These services are planned for the future:

* SQL Services

* .Net Services

Another advantage of Azure for developers is the common language runtime, says Johnson. Programs can be written in .Net-supported languages and use the same runtime environment.

Microsoft also has adopted standards such as XML and SOAP and has included a software developer's kit for the popular open-source Eclipse development framework. Martin claims that any program from inside or outside the cloud, written in any language, can call an Azure service.