Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers.Year Founded: 1975Revenue: $93.6 billion (2014)NASDAQ: MSFT

Microsoft Azure is a Cloud Computing platform and infrastructure created by Microsoft for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers. It provides both PaaS and IaaS services and supports many different programming languages, tools and frameworks, including both Microsoft-specific and third-party software and systems. Azure was announced in October 2008 and released on 1 February 2010 as Windows Azure, before being renamed to Microsoft Azure on 25 March 2014.

Accenture is a leading professional service company, providing consulting and outsourcing services through their strategy, digital, technology and operations capabilities.

Avanade was born into this pioneering time. Created in April 2000 by two industry giants – Accenture and Microsoft – Avanade had one goal: deliver innovative services and solutions to enterprises worldwide using the Microsoft platform.