If you’ve talked to anyone from Microsoft recently you had to have heard the phrase “all in.” It’s been made very clear. Microsoft is all in on the cloud. What’s that mean? My understanding of it means they are really, seriously committed to building a viable and large presence there. Part of that presence is SQL Azure.

Say the word “cloud” and watch DBAs flinch, wince or moan, sometimes all three at once. I have been one of them. I looked at the list of restrictions on a cloud database, snickered, and moved on. But you know what? They’re wrong and I was too. The cloud is absolutely coming. Microsoft is not alone in believing this. Look at the offerings from Google and Amazon and others. It really is becoming a part of the landscape, no arguments.

So here’s the question. What are you doing to learn it? How are you diving into Azure? How much of that precious learning and testing time that you carve out for yourself (and if you don’t, you should, no one is going to just give it to you) are you committing to the cloud? Unless you’re one of a few people I know, I’d be willing to bet you, it’s not enough. You need to do more. So do I.

This is my announcement. You’re going to start seeing Azure stuff here. No, I’m not going “all in” on the cloud. You’ll still see stuff on exec plans, performance tuning, backups, community, monitoring, whatever it is I blog about usually. I am going to learn SQL Azure though. I am going to have it as a properly sharpened, oiled and well-maintained tool in my toolbox. Why? That one is easy. Because Microsoft is “all in.” Pick any name you want to call me, and I won’t argue with you, but the fact is, I’ve basically made a living off Microsoft for more than 20 years and I figure I’ll continue as long as there’s a living to be made. I’ve already made the point that I am absolutely not that person that has a single year of experience repeated 20-50 times. Are you?

Want to get started? Buck Woody (blog|twitter) has put together a pretty useful set of links that can get you going with minimal pain. After that, it’s up to you. Watch this space and my other blog (the glorious company I work for is also pursuing business in SQL Azure) for more posts on this topic.