Microsoft has formed a partnership with Taser, the company best known for its weapons that are able to incapacitate subjects through the release of electrical charges, to create new cloud services that can be used by law enforcers.
Taser does more than just release electrical weapons. In fact, it was Microsoft's chief rival in the police camera cloud storage space before the formation of the partnership. Before the deal, Microsoft and Taser were trying to win over law enforcement bodies such as police departments to utilize their respective platforms. Microsoft has partnerships in place with Vievu and Getac/IRSA, which are video camera manufacturing companies. Taser, on the other hand, grew into a major force in the industry of body cameras for police offers through its acquisition of the company Evidence.com back in 2010.
The main goal of the new cloud services would be to create an integrated system for the online retrieval and viewing of footage captured by body cameras worn by police officers, along with other evidence that can be used for criminal prosecution. Microsoft will be blending Windows 10 devices and Azure, its cloud infrastructure, with Taser's Axon, which is a law enforcement platform, and Evidence.com.
"Officers will be able to securely capture, store, and manage digital evidence through a trusted cloud platform that connects each part of the investigation process and streamlines operations from beginning to end," said Microsoft vice president of U.S. state and local government, adding that Microsoft Azure will be powering next-generation analytics and collaboration among significant parties involved in the criminal justice system.
Earlier in the year, the United States Justice Department revealed that it would be making an investment of $20 million as assistance to police departments in their acquisition of body cameras for the officers. This presents the space with massive potential for financial growth, as each police department, whether large or small, would need storage and vendor contracts.
The partnership between Microsoft and Taser is also a jab at Amazon Web Services, which was the previously preferred vendor by Taser.
