Microsoft is continuing to make vertical industries a key focus with its latest acquisition, The Marsden Group. Microsoft announced intentions to purchase The Marsden Group for an undisclosed amount on March 16.

The Marsden Group has been a Microsoft Gold Partner and is focused on rapid prototyping in key industries like manufacturing, automotive and logistics. Microsoft is positioning the acquisition as a way to help customers build more quickly vertical solutions using cloud, edge-computing and AI services, in particular.

From Microsoft’s blog post on today’s acquisition:

“We know that in asset-intensive industries, such as manufacturing, automotive or logistics, companies face unique challenges in adopting new technologies, for example connecting industrial equipment safely and securely to the cloud, overcoming data silos and supporting interoperability across modern and legacy systems. Through recent projects, I’ve seen firsthand what The Marsden Group and Microsoft can do, what’s possible when we bring together our cloud, edge, IoT, digital twin and AI capabilities with The Marsden Group’s speed, agility and technical creativity.” 

The Marsden Group is a three year old, U.K.-based company.