TomTom and Microsoft expand partnership to work on location-based apps in the cloud

TomTom and Microsoft are expanding their partnership to work on location-based apps in the cloud.

Through the partnership, Microsoft will use mapping and traffic data from TomTom to power services including Azure and Bing Maps.

Microsoft will also become the navigation company's preferred cloud provider.

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Under the deal, TomTom will be the “leading location data provider for Microsoft Azure and Bing Maps”.

Relying on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, Azure Maps allows companies to build maps, routing and traffic data into their cloud-based apps.

This allows businesses to create mobility, logistics, and asset tracking solutions, for example.

Tara Prakriya, Partner Group Program Manager of Azure Maps and Connected Vehicles, said that this partnership with TomTom is “very different from anything Microsoft has done in maps before”.

Building the maps in Azure reduces the latency to customer applications, said Prakriya noting that “Azure customers across industries end up winning when their geospatial data and analytics, TomTom data, and Azure Maps services are all running together in the same cloud.”

Anders Truelsen, Managing Director, TomTom Enterprise added: “TomTom is proud of the relationship we’ve built with Microsoft to offer Microsoft Azure customers access to build location-aware applications and look forward to deepening that relationship as we extend our high-quality location technologies to an even larger audience base.

“We’re excited to be chosen as the location data provider to power mapping services across all of Microsoft, including Bing, Cortana, Windows and many other leading products and the innovations that will come forward in this continued relationship.”