Microsoft Grows Prototyping Capabilities With Acquisition Of The Marsden Group

The acquisition should help improve Microsoft’s offerings to asset-intensive industries like manufacturing, automotive and logistics, Microsoft said.

Microsoft continues to invest in solutions aimed at industrial customers with the purchase of The Marsden Group, which provides rapid prototyping services.

The acquisition should help improve Microsoft’s offerings to asset-intensive industries like manufacturing, automotive and logistics, Microsoft said.

[Related: Microsoft Says CyberX Acquisition Will Boost Azure IoT Security]

The Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant made the acquisition to enhance its industry-focused offerings based on Microsoft cloud, edge and AI products, according to a blog post by Omar Abbosh, corporate vice president of cross-industry solutions at Microsoft.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Marsden Group is a Microsoft Gold Partner with offices in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Houston, according to its website.

“In our everchanging world, we see an urgent need to build agile operations and supply chains to address disruptive market forces and consumer demands,” Abbosh said. “With this investment, we are taking the next step to help our customers across all industries envision and build digital solutions faster.”

In February, the company unveiled its Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing offering to bring together existing Microsoft products and services with some features that are tailored to the needs, security standards and compliance coverage required by industrial customers.

Microsoft’s growing focus on edge computing has been echoed by similar investments from channel partners. In October, global systems integrator Cognizant unveiled plans to acquire Bright Wolf, an Amazon Web Services and Microsoft industrial IoT partner that sells into large enterprises such as industrial heavyweight Caterpillar.