Partners Contemplate Microsoft's GitHub Buy

Microsoft's $7.5 billion deal to buy leading open source code repository GitHub will reverberate through the software giant's channel, creating new opportunities for partners to sell Azure Cloud services and drive greater engagement with their largest customers.

Partners have closely watched Microsoft's flirtations with GitHub in recent years. After many starts and stops in negotiations, the deal is finally done, and now partners can start to contemplate the many ways the global platform developers rely on to share code and mutually contribute to projects will impact their practices.

GitHub's enterprise potential is extremely significant, partners say. But they're also excited about the credibility the San Francisco-based startup will give Microsoft with developers and open software communities, and, with that, the mindshare Microsoft will gain with the up-and-coming generation of technology influencers.

Pictured: Github CEO and co-founder Chris Wanstrath, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft corporate vice president, Developer Services Nat Friedman,