Bing Maps migration planning: why the next 18 months matter

 

If you’re currently using Bing Maps for Enterprise, the clock is no longer abstract. With Microsoft already unifying its enterprise mapping under Azure Maps and timelines becoming clearer, now is the time to speak with your account manager to understand what your transition schedule really looks like.

This is not about rushing a migration. It is about planning properly. 

Bing Maps will continue to operate for existing enterprise customers until 30 June 2028, but waiting until the final year creates unnecessary risk, cost, and delivery pressure. The teams that succeed are the ones that use this final full cycle to assess, optimise, and move with confidence. 

If you’re new to this series, start with Modernise your location intelligence. If your focus is scaling development without friction, How Azure Maps helps growing SDCs scale faster provides the wider context.

What is changing for Bing Maps users 

Microsoft’s made it clear that Azure Maps is now its unified enterprise mapping platform. Bing Maps for Enterprise is in a managed sunset period, with no new customers accepted and a fixed retirement timeline already published. 

For Bing Maps users, this creates three realities: 

• There will be no new innovation on Bing Maps
  Feature development and platform investment are focused on Azure Maps. 

• Migration is inevitable, but timing is flexible
  You have time, but only if you use it deliberately. 

• Last‑minute migrations cost more
  Technical debt, rushed testing, and unplanned architecture changes compound quickly. 

This is why the coming 18 months matter more than the final year of availability. 

Why June is the inflection point, not the deadline 

June 2027 represents the last opportunity to plan a full year of migration activity while still operating comfortably within your existing Bing Maps licence. 

That matters because a successful migration is rarely just an API swap. 

It often includes: 

• Reviewing how geocoding, routing, and rendering are actually used 

• Aligning data formats with modern standards such as GeoJSON 

• Updating authentication and governance models 

• Improving performance and cost efficiency 

• Testing in parallel without disrupting production systems 

Trying to compress this into the final year increases risk. Planning it now gives you control. 

What “good” Bing Maps migration planning looks like 

Strong migration planning is structured, staged, and pragmatic. It doesn’t start with code. It starts with clarity. 

1) Understand your current dependency on Bing Maps 

Many teams underestimate how deeply mapping is embedded in their application. Start by identifying: 

• Which APIs are used and were used previously 

• Which features are business‑critical versus convenience 

• How location data flows through your system 

• Where performance or accuracy issues already exist 

This discovery phase often surfaces quick wins before migration even begins. 

2) Map Bing Maps functionality to Azure Maps capabilities 

Azure Maps provides equivalent and extended functionality for the vast majority of Bing Maps use cases, including: 

• Geocoding and reverse geocoding 

• Search and point‑of‑interest queries 

• Routing and traffic 

• Rendering and visualisation 

Planning this mapping early avoids surprises later and helps teams modernise rather than replicate legacy patterns. 

3) Use migration as an optimisation opportunity 

The strongest migrations don’t aim for “same behaviour, different platform”. 

They ask: 

• Where can we simplify? 

• Where can we standardise data formats? 

• Where can we improve performance or accuracy? 

• Where can we reduce long‑term maintenance cost? 

This is where migration delivers business value, not just continuity. 

4) De‑risk delivery with parallel testing 

Azure Maps can be introduced alongside Bing Maps during transition. This allows: 

• Side‑by‑side testing 

• Controlled rollout by feature or customer 

• Confident validation before cutover 

This approach reduces disruption and protects customer experience. 

Common mistakes Bing Maps users make 

As the sunset approaches, we consistently see the same issues: 

• Waiting too long to start
  Migration becomes reactive rather than planned. 

• Treating migration as a like‑for‑like swap
  This locks in technical debt and misses optimisation opportunities. 

• Underestimating internal dependencies
  Mapping often touches analytics, reporting, and downstream systems. 

• Lack of specialist support
  Teams lose time navigating documentation rather than delivering value. 

Avoiding these pitfalls is the difference between a smooth transition and a painful one. 

How we support Bing Maps migration planning 

We help teams move from Bing Maps to Azure Maps with clarity and confidence. Our approach focuses on planning first, execution second. 

We support: 

• Bing Maps usage audits and dependency mapping 

• Azure Maps capability alignment 

• Migration roadmaps tied to your product lifecycle 

• Parallel testing strategies 

• Performance, accuracy, and cost optimisation 

• Ongoing support as you modernise your location stack 

If your goal is not just to migrate, but to emerge with a stronger platform, we can help. 

You may also want to revisit Modernise your location intelligence for the foundational principles behind this approach. 

Using Bing Maps today?

Now is the time to plan your migration, not rush it later. Speak to our mapping specialists and build a clear, low‑risk path to Azure Maps. 

Fill out our contact form and we’ll build your migration plan, fast. Or speak to us directly +44 (0)1374 655 133

Continue reading the series:

• Modernise your location intelligence
• How Azure Maps helps growing SDCs scale faster
• Bing Maps migration planning: why the next 12 months matter (current article)