Microsoft and OYO to transform Digital Travel Industry with Co-developed Solutions

Microsoft and OYO will co-develop hospitality and travel products & technologies as a part of a multi-year strategic partnership. Additionally, Microsoft has also made an equity investment into the OYO, and the amount was not undisclosed.

As a part of the deal, OYO will adopt the Microsoft Azure cloud platform as an enabler to drive cloud-based innovations.

Abhinav Sinha, Global COO & Chief Product Officer – OYO Hotels & Homes, said, "We are excited to join hands with Microsoft in our constant endeavor to improve business opportunities for the small and independent hotel and home owners, and to redefine experiences for travellers. Our patron app ecosystem provides a ~1.4-2.4X lift in revenues for new hotels and homes that join the OYO network. We do this through our products, and application of (Machine Learning) ML and (Artificial Intelligence) AI, be it running millions of pricing optimizations per day to increase revenues or enabling users to book an OYO within seconds. Our technology and products have helped our patrons drive operational efficiencies and continuously improve the experience for our guests."

Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India, said, "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. 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."

The co-developed solutions will be targeted at small and medium hotels and homestays. OYO will develop smart room experiences for travelers on the OYO platform, which includes customized in-room and premium experiences.

The platform will going to use the IoT sensors driven by Microsoft Azure and will have features such as self-know your customers, self-check-in, along with IoT-managed smart locks, and virtual assistance.

OYO also revealed that it would share existing workloads onto Microsoft Azure and adopt the Microsoft 365 suite for better productivity and collaboration. OYO will also use GitHub enterprise for secure development.

The company revealed that the collaboration with Microsoft will help OYO to accelerate the deployment of products in the hands of small businesses and help to create an integrated ecosystem that can be accessed in a remote location.