The Reason GE Linked Its Internet-of-Things Platform to Microsoft's Cloud

Playing the long game, GE recognized that Microsoft needed them more than did Amazon. And that given the relative equivalence of the cloud offerings, a mutually productive long term partnership was more likely with someone not out to some day become a competitor, a possibility no enterprise can ever assume about Amazon. JL

Austen Hufford reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Because Azure operates in many countries, Microsoft’s offering may offer “better” locations globally than rivals, and that may make Azure more attractive for some country- and regional-level customers. The partnership will allow Predix customers to access Microsoft Azure capabilities such as natural language processing, artificial intelligence, data visualization and integration with Microsoft’s suite of online workplace productivity apps
GE Co. and Microsoft Corp. announced a partnership to bring GE’s industrial internet-of-things platform to Microsoft’s cloud, as both companies continue to expand from their legacy businesses into areas more focused on mobile and the internet.
The companies said Monday that GE’s Predix software platform, which enables industrial machines to connect to the “industrial internet,” would come to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, allowing users to analyze and share data from their machines using Microsoft applications.
Predix is a software and cloud platform that provides a standardized way for companies to connect their industrial devices—from train wheels to package shipping machines—to the cloud to monitor and optimize them.
Microsoft has been investing in its Azure platform, as competition in the market for on-demand computing power continues to heat up. It is battling with similar offerings from Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.78 % ’s Amazon Web Services, or AWS, Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud Platform and IBM’s SoftLayer.
Predix already runs on AWS, and GE is working with Oracle Corp. to integrate the technology into its offerings.
International Data Corp. analyst Al Gillen said the announcement “is not a win for Microsoft as much as it is a catch up.” Because Azure operates in many countries, Microsoft’s Predix offering may offer “better” locations globally than rivals, and “that may make Azure more attractive for some country- and regional-level customers,” Mr. Gillen said.
The partnership will allow Predix customers to access Microsoft Azure capabilities such as natural language processing, artificial intelligence, data visualization and integration with Microsoft’s Office 365 suite of online workplace productivity apps and other software. A developer preview will be released toward the end of the year and the platform will be released commercially by the second quarter of 2017.
Microsoft has been directing its efforts on Internet-based products and services for corporate customers and away from its traditional focus on making office software and operating systems for desktop users. Last month, it said it would buy LinkedIn Corp. LNKD 0.14 % for $26.2 billion, the largest acquisition in its history, as it tries to connect the networks of tools that workers use and of the workers themselves.
In January, GE said it was moving its headquarters to Boston, in a bid to attract younger, more creative workers as it is betting that a new industrial era will revolve around software innovation.