....
EDIT: Partnership is probably not the correct term. More like cross promotion, you are listed as a "Value Added Solutions Provider" (or something like it)
...I just don't see the benefits our community is going to have, especially if true decentralization is our main goal.
..
One of my customers has just signed up to move their users to Microsoft Office 365. About 30,000 people switching to the cloud. MS can do this sort of thing, switch on people by the millions onto their cloud offering. As Minerpage said, that's a lot of eyeballs looking at SPR, which is why Azure vet who goes on their platform as a recommended offering.
Does this mean we become centralized? Are you going to change the principle of one IP for every servicenode?
My best guess is that Azure will end up being too costly for servicenode operators. There are plenty of low cost cloud offerings out there that will be cheaper.