microsoftlogo1-1024x680IBM and Microsoft have teamed up in a move that will put some of the largest players in the cloud market in business together. With the announcement this morning, the companies will work together to build out new features for hybrid cloud systems.

To do so, IBM is bringing middleware including WebSphere Liberty, MQ and DB2 to Microsoft’s Azure suite, while Microsoft will be bringing its SQL Server product to IBM Cloud. Users will be able to transfer software licenses between the two companies’ products, so bringing them together in a hybrid cloud configuration will be less costly than other solutions.

ibm-1In addition, the two companies are working together to develop a .NET runtime for Bluemix, IBM’s open-source cloud platform-as-a-service solution. That’s a big deal for .NET developers, who could begin writing code using C# for customers on IBM’s cloud platform.

It’s another key partnership for Microsoft, which has been working to bolster its cloud strategy by collaborating with other big players in the market. Earlier this year, the company announced that it is working with Salesforce to combine the two companies’ capabilities.

The news comes just a couple days after the company announced a new Azure Marketplace that will allow third parties to offer Azure users an easy way to set up and run their applications in the cloud.

IBM is no stranger to the high-profile corporate team-up, either: the company recently joined forces with Apple to provide better enterprise support for the Cupertino-based company’s products, especially the iPhone and iPad.

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