Microsoft Azure Cloud Computing Platform

Microsoft yesterday at PDC talked about it's cloud computing platform, Azure. This was what I was talking about when I posted this post, earlier this month: Microsoft's Cloud Computing Platform (Wed. Oct. 1st 2008)
and here RCPMAG: Microsoft's Cloudy Future (Friday Oct. 3rd 2008)

Well now we have Azure, ready for CTP. This is the coming together of projects, technologies, terms, and the alike. In short Azure is a Cloud Platform, the only true one out there, where you will be able to develop on the cloud, for an Application that will be deployed to the cloud, to run and be ran in the cloud.

What is different about this platform, is it allows for Hybrid application to be developed as well, were half the solution or bits and parts could live and be developed in the cloud while others live hosted elsewhere, and still others live on site at a customer. This Hybride Software+Services+Cloud Approach. And that is how I see this impacting Dynamics AX in the future, until ERPLive.com goes live.

There is a great attempt to really explain this, by Mary Jo over at ZDnet: Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform: A guide for the perplexed

In this Mary Jo takes and: "Here’s my attempt to explain it.

Microsoft layed out its “Azure” foundational infrastructure for the cloud during the keynote kick-off on day one of the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) here in Los Angeles. The goal of Azure is to provide developers who want to write applications that run partially and/or entirely in a remote datacenter with a platform and set of tools."

I recommend you read it, and also read the comments. There is quite a bit of confusion, as well as great questions that is surronding this one blog entry by Mary Jo. There is good reason for that too. This is the next thing. This is the next platform.

Microsoft is a Platform company, and this is the next step for that Platform. Now is the time to understand it, as Dynamics ERP (ERPLive.com) will be heavy in this platform, on this platform, developed with and for this platform.

Look at this:


As you can see Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services is there. What do you think is next? Dynamics ERP Services and ERP Live.

So this is what we have been talking about, and waiting for. We all knew this was coming, and now we need to learn how to embrace it, improve it, develop for it, and do this all for the sake of our clients and customers. To give them the edge, that's why they hire us as Solution Providers. We take the platform from Microsoft and deploy the end solution for our clients. This is no different from that aspect, but very different from almost every way in the technial of the "how".

I for one am very excited about what this means. I know that I said I would be writing about Dynamics AX in economic down turns, and I plan to later this week, but this must have attention from us. This is our future, and it's just on the edge of being here... check back soon!

I leave you with this, the offical Microsoft home page: www.azure.com

Azure means clear blue sky, or implies that from it's word meaning. Funny huh? Microsoft's Clear Blue Sky Cloud Computing Platform. Pun here?

Update: Here is the MSDN Azure link, thought this was handy. It for sure is filled with a lot of information to go through: MSDN: Azure Services Platform




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