Microsoft has acquired Solair, an Italy-based Internet of Things services company that has itself been operating on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

It’s what Solair has done with Azure – and, of course, its own technology – that evidently caught Microsoft’s attention. The company offers IoT intelligence solutions to organizations in a range of industries including transportation, retail, and manufacturing; and in a statement announcing the acquisition Azure IoT Partner Director Sam George highlighted the example of Solair’s work with Italy’s Rancilio Group, whose espresso machines were connected with Solair’s IoT analytics technology to let it remotely monitor the machines’ efficiency.

For Microsoft, the acquisition may turn out to be a savvy investment as other major companies like Fujitsu invest heavily in similar industrial and enterprise IoT technologies. The deal also points to the IoT’s potential for cross-pollination when it comes to technological innovation, given that the technologies Solair has built upon Microsoft’s own Azure foundation have in turn proven so valuable to Microsoft that it has purchased the company.

On that note, the financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but given Microsoft’s deep pockets, the deal could further incentivize other IoT innovators to build on Microsoft’s architecture.

Sources: PCWorld, Official Microsoft Blog