IBM and Microsoft announce that they are working together to provide their respective enterprise software on Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud. As adoption of hybrid cloud computing accelerates, this relationship is expected to give clients, partners and developers more choice in the cloud, helping them drive new business opportunities, spur innovation and reduce costs.



Specifically, the newly announced relationship provides the following client benefits:



-IBM and Microsoft will make key IBM middleware such as WebSphere Liberty, MQ, and DB2 available on Microsoft Azure.

-Windows Server and SQL Server will be offered on IBM Cloud.

-IBM and Microsoft are working together to deliver a Microsoft .NET runtime for IBM's Bluemix cloud development platform.

-To support hybrid cloud deployments, IBM will expand support of its software running on Windows Server Hyper-V, and the companies plan to make IBM Pure Application Service available on Azure.



IBM and Microsoft will make key products within IBM's enterprise-proven middleware software portfolio, including WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere MQ and DB2 database software, available in the Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines service for development and production deployment.



Microsoft and IBM are working together to provide .NET runtimes, along with relevant tooling, in IBM Bluemix, IBM's open cloud platform-as-a-service. This could open the door for millions of .NET developers to build applications at scale for clients on IBM's cloud platform. The companies will begin with a limited preview offering of .NET operating within Bluemix.



The companies will help to enable customers to bring their own software licenses to the IBM and Microsoft clouds, helping customers avoid extra cost. Microsoft will also offer IBM middleware software licenses, such as WebSphere Liberty, MQ and DB2, to Azure customers with pay-per-use pricing.



The companies also plan to make IBM Pure Application Service available on both Microsoft Azure and IBM SoftLayer for automated deployment, configuration and license management in a hybrid cloud environment.



IBM SoftLayer currently provides and supports a wide range of Microsoft software, including Windows Server, Hyper-V, WebMatrix, Windows Firewall, SQL Server and others.