Definition: Microsoft Azure

Microsoft's cloud computing platform, which along with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform, comprise the three major cloud services in the U.S. Microsoft Azure features the Windows Azure OS, which is a combination of the latest Windows Server offering and Hyper-V. Azure OS was specialized for datacenter computing, in which clusters of servers provide computing resources on demand. Azure is supported in Microsoft's .NET Framework, but has been declared open to encourage non-Microsoft language support. Following are Microsoft's cloud services. See cloud computing and Cobalt 100.

  Microsoft
  Cloud Service       Purpose

  Windows Azure        PaaS

  Office Online        SaaS

  OneDrive (SkyDrive)  Storage