Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) striked a deal that will allow the incorporation of Microsoft’s Azure platform into most of Boeing’s commercial applications.

The two companies announced their partnership stating that moving Boeing’s digital aviation products to Azure is a good idea because it means the servers will become smarter. A spokesperson from Microsoft stated that having the digital aviation applications centralized on Azure will give the airplane maker the ability to analyze large amounts of data coming in from various sources. The spokesperson also noted that Boeing will also gain access to the Cortana Intelligence Suite (CIS) which can be employed by airline operators to feature more effective inventory management as well as more efficient schedules for pilots and their cabin crews.

CIS can also be used for maintenance schedules which in most instances cause flight delays. The partnership also offers a lot of advantages to Microsoft because its cloud computing platform will have a more competitive edge against rival cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Andrew Gendreau, director of advanced information solutions at Boeing stated that shifting the apps into the cloud is both strategic and tactical. This is because if will speed up the process of collecting and analyzing data as well as giving feedback to clients. This will allow the company to grow with more ease while at the same time increasing performance and reliability.

As far as strategy is concerned, it was Boeing’s plan to team up with a technology giant to help them achieve the large vision of bringing more digitization into aviation. Gendreau also stated that commercial aviation is one of the most difficult segments to incorporate IoT. However, there has been much evolution in sensor technology over the past few years. The director also added that using one cloud service makes more sense than using multiple providers.