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AppFog, provider of a platform as a service (PaaS) for developers who use multiple cloud platforms, has announced they have cooperated on the development of technology to provide interoperability between AppFog and Windows Azure.
The partnership between AppFog and Microsoft, announced June 6, means that the next version of AppFog will provide developers with the full power of Windows Azures PHP, Node.js and .NET support for both on-premise and public cloud technologies. AppFog has developed technology that enables developers to seamlessly migrate their applications between other cloud providers into the Azure platform with no code changes, eliminating the concern of vendor lock-in, the company said.
We are excited about AppFogs solution on Windows Azure and look forward to working with them. We think their solution will be great for developers, and will help enhance Windows Azures support for open source even further, said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the Windows Azure App Platform at Microsoft. Guthrie will deliver a keynote on June 7 at a Meet Windows Azure event in San Francisco.
Bringing together Microsoft, an industry driver and strong supporter of the developer community, with our thriving, up-and-coming cloud developer community bridges the gap between traditional and Web developers while offering more choices to all, said Lucas Carlson, founder and CEO of AppFog, in a statement. We are excited to give .NET, PHP and Node.js developers access to the intuitive, reliable and powerful Windows Azure platform and look forward to seeing the innovative products and solutions that will spring from this collaboration.
Indeed, Carlson told eWEEK he also is glad to see that Microsoft has realized how important it is to have a platform as a service and infrastructure as a service that embraces more than just .NET and to reach out further to the open-source communities. They have chosen AppFog to pull that off and bring more open-source software onto the Azure platform. We have tens of thousands of developers now using AppFog.
The joint efforts between the two companies will deliver the following customer benefits:
¢ interoperability of cloud service providers through collaborative development of two leaders in cloud technology;
¢ extended developer language and service support for AppFog and Windows Azure customers including support for Enterprise .NET, PHP and Node.js applications; and
¢ a new, simple and flexible approach for open-source developers to try Windows Azure.
AppFogs Azure compatibility is available to thousands of developers in private beta today and will be rolled into public beta within 180 days.
Carlson said Microsoft selected AppFog as its partner in this effort because our PaaS experience resonates strongly with developers and with the open-source community. And we picked Microsoft because Azures stack brings a lot of .NET and enterprise credibility.
Moreover, for his part, Carlson warns folks not to count Microsoft out in the cloud space. I think Microsoft has been thought of as an underdog in cloud with Azure, but what Microsoft is doing Im very bullish on. Theyve been an underdog and now they have the opportunity to reestablish what Azure is and broaden the appeal.
AppFog is the creator of platform as a service products AppFog and PHP Fog. With robust multilanguage and multi-infrastructure support, AppFog is a modern and agnostic PaaS, while PHP Fog is a leading PHP PaaS on the market.