companies will invest heavily into making so-called "digital transformations" in the fallout of the crisis - if nothing else, the coronavirus outbreak exposed weaknesses in the ability of many companies to handle or manage a workforce that suddenly had to do their jobs remotely.

Microsoft not only offers tools for people to work from home immediately, Newman said, but products and services companies will need to go digital in the long run, such as cloud computing resources, help with software development, and artificial intelligence.

"Microsoft is going to be able to provide solutions for companies to be more efficient and streamlined," Newman told Business Insider. "Obviously that's collaboration and productivity, all the way to some infrastructure and platform capabilities, human-machine partnership and a future of work where companies need to pivot faster."

Newman said the company is going to to make sure it has the capacity to accomodate the new customers and that its products and services run smoothly. Microsoft has already had an outage as it brought in more customers during the crisis. The Microsoft Teams chat app went down on Monday as more people started working from home.

A survey of chief information officers, human resources professionals and others this week suggested Microsoft could weather the crisis because of its cloud and collaboration software products including Skype for Business and the Microsoft Teams chat app.

The survey, conducted by RBC Capital Markets, suggested companies are likely to accelerate moves from on-premises computing resources into the public and private cloud - benefiting cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services - and increase budgets for Microsoft collaboration products.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com, message her on Twitter @ashannstew, or send her a secure message through Signal at 425-344-8242.

NOW WATCH: Veterinarians debunk 15 dog myths