Picture credit: Nils Geylen/Flickr

Microsoft has announced a strategic partnership with Docker, an open platform for developers and administrators to build portable, run-anywhere apps, to bring support with the next version of Windows Server.

It’s no secret that Redmond is forcing through its cloud and mobile-oriented ethos, with the shift coming from the very top. This partnership bolsters Microsoft’s push in the open source and Linux space – a much needed change – as well as providing a variety of benefits to developers and cloud platform customers.

Docker Hub, a cloud service for sharing applications and automating workflows, will be integrated with Microsoft Azure, enabling Microsoft’s ISVs and cloud developers access to Docker’s community. Elsewhere Microsoft is contributing to Docker’s open orchestration APIs, meaning developers can work with a preconfigured Docker Engine in Azure for the first time.

“The power of Azure and Windows Server leveraging the Docker platform redefines what enterprises should expect and demand from their cloud,” said Ben Golub, Docker CEO. “Together, we will provide a framework for building multiplatform distributed applications that can be created with exceptional velocity and deployed and scaled globally.”

The overall consensus on the move from Microsoft was summed up by Cade Metz in Wired: “The next big thing in cloud computing doesn’t work with Microsoft’s Windows operating system. But Microsoft wants to change that.”

Other cloud vendors, such as Google, Amazon and Rackspace, are already using Docker on top of their public cloud services.