Volkswagen connects to Microsoft for strategic cloud services
With the agreement with Microsoft, Volkswagen intends to drive its digital transformation forward. With Microsoft as its strategic partner, the automaker is taking an important step towards becoming a mobility provider with a fully networked vehicle fleet and the “Volkswagen We” digital ecosystem.
From 2020 onwards, more than 5 million new connected vehicles of the Volkswagen brand are to come onto the market every year and thus become part of the “Internet of Things” (IoT). The hub for the data from the cars and for the cars is Volkswagen’s Automotive Cloud – which is to function with the help and technology of Microsoft.
In the future, all data services in the vehicles of Volkswagen’s core brand and the group-wide cloud-based digital carrier architecture One Digital Platform (ODP) will be based throughout on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and platform services such as Azure IoT Edge will be used. This simplifies the technical landscape for Volkswagen, as well as for external participants and data suppliers for the automotive cloud.
Via this data hub, the automaker intends to significantly optimize the linking of vehicle, cloud-based platform and customer-oriented services of all brands, such as the “Volkswagen We” ecosystem. With the establishment of the Automotive Cloud, Volkswagen intends to expand digital services to its entire fleet. In addition, new services and solutions for the customer experience in the vehicle, in telematics and for secure data exchange between vehicle and cloud can be efficiently developed and quickly implemented.
As part of the partnership, Volkswagen will also establish a new development center for the automotive cloud in North America, near Microsoft’s headquarters. Around 300 IT specialists are expected to work there in the near future.
In addition, Microsoft is making its company-wide cloud expertise available to the Volkswagen development team. The IT specialists at Volkswagen can thus learn from Microsoft’s culture in collaborative and agile work and transfer this experience to Volkswagen’s core organization.
The solutions developed as part of the strategic partnership will also be rolled out over the long term in other Group brands such as Porsche and Audi and in all regions of the world. The Volkswagen Automotive Cloud thus forms the basis for all digital services and value-added offerings of the Group brands. This also includes the upcoming Volkswagen ID electric car family.
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