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Microsoft Azure, Server teams form new cloud division

Company is creating a new Server and Cloud Division, combining the Windows Server and Solutions group with the Windows Azure group.

James Urquhart
James Urquhart is a field technologist with almost 20 years of experience in distributed-systems development and deployment, focusing on service-oriented architectures, cloud computing, and virtualization. James is a market strategist for cloud computing at Cisco Systems and an adviser to EnStratus, though the opinions expressed here are strictly his own. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
James Urquhart

In a much anticipated move, Microsoft announced the combination of the Windows Azure group with the Windows Server and Solutions group into a new organization, titled the Server and Cloud Division. The new division, headed by Senior Vice President Amitabh Srivastava, will be a part of the Servers and Tools Business, headed by Bob Muglia.

The new division will "deliver solutions that help our customers realize even greater benefits from Microsoft's investments in on-premises and cloud technologies," according to the Windows Server Division blog. The Windows Azure team blog adds that the combined team will "ensure that customers get the full benefit of Microsoft offerings that span Microsoft's public cloud, on-premises solutions, private clouds, and clouds that our partners host."

The move makes sense, as the company's "software plus services" strategy requires consistency in the management and execution capabilities of both Windows Server and Windows Azure. Microsoft has been working on both Azure and private cloud capabilities for some time now, though its Web site currently pitches its Dynamic Data Center Toolkit as a "foundation" for both private and partner cloud services.

It should be noted that this move means that CTO Ray Ozzie is no longer heading the Azure team, a signal that Azure has graduated from a technical project to a full-fledged Microsoft business.

Also announced was the move of the Windows Azure Business and Marketing team, headed by Doug Hauger, to the Server and Tools Marketing group, under Corporate Vice President Robert Wahbe.