By Stephen Nellis

(Reuters). Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ) announced Tuesday a new set of technologies to make its cloud computing services available in other data centers. This includes the data centers owned by its competitors.

Microsoft executives and analysts claim that this strategy has helped the company rise in the market for cloud computing infrastructure. Research firm IHS Global Markets says the same. Gartner Microsoft’s market share is now second to Amazon.com (NASDAQ) at Amazon Web Services (USD: $64.3 Billion). Microsoft reported last week that Azure, the company’s flagship cloud product, saw 48% growth, which helped it surpass Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:).

Microsoft’s strategy involved building the most popular cloud software services like database tools so they could run in its own data centers. These can be owned by customers, or those belonging to rivals such as Amazon.

Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s chief of cloud and artificial Intelligence told Reuters the decision has convinced some customers to use it even though they can’t always access Microsoft’s data centres. Guthrie stated that Royal Bank of Canada must keep some of their computing work within its data centers. To connect these facilities to Microsoft’s cloud, it uses Azure Arc technology.

“Historically, the challenge of higher-level services was the fear of ‘locking in’. What happens if you can’t use them within your data centre? Guthrie said. Guthrie stated, “This freedom of movement makes customers feel more at ease using these services.”

Gartner vice president Ed Anderson is a distinguished analyst and said this approach opened doors for Microsoft, but also forced the company to be more competitive on the quality of its services than by putting them in a box with low computing power.

Anderson stated, “That’s an honest way to be competitive.” Customers are skeptical of any rhetoric. Customers look for proof of capability and may be cautious about things that are multi-cloud in technology, but not supported by software licensing.