Windows Azure Business Plan Details Coming Next Month

As it is getting closer to the first year since it announced its Cloud operating system, Microsoft is gearing up to make public the business plan that will help it monetize Windows Azure. According to Bruce Kyle, Microsoft ISV architect evangelist, the Redmond company will deliver the Windows Azure business details at the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2009, courtesy of Allison L. Watson, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group. Watson will inform Microsoft partners on how they will be able to leverage the company's Cloud platform in order to turn in a profit.

“Corporate Vice President Allison Watson said the financial details and how partners can help sell Windows Azure will be released at Worldwide Partner Conference July 13-16 in New Orleans,” Kyle stated. “Windows Azure is a cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting and service management environment for the Azure Services Platform. Windows Azure is currently in Community Technology Preview. Commercial availability for Windows Azure will likely be at the end of calendar year 2009.”

The focus for Microsoft will not be simply selling Windows Azure itself, but also allowing partners to sell the Cloud OS themselves. In the long run, the company is indicating that partners will be a key contributor to the success of Windows Azure.

Microsoft's vision of Windows Azure is that of a public Cloud. The platform, hosted on company datacenters, is designed to embrace and help run services and applications from third parties. In the past, the software giant made it abundantly clear that it would not license Windows Azure to customers that wished to build their own Cloud operating systems. However, Windows Server 2008, and its successor, Windows Server 2008 R2, are at the basis of Windows Azure. Moving forward, Microsoft will spread the same technology innovations across both its Cloud and server platforms. In this regard, customers that will wish to build private clouds will be able to turn to Windows Server as a platform.