Cloud computing: Windows Azure platform

Cloud computing is driving a fundamental shift in the way organizations build, deploy and use applications, and it's raising expectations on how quickly and cost-effectively new IT functionality can be made available to the business. And even though the delivery chain for these "borderless applications" now crosses organizational and geographic boundaries, users will still expect the applications to perform well, and they will hold IT accountable if they don't. For its part, IT is faced with managing an increasingly complex and diverse delivery chain, consisting of perhaps dozens of service and content providers spread around the world. Cloud computing is the set of technologies and infrastructure capabilities being offered in a utility based consumption model. Windows Azure is Microsoft's Cloud Computing offering to help its customers realize the benefits of cloud computing. This paper is an introduction on Windows Azure and provides insights into different aspects of Azure based development, especially for those who are interested in adopting Windows Azure within their Enterprise IT landscape. The key aspects we shall be discussing in this paper include overview of cloud computing, Windows Azure platform components, features, implementation, creating a cloud project in Windows Azure and developer's perspective about Azure.