Microsoft's sure about 'œcloud computing' and calls it Azure

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 28 October 2008 15:48

Opinion and Analysis

It’s called “Windows Azure” and fulfils Microsoft’s promise to make software-plus-services a reality, but while it was launched during a keynote at Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference (PDC 2008), it’s still only a “community technology preview” with much work still to be done.

Windows Azure – pronounced “AZ-yur” by Microsoft’s Ray Ozzie, but pronounced “az-YOUR” by Aussies and Brits (see/hear Forvo’s pronunciation) starting shining through from behind the clouds that have so far covered Microsoft’s cloud computing initiatives.

As TG Daily notes, Azure is a word for “blue”, but can also mean a “clear, cloudless sky”.

That makes the name Azure slightly ironic for a cloud computing initiative that, in its “community technology preview” (CTP) release, is still full of blue sky opportunity and functionality to come.

Ray Ozzie, famous for Lotus Notes, Groove and joining Microsoft, wrote a 2005 memo on “the Internet Services Distruption” and pointed to a software-plus-services future for Microsoft.

Ozzie said at the PDC 2008 Keynote that: “Today marks a turning point for Microsoft and the development community. We have introduced a game-changing set of technologies that will bring new opportunities to Web developers and business developers alike.

“The Azure Services Platform, built from the ground up to be consistent with Microsoft’s commitment to openness and interoperability, promises to transform the way businesses operate and how consumers access their information and experience the Web.

“Most important, it gives our customers the power of choice to deploy applications in cloud-based Internet services or through on-premises servers, or to combine them in any way that makes the most sense for the needs of their business", which was just part of the many things Ozzie had to say.

Given that Azure is a Microsoft creation, it should come as no surprise that Microsoft is tying it into the rest of its software strengths and massive developer base, all of whom will need some way to continue using their skills to full effect.

Microsoft is promising that the “Azure Services Platform provides developers with the flexibility and ability to create applications while taking advantage of their existing skills, tools and technologies such as the Microsoft .NET Framework and Visual Studio.”

As such, Microsoft says that “developers also can choose from a broad range of commercial or open source development tools and technologies, and access the Azure Services Platform using a variety of common Internet standards including HTTP, representational state transfer (REST), WS-* and Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub).”
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