PDC 2008: Announcing Azure Services Platform and Microsoft SharePoint Services
Today, in Day 1 of the PDC Keynote, Ray Ozzie unveiled the Azure Services Platform. Azure makes it possible for developers to create applications and services that run in the cloud or to create web, mobile, or hybrid applications that extend the value of on-premises applications. To learn more about Azure, go to http://www.azure.com .
In the Azure Services Platform, a number of developer services were mentioned including Microsoft SQL Services, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services & Microsoft SharePoint Services. Keep in mind that this not the same as Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 which shipped in Windows Server. Microsoft SharePoint Services is a developer service that will be available as part of Azure in the future.
The keynote also emphasized Microsoft’s investment in cloud applications that developers can extend and customize. Specifically, David Thompson (VP of Online Services) talked about Microsoft SharePoint Online and demonstrated how developers can write code against SharePoint Online web services as well as make customizations with SharePoint Designer. For example, using the Data View Web Part to surface data from an external source – this could be a web service living in Windows Azure. In fact, later in the week at PDC, there’s a breakout session that walks through the different ways SharePoint Online can be customized.
Here are answers to a few frequently asked questions:
What is Microsoft SharePoint Services in Azure?
In the future, developers will have access to SharePoint functionality in the Azure Services Platform (“Microsoft SharePoint Services”). With the flexibility to use familiar developer tools like Visual Studio, developers will be able to rapidly build applications that utilize SharePoint capabilities as building blocks for their own applications. Developers can expect a breadth of SharePoint capabilities across the spectrum of on-premises, Online and the Azure Services Platform.
Where can I find more information about Microsoft SharePoint Services in Azure?
We have not announced any further detail or release dates. We will release more information about this in the future.
How do developers get ready for Microsoft SharePoint Services?
Keep developing on SharePoint technology (MOSS, WSS, SharePoint Online)! You can learn more about SharePoint Development here.
Stay tuned for more news from the PDC 2008!
