With technology in our cars advancing at turbocharged speeds, it’s no surprise that household names like Apple and Microsoft are starting to pop up more frequently than ever. Even 10 years ago, talking about Microsoft and cars or Apple and cars just seemed out of place, but today, we’re about to talk about an all-new partnership between Microsoft and Nissan, as they up the ante on bringing better connectivity into mainstream, mass-market vehicles.

Azure is an intelligent cloud of sorts that is offered by Microsoft and will surely find its way into Nissan and Renault vehicles in the near future. This partnership will allow Microsoft and Nissan to work together in developing advanced features like over-the-air updates, remote monitors, advanced vehicle protection, and even autonomous and collision-avoidance systems. The overall aim of this partnership is to launch more than 10 vehicles with autonomous driving technology by 2020, all of which will use Azure services to help passengers make better use of their “free time” in the car.

Ogi Redzic, the Senior VP of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, said, “A car is becoming increasingly connected, intelligent and personal. Partnering with Microsoft allows us to accelerate the development of the associated key technologies needed to enable scenarios our customers want and build all-new ones they haven’t even imagined. We aim to become the provider of connected mobility for everyone with one single global platform.”

According to Nissan, this partnership with Microsoft was chosen, in part, because of the brand’s “enterprise-grade” security and Microsoft’s “commitment to compliance.” Furthermore, Azure will provide extreme flexibility to help in building a common platform for use within the Renault-Nissan alliance.

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Why it matters

I won’t pretend to know much about Microsoft Azure. In fact, I’ve never been much of a Microsoft fan to be completely honest. But, after some quick research, Microsoft Azure seems to be a promising cloud system. User reviews at g2crowd.com and PC Mag all show promising reviews with an average rating of four stars or, more specifically, 4.2 out of 5. User reviews seem to show that the system is easy to use and allows the deployment of various infrastructures, web apps, and SQL databases.

All this technical jargon translates to easy development and distribution to vehicles for Renault and Nissan, while having what some believe is excellent support from a massive brand like Microsoft. I think that boasting the potential for 10 vehicles with autonomous tech by 2020 seems to be a pretty long reach for Nissan and Renault, but hopefully, this partnership makes it possible and helps the two brands step into the ring with the big boys.