At first, many expected the opening keynote at PDC to be about Windows 7. However, PDC’s first major keynote was dedicated to the announcement of Windows Azure, a platform which (until PDC) was completely concealed by Microsoft from the public (except through occasional, highly dramatic blurbs from Steve Ballmer). The platform’s announcement also came as a surprise to many developers, IT professionals, and pundits who saw Azure as an attempt at matching Amazon’s offerings through Amazon Web Services.

With this in mind, a number of questions regarding Windows Azure remained unanswered. Who exactly was this platform targeting? Was it after IT professionals looking to offload some of their services to Microsoft’s servers? Was it for developers looking to create interactive, deep web 2.0 applications? What would Microsoft do with the data? What about security?

Amitabh Srivastava, corporate vice president and head of Windows Azure within Microsoft, took some time to answer the most common questions about Windows Azure. You can read his responses and comment below the fold.

Who are you and what do you do with Microsoft?

Amitabh: My name is Amitabh Srivastava and I am the Corporate Vice President at Microsoft with responsibility for major components of the company’s next-generation services platform. I joined Microsoft in 1997 as a Senior Researcher and led the Advanced Development Tools group in Microsoft Research that investigated new techniques to build innovative tools and technologies to improve performance and quality of Microsoft software.

I assisted in the creation of the Programmer Productivity Research Center (PPRC), now known as the Center for Software Excellence (CSE), and I am one of a select few to be named a Distinguished Engineer, now known as Technical Fellow.

In 2003 I had the opportunity to join the Windows team as Corporate Vice President to redefine the engineering process for Windows Vista. Then in November, 2006 my focus shifted and I began working on the company’s services platform with Dave Cutler. This is when we started ‘project Red Dog’ to build the operating system for the cloud. Project Red Dog was announced as ‘Windows Azure’ on October 27 at PDC 2008.

For more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/srivastava/default.aspx
 

How would you summarize/define “Cloud Computing?”

Amitabh: Microsoft believes the cloud is fundamentally about enabling the developer eco-system to reduce complexity of delivering software. Today, as an industry, we have made some strides, but most of that innovation has come around removing the complexity of installing, maintaining and optimizing hardware. We think that there is a huge opportunity to move beyond hardware, and remove the complexity of the application platform itself; letting customers focus on their applications and end user experiences.
 

What kind of customers are you targeting with the release of Windows Azure?

Amitabh: Windows Azure was designed with developers in mind. This is about enabling developers within ISVs, System Integrators and businesses to quickly and easily create, deploy, manage, and distribute web applications and services. As an example ISVs can give their customers a range of choices in user experience over the Web or on connected PCs, servers, and mobile devices. However, the common thread among all of our audiences is their ability to choose from their existing on-premise or new virtual offerings; the opportunity to save operationally, and access to the vast scalability only offered by the internet.
 

What are some examples of corporate scenarios which the Windows Azure platform aims to resolve?

Amitabh: The Windows Azure platform will help corporate IT departments to run more efficiently and cost-effectively with Windows Azure’s scalability, reliability, and security they need to grow or enhance their productivity. Some of the advantages include:

• Availability of optional single sign-on, authentication, and identity services
• Communication services between on-premises and off, and between business partners and customers on any device via the use of the optional connectivity services
• Use of database services to share information on a global basis via the additional SQL data services

We’re providing an easy on-ramp to the cloud by providing the tools and building blocks to combine existing on-premises systems with the cloud offerings. Corporate developers have new options in writing internet-connected applications, adding new functionality to a company’s existing software solutions, and the ability to connect with partners and customers in new ways via the web or a multitude of connected devices.
 

What regulatory compliance issues might companies face, if any at all? (Also, how did Microsoft make sure that Windows Azure would not generate any regulatory compliance issues with state and national governments?)

Amitabh: Our user agreement calls out some specific issues with respect to privacy that subscribers will need to manage. Because every subscriber will have unique circumstances, we cannot provide a blanket statement that all potential uses of Windows Azure will comply with the laws of each jurisdiction that is applicable to that subscriber’s use. But we have looked at some common scenarios and believe that subscribers should be able to comply with all relevant legal requirements when making use of Windows Azure in most cases. This is a topic that we have spent a significant amount of time working on, and that work is continuing.

As we draw closer to commercial launch and obtain feedback from users during the technology preview period, we will ensure that we take all the necessary steps to help our subscribers to be compliant with various regulatory requirements.
 

What data privacy and security measures are in place to protect, for example, the trade secrets of client companies as well as the personal information of those companies’ employees and customers?

Amitabh: Microsoft has a single standard worldwide approach to privacy compliance that is based on the requirements of global privacy laws. A single high standard of privacy is more than an efficient business model; we feel it is important to treat all of our customers around the world with the same level of privacy protection. We take the security of personal information very seriously. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect personal information hosted on the Azure Services Platform from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.

For Windows Azure, Microsoft will have a contractual relationship with its subscribers. We will only use the data stored by subscribers in Windows Azure to provide the service and will not make any use of the data beyond that which is permitted in our contractual agreement.

For detailed information of our terms of use during the CTP period please refer here
http://www.microsoft.com/azure/termswindowsazure.mspx

For detailed information on our privacy statement during the CTP period, please refer here
http://www.microsoft.com/azure/termsazureservices.mspx

On a related note, are there any content restrictions for packages published to Windows Azure? What kind of filtering is performed, if any? (e.g. malicious binaries, scripts)

Amitabh: Microsoft provides a computing infrastructure on which developers can build applications. It is the responsibility of the developer to ensure that their applications, content and services comply with applicable laws and do not engage in malicious conduct. For more information refer to http://www.microsoft.com/azure/termswindowsazure.mspx
 

Will Windows Azure have a free-of-charge or discounted counterpart for non-profit and/or home developers and if so, will there be any such premium features as extended hosting services? (Perhaps an Express version with limited hosting capabilities for hobbyist developers and students?)

Amitabh: We are still working on our pricing structure, but I can say that we are considering a variety of scenarios to address the varying needs of our customers and partners. We will announce specifics on the business model and overall commercial availability at a later date.
 

What was Windows “Strata?”

Amitabh: Microsoft often uses code names for products during their early developmental phases. Strata was the code name for “Azure™”
 

Are any Microsoft/Windows Live services already taking advantage of the Azure platform?

Amitabh: Currently Live Mesh and parts of Live Meeting are running on Windows Azure. Over time, all of our services will run on Windows Azure, and we are currently in the process of moving those over.