Introducing the Unified Azure Maps Experience

Microsoft has recently announced the unification of Bing Maps for Enterprise (BME) with Azure Maps, marking a remarkable advancement in their geospatial services. With this merger, Azure Maps now flaunts powerful capabilities of Microsoft Maps, which also powers Bing Maps. One of the significant enhancements introduced in Azure Maps is the adoption of vector tiles for a faster and more responsive map experience and leveraging the extensive quality and coverage provided by Microsoft Maps. Further, this merger ensures that Azure Maps users get a holistic mapping solution supported by Azure’s infrastructure, Microsoft Maps’ data quality, and coverage. Additionally, Azure Maps also offers a variety of features like weather APIs, private indoor maps, multiple authentication methods, geolocation service, along with robust privacy and compliance benefits.

Customers using Bing Maps for Enterprise and migrating to Azure Maps may require some development. To assist customers during this transition period, Microsoft has written migration documents for REST APIs and Azure Maps web control, and they have also provided migration samples on their website.

For more information on Azure Maps, users can refer to Azure Maps' documentation, sample websites, blogs and Microsoft Q&A.

The announcement is exciting news for those in the geospatial services industry, and Microsoft's continued innovation promises to bring a whole new era of mapping solutions to customers worldwide.