Amsterdam-based navigation software producer TomTom and Microsoft are to join forces to bring enterprise-grade location-based services to Microsoft’s Azure platform, based on TomTom’s maps, traffic and navigation software.

TomTom plans to integrate its services into Azure to make it easier and more flexible for developers to build and manage enterprise, mobile, web and ‘internet of things’ applications that are location-aware, TomTom said in a statement.

‘Location is fast becoming a critical component of a broad range of applications and services. Teaming up with Microsoft will bring our technology to a much broader developer community on a platform they are already familiar with,’ said Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s CEO.

‘The move strengthens our position. Potentially we can reach a much broader public,” Goddijn told the Financieele Dagblad. He added it will take some time for the partnership to have a clear impact on the the company’s revenues.

Location based services from TomTom are essential in the development of self-driving cars. These services include the most up-to-date maps, real-time traffic information and traffic-avoiding navigation.