Update: Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Microsoft have inked a new deal officially making them preferred partners of each other’s hybrid cloud offerings.

The deal was initially announced last week, but has been fleshed out with more details today at the opening keynote of HPE Discover in London.

At its most basic level, the agreement means Microsoft Azure is the preferred public cloud platform for HPE customers and HPE is now a preferred infrastructure partner for Microsoft.

What this means in practice is the companies will not just point customers towards each other’s services, but will also collaborate to produce new integrated systems, offer joint support and services programs, and collaboration for channel partners.

The companies already have something to show for their collaboration and integration efforts in the form of the HPE Hyper-Converged 250 for Microsoft Cloud Platform Standard.

The system, which the companies are calling the “first hyper-converged system with true hybrid-cloud capabilities”, was jointly engineered to bring Azure services to customers’ data centres, housed in HPE ProLiant infrastructure.

It offers the ability for business users to self-deploy Windows and Linux workloads through an Azure management portal, and Azure also offers backup and disaster recovery systems.

On the support and services side, HPE and Microsoft are launching joint HPE Azure Centers of Excellence in Palo Alto and Houston. Both are R&D centres, with Palo Alto focussing on the development of new hybrid IT and Houston researching Composable Infrastructure.

HPE has also announced its plans to certify 5,000 additional Azure Architects through its Global Services Practice.

Finally, for channel partners, Microsoft has joined the HPE Composable Infrastructure Partner Program, while HPE has joined Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider program, which will see it sell Microsoft cloud solutions across azure, Office 365 and the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite.

It will also create a collection of devices and platforms that will be Azure certified and pre-tested to work with Azure IoT services.

In a statement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said: “Our mission to empower every organisation on the planet is a driving force behind our broad partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise that spans Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Windows 10.

“We are now extending our longstanding partnership by blending the power of Azure with HPE’s leading infrastructure, support and services to make the cloud more accessible to enterprises around the globe.”

Original story: HPE (HP Enterprise) has announced it has sided with Microsoft Azure for its enterprise cloud services because the company shares HP's vision of a hybrid approach for businesses.

HP's CEO Meg Whitman explained on the company's quarterly sales call earlier in the week that not only will Microsoft become a "preferred" provider of HPE, HPE will become a "preferred provider" of Microsoft Azure services too - making for a pretty solid two-way street for both companies.

"Microsoft shares our view of a hybrid IT approach for enterprises, and we both see an opportunity to simplify hybrid infrastructure for our customers," she said. "Going forward, Microsoft Azure will become a preferred public cloud partner. HPE will serve as a preferred provider of Microsoft’s infrastructure and services for its hybrid cloud offerings.”

HPE plans to close down its own public cloud service next year, so Microsoft will fill a pretty big hole for the company with customers seeking other public cloud providers to use.

HPE didn't reveal specifics of the announcement, although critics said it wasn't surprising HP decided to side with Microsoft rather than Amazon or Google. After all, Microsoft welcomes a hybrid approach, pushing both its cloud services and servers and PCs, while both Amazon and Google's product ranges are a little more rigid.

"This is the right move. It plays to our strengths in private and managed cloud. We will continue to extend our cloud infrastructure leadership and integrate the public cloud element for our customers through a strategic, partner-based model," Whitman continued.

The news comes after HP released its final financial results as one company, before the business splits into the HP Enterprise division, which will sell servers, storage, networking, consulting and support, plus services and software and HP Inc, the consumer arm of the organisation.