Microsoft launches new cloud platform for connected cars

Microsoft joins the connected car game

In the upcoming “who can get there first” in the “connected car game”, Microsoft has unveiled that they themselves are NOT building their own connected car — but it instead launching a new Azure-based cloud platform for car manufacturers that want to use the cloud to power their own connected-car services.

The new Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform will go live as a public preview later this year.

“This is not an in-car operating system or a ‘finished product’,” Microsoft’s EVP for business development Peggy Johnson said, “It’s a living, agile platform that starts with the cloud as the foundation and aims to address five core scenarios that our partners have told us are key priorities: predictive maintenance, improved in-car productivity, advanced navigation, customer insights and help building autonomous driving capabilities.”

Another new partnership

Microsoft also announced that it is partnering with the Renault-Nissan Alliance to bring the new connected-car services to Renault-Nissan’s next-gen connected vehicles. The two companies were already working together on other projects before this, so it’s maybe no surprise that Renault-Nissan is Microsoft’s first partner. Volvo had announced earlier last week that it is bringing Skype and Skype for Business into it’s new fleet of cars.

Microsoft is also working with BMW to develop that company’s BMW Connected platform on top of Azure. BWM and Nissan also showed in-car integrations with Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant at CES last week.

Rob Quickenden, CSO at Cisilion