Today, Windows Azure (and SQL Azure), Microsoft's cloud computing platform, became available in 21 countries. Of note, Microsoft focused its product announcement and outreach on interoperability. There are a few key points, but what seems especially important is that any innovation and business opportunities built on Azure absolutely depend on interoperability -- interoperability with other applications, platforms, development frameworks, and other clouds.

The second point of note is that achieving interoperability takes concerted effort: collaboration with other IT vendors, development of multiple SDKs, wide standard and protocol support.

To learn more about what is really a pretty great Microsoft story, check out the feature article, "Microsoft Brings Cloud Interoperability Down to Earth," which has been getting a lot of attention today on the Twittersphere. (And you can follow VFI on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vfiorg.)