Microsoft talks up Azure in cloud push to developers
Posted on March 13, 2014 at 7:38 pm
Microsoft is making a push to sell developers on the benefits of its Windows Azure platform for cloud and mobile applications.
Speaking at the company’s Build conference, Microsoft server and tools president Satya Nadella said that the company’s cloud platform provided a simple solution for developers looking to offer their applications on public or private cloud services as well as a back end for mobile and web-based application developers.
Microsoft is reporting strong interest in its Azure brand. Nadella said that the service has some 65 million users and is adding some 1,000 customers daily. Additionally, he said that the company’s private cloud offering is striking a chord with businesses as well.
“Given that we are seeing tremendous growth for the high-end server software, people are buying to support their own infrastructure for the apps you are building,” he told developers.
The push for Microsoft comes just days after the company announced a high-profile deal with Oracle which will bring the Database and Java platforms to Azure, a move which could further extend the Microsoft cloud brand.
Additionally, the company sees the Azure Mobile Services platform as an ideal solution for mobile device developers looking to offer cloud services and support for their mobile apps. The company said that the service will provide developers with support for mulitple platforms, including Windows Phone, Android, iOS and HTML5 applications.
To help boost developer interest in the cloud platform, the company is offering a number of developer-only perks such as a free 20MB SQL database for testing mobile applications on Azure and a free subscription to Office 365.
Nadella said that the productivity suite can also function as a useful tool for developers, allowing them to access vital components in the suite to use with their own applications.
“Everything from social graph to identity, document libraries, all of that is available for you to use in modern APIs,” he said.
“The idea is to be able to do all of that with first class tool support.”
Posted in Cloud Hosting