Understanding Microsoft's Cloud Computing Platform

Forthcoming online services will allow developers to host applications and store data in Microsoft’s datacenters, as well as tap into user data and other features from the company’s consumer online services. Branded as the Azure Services Platform, these “cloud computing” services could help developers create scalable and reliable applications at lower cost than they can with on-premise or traditional hosted solutions. They could also make it easier to achieve tasks such as synchronizing data among end-user devices. However the services are still in an early development stage, and pricing, licensing, and service level agreement terms are not yet known.

Why Developer Services?

Software developers are beginning to rely on online services from service providers such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Salesforce.com as a valuable addition to—or even replacement for—traditional applications running on a local server. In some cases, corporate developers are turning to these services for in-house applications as well.