Rolls-Royce will integrate Microsoft’s Azure IoT Suite and Cortana Intelligence suite into its service solutions for owners of aircraft equipped with its engines.

The engine manufacturer hopes to improve aircraft efficiency, drive up aircraft availability and reduce engine maintenance costs for customers with the use of Microsoft’s software.

The Azure IoT Suite will be used “to collect and aggregate data from disparate, geographically distributed sources”, while the Cortana Intelligence Suite will be used to “uncover data insights", it said.

Data sets such as engine health data, air traffic control information, route restrictions and fuel usage data will be collected to detect operational anomalies and trends, then provide intelligent performance feedback on the findings.

Azure stream analytics and Microsoft Power BI dashboards will enable airlines to improve operational performance and increase fuel efficiency.

Rolls-Royce said it expects the collaboration with Microsoft to move its engine management capabilities “beyond the current levels of proactive monitoring of engine health and inflight performance.”