The Azure platform finally provides the confluence point for a number of loosely related cloud technologies Microsoft has been developing, including , the Identity MetaSystem and Microsoft Online Services.

Those infrastructure and application services, which complement the Azure operating system, will hook onto the Azure platform to enrich its development environment and provide core services to online applications.

Microsoft's effort, however, is not without major challenges. The Azure Services Platform is a work in progress and only at the preview stage; the platform is initially tied predominantly to Microsoft's technologies although it is promising openness; and Microsoft has to succeed in wooing an army of developers to embrace it.

"The approach to the Azure Services Platform follows a well-known pattern; coming late to the party, Microsoft must make up now by enticing developers to embrace this new platform and creating the 'killer-apps' needed to make Azure a success," said Felix Gaehtgens, a senior analyst at Kuppinger Cole.

"There are currently very few established dominant vendors in this space, and whilst some customers are experimenting, very few businesses have already bet the farm on a specific cloud platform. Microsoft has a history of being able to turn the ship around and catching up quickly when it wants to."