Brooks Running Company has a saying, “A run can flat out change a day, a life, the world,” and with an estimated 135 million runners around the globe (myself included), that’s a lot of good happening for a lot of people, in a lot of places. Brooks, a member of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies, promotes the benefits of a heathy lifestyle through its groundbreaking biomechanical research, engineering running shoes and gear for professional athletes and consumers alike. As the company evolves its cloud-first IT strategy, we’re thrilled that Brooks chose Microsoft 365 to build a modern workplace with integrated tools that eliminate technical barriers to product innovation.
This is how Mark McKelvey, vice president of Information Technology at Brooks, describes the role that innovation has played in the company’s history—and the business value of continuing that tradition through a digital transformation of its own:
“Product innovation and superior service are Brooks’ competitive advantages. We use Microsoft 365 to empower employees and foster the creative collaboration required to generate new ideas that benefit runners. With frictionless access to the tools and information our teams need to be productive, employees can focus on what Brooks does best: bringing our Run Happy spirit and best-in-class gear to runners around the world.”
A recent example of Brooks’ innovation is the company’s gait analysis app, called Run Signature, that looks at a runner’s unique biomechanics and helps find the best running shoe for them. The app is built on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which also supports a new, highly successful B2B platform that Brooks recently debuted for its retailers. As Brooks expands its online platforms, we’re excited to see how Microsoft continues to be a great fit for the company’s cloud-first strategies.
