Distributed ledger technology (DLT) firm R3 is moving to more deeply integrate its Corda platform with Microsoft's Azure cloud service.

With the expanded partnership, announced yesterday, the two companies plan to offer "effortless deployment" of Corda and its networks on Azure, easing the process of setting up Corda nodes and networks for enterprises, and thus limiting the time and costs involved in deployment, a press release states.

According to David Rutter, CEO of R3, the deeper integration simplifies the "development and deployment process," and facilitates the commercial deployment of R3's CorDapp applications.

Rutter continued:

With the move, Microsoft is allowing clients to focus on creating "real-world business solutions, applications and pilots," Peggy Johnson, executive vice president at Microsoft, said.

R3, a DLT consortium startup with over 100 enterprise members, first announced its partnership with Microsoft in April last year. The deal provides consortium members access to 45 cloud-based tools on its Azure platform, over and above Microsoft's blockchain-as-a-service offerings.

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