In a major boost to rebuild the travel industry together, Microsoft and OYO have announced a multi-year strategic partnership to co-develop next-gen travel and hospitality products and technologies. The announcement comes on the back of Microsoft’s recent strategic equity investment of nearly USD 5 million (INR 37 crore) in OYO.

Going forward, the companies will now develop solutions using Microsoft’s cloud and AI capabilities that will be geared to benefit clients who operate small and medium hotel and home storefronts across the world.

“Combining the power of Azure with the tech and product stack developed by OYO, we are looking forward to accelerating innovation in travel and hospitality,” said Anant Maheshwari, president of Microsoft India. “It is inspiring to see how the Microsoft cloud is empowering digital natives like OYO to accelerate industry transformation and innovations, turning the challenges of a post-pandemic era into opportunities for the future.”

Talking about the new deal, Abhinav Sinha, Global COO and CPO in OYO Hotels and Homes said: “This alliance with Microsoft will accelerate the deployment of our products in the hands of small businesses we work with, allowing us to create even more impact through an integrated technology ecosystem available on the cloud for businesses in the remotest corners of the world.”

The businesses will have access to OYO’s latest technology to manage their guests’ experience, and run operations seamlessly along with Azure’s security and scalability.

As part of this alliance, OYO will develop Smart Room experiences for travellers on its platform, including premium and customised in-room experiences, such as self-check-in supported by a digital register of arrivals and departures and self-Know Your Customer (KYC) along with IoT-managed smart locks and virtual assistance using Azure IoT, according to their joint statement.

Additionally, OYO will start to share existing workloads to Microsoft Azure, adopt the Microsoft 365 suite for better collaboration and productivity and switch to GitHub Enterprise for securely accelerating tech development.