Stamford, CT – HARMAN Connected Services, a division of HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated (NYSE:HAR), the premier connected technologies company for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, announced it has won the 2015 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award for Intelligent Systems & Services (IoT) category. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technologies. 

“The rapid growth of IoT and convergence of cloud, mobility and analytics is driving enormous opportunities across all areas of life. HARMAN is investing greater scale and depth in software and services to accelerate this innovation across all the markets we serve. This recognition from Microsoft is an endorsement to our vision of accelerating innovation for the connected auto, connected home and connected enterprise,” said Dinesh C. Paliwal, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of HARMAN. 

Harman, the market leader in connected car and lifestyle audio, is leading the IOT evolution across automotive, home and the enterprise. Through its newly formed Connected Services business, Harman partners with customers across manufacturing, healthcare, media, retail and consumer devices markets to accelerate their IOT platform development. 

“This year’s award winners are among the most innovative and valuable our partner ecosystem has to offer. Therefore, it came as no surprise that HARMAN was named among that group as this year’s winners of the 2015 Microsoft Partner of the Year for Intelligent Systems & Services award,” said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Corporation. “We applaud HARMAN on this achievement and for the outstanding value it continues to provide for our mutual customers.” 

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions during the past year. Harman, through its Connected Services Business, partners with Microsoft to help customers leverage device, cloud and data platforms to rapidly capitalize on emerging IoT business opportunity. Today, over 75 customers collaborate with Harman to deploy IoT solutions across key business scenarios, including remote monitoring, connected manufacturing operations, asset tracking, and fleet and facilities management. 

To help customers accelerate their IoT led transformation, Harman has partnered with Microsoft to offer joint workshops for customers to help them explore and deploy Azure IoT and Cortana Advanced Analytics Suite.  

“We’re honored to be recognized for our IoT and cloud leadership for the fifth consecutive year, which highlights our close partnership with Microsoft to help our customers transform their business. We’re uniquely positioned to deliver differentiated experiences at an accelerated pace by bringing customers the best of hardware and software at global scale,” said Pradeep Rathinam, Head of Software Enabled Business, a business unit of HARMAN Connected Services.

  

About HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems; audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and connected services. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. The Company's software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 27,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $6.2 billion during the 12 months ended June 30, 2015. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.