Windows Azure platform Overview

The Windows Azure platform is Microsoft’s cloud computing platform and is a key component of Microsoft’s overall Software + Services strategy. Gartner Research has identified Cloud Computing as one of the “top 10 disruptive technologies 2008–2012” (http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=681107) According to Gartner, a disruptive technology is the one that causes major change in the accepted way of doing things. For enterprise architects and developers, the Windows Azure platform does cause a major change in the accepted way of architecting, developing, and deploying software services.