I should have posted this days ago, but it’s been so crazy with the holidays. Bryant over at AeroExperience has posted an excellent interview with Windows Azure lead Amitabh Srivastava.

How would you define “cloud computing?”

Amitabh: Microsoft believes the cloud is fundamentally about enabling the developer eco-system to reduce complexity of delivering software. Today, as an industry, we have made some strides, but most of that innovation has come around removing the complexity of installing, maintaining and optimizing hardware. We think that there is a huge opportunity to move beyond hardware, and remove the complexity of the application platform itself; letting customers focus on their applications and end user experiences.

What kind of customers are you targeting with the release of Windows Azure?

Amitabh: Windows Azure was designed with developers in mind. This is about enabling developers within ISVs, System Integrators and businesses to quickly and easily create, deploy, manage, and distribute web applications and services.

What was Windows “Strata?”

Amitabh: Microsoft often uses code names for products during their early developmental phases. Strata was the code name for “Azure”

There’s a lot more at the source interview, of course. Check it out.