When Microsoft announced plans to enter the then-embryonic ‘cloud’ sector, many a supposed pundit laughed out. Mostly speaking derisively, these know-nothings proceeded to laugh at Microsoft at every turn, stating that <<insert Web 2.0 darling here>> had first-mover advantage, traction, mindshare, whatever, in order to prove to their cattle that they were indeed, knowledgeable.
Well, where are they now?
In the past couple of years, I have been privileged to attend most of Microsoft’s developer events and symposia, and at these events, I heard of the investments Microsoft was making in that space. Still, the writing heads gave Microsoft no credit.
Well, no longer.
At the last Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, or PDC10, held in Redmond, Washington last year, Microsoft dropped a bombshell that landed with the force of a high-yield thermonuclear device: Windows Azure was not only here, but several companies were already running production processes on it.
Well, that shut everyone up.
Since then, several of Microsoft’s own business units have availed themselves of the productivity gains afforded them by Azure and moved to it wholesale. In fact, Channel 9, that font of information about all things Microsoft products and technology, had moved to Azure, and not only that, hosted all the needed streaming from PDC10 from this platform. I am trying to see if we can interview Jeff Sandquist, the Übermeister of Channel 9 on how they did it.
“Azure is an outstanding technology that has evolved from a simple scalable web hosting solution, into an enterprise class application platform.” Robert McLaws
However, it isn’t just deep-pocketed companies moving or developing for Windows Azure. One of the most capable developers I know is Robert McLaws, former ASP.NET MVP and Senior Developer at gibraltarsoftware.com. Robert has been developing for Windows Azure since the earliest betas, and I asked him to weigh in on Azure: “Azure is an outstanding technology that has evolved from a simple scalable web hosting solution, into an enterprise class application platform. The new VM role and VPN connectivity have been tremendously helpful in helping our clients deploy their solutions. We’re excited to see where Microsoft takes it in 2011.”
This is just the beginning. As Microsoft creates more value into Windows Azure, and provides seamless two-way migrations between a traditional on-premise environment, a private ‘cloud’, and a hosted ‘cloud’, the value of Windows Azure is sure to explode.
Windows Azure definitely is impressive in scale, scope, and vision.
Honorable Mentions
