Dell has announced that it will be providing Microsoft with the hardware to run its newly-announced Azure cloud computing system.

The company said that it had secured a deal with the Redmond giant to build a series of customised rack units that will go to make the datacentres for Azure.

Dell's datacentre solutions division will be tasked with building the Azure servers. The company said that it plans to fashion the Azure systems from a highly-customised version of its rack-mounted datacentre services.

The company described the deal as a clear victory for its cloud server operation.

"Today’s announcement is another example of Dell’s innovative approach of working with customers to design and build an infrastructure fully optimised for their hyper-scale computing environments," said Forrest Norrod, general manager of Dell's datacentre solutions division.

Azure will be Microsoft's first official foray into the cloud computing field. The web platform will serve as a common link between all of Microsoft's existing web services and give developers a common platform for creating applications based on such tools as .Net, SharePoint and Dynamics CRM.

Upon unveiling Azure in Los Angeles on Monday, Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie said that Azure would be "setting the stage for the next 50 years of computing" .