IBM is working with Microsoft to provide their respective enterprise software on Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud. 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 enable customers to bring their own software licenses to the IBM and Microsoft clouds, helping them 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.