PUMA makes tracks to cloud-based telephony on Microsoft Teams

Looking to simplify management, cut costs and ready its business operations for a global shift to cloud-first collaboration as it consolidates its voice infrastructure, sports brand PUMA has embarked on a programme to deliver in-country public switched telephone network (PSTN) replacement and localised support, replacing legacy systems with a fully integrated Microsoft Teams installation.

Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, PUMA is one of the world’s leading sports brands and has been operating for over 75 years. It offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as football, running and training, basketball, golf and motorsports, and also collaborates with renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street culture and fashion. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and stichd. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries and employs about 20,000 people worldwide.

To achieve its consolidated communications objectives, PUMA has chosen Microsoft Teams solutions specialist LoopUp to accelerate its global move to cloud telephony in a bid to build a consistent, scalable and cost-effective voice platform across the sporting goods company’s worldwide operations.

Prior to working with LoopUp, PUMA was managing a patchwork of local telephony providers and on-premise PBX systems across regions, resulting in inconsistent service levels and limited scalability, along with high support and renewal costs. LoopUp believes its experience in delivering cloud telephony for multinational enterprises makes it a natural fit to help PUMA streamline and standardise its voice environment. Deployments have recently been delivered in Australia and New Zealand as part of a broader initiative to consolidate PUMA’s voice infrastructure globally.

In Australia and New Zealand, PUMA had been running a traditional PBX setup with significant hardware and maintenance overhead. LoopUp’s cloud-based system has enabled PUMA to retire this infrastructure and transition users to Microsoft Teams for all calling needs, simplifying management, reducing cost and aligning with PUMA’s global shift to cloud-first collaboration tools. Microsoft’s expertise and ability to deliver in-country PSTN replacement services are said to have ensured a smooth and compliant transition tailored to PUMA’s regional and global requirements.

PUMA’s regional and global IT teams needed to ensure the solution met enterprise-wide standards. The deployment maintained a global standard while enabling localised billing and compliance, giving PUMA the ability to manage telephony consistently worldwide without compromising on cost control or operational oversight.

Following successful deployments in Chile, Mexico and Argentina, the project in Australia and New Zealand marks the next phase in PUMA’s roll-out. By standardising voice through its fully cloud-based platform, LoopUp said PUMA is addressing challenges around fragmented infrastructure and service inconsistencies. Upcoming deployments are planned across the Asia-Pacific region.

“LoopUp has been a responsive, reliable and agile partner throughout our Teams Phone deployment journey,” said Zoran Balenovic, teamhead of IT communication systems at PUMA. “They’ve helped us simplify our telephony setup, reduce infrastructure costs and deliver a consistent experience across multiple regions. Their global coverage and local support have been especially valuable as we modernise our communications platform.”

LoopUp vice-president Kate Godwin added: “PUMA wanted a consistent telephony experience across all regions without adding complexity to their global IT environment. Our solution is designed to deliver exactly that – a scalable, cloud-based Teams telephony service worldwide, with local expertise and support overlaid.”