(Telecompaper) GE and Microsoft will together make GE's Predix platform for the Industrial Internet available on the Microsoft Azure cloud for cloud-connected industrial businesses and run services for the Industrial Internet of Things (IioT). The move marks the first step in a broad strategic collaboration between the two companies. Bringing Predix to Azure means customers will have access to capabilities such as natural language technology, artificial intelligence, advanced data visualization and enterprise application integration. They will be able to able to build and run IoT apps that can take data from sensors and industrial equipment connected to the cloud via the Predix system, and use the artificial intelligence (AI), speech recognition and data visualization capabilities within the Azure platform.