Strange & Stranger – Google Joins the .NET Foundation TSG

Google, one of the largest technology pioneers globally is now part of the .NET foundation technical steering group. Google joins other technology giants like Microsoft, Samsung, Red Hat, Unity & Jetbrains to be a part of the technical steering group for the .NET foundation.

This announcement was made at the Microsoft Connect() 2016 event held at New York on 16th November 2016 and was one of the key aspects of the convention along with other .Net-centric announcements depicting the seriousness with which Google intends to continue its contribution to the .NET platform.

Chris Sells, Lead PM for Google Cloud Developer tools stated that Google was very happy to add .NET support on Google Cloud Platform to the list of frameworks supported. He further stated that this step will benefit enterprises aiming to move Windows or .NET workloads to the Cloud. He also added that enterprises that target .NET core will find the necessary tools to build apps suitable for the Google Cloud Platform.

Google and .NET – How it Evolved

The .Net foundation blog announcing this move mentions that Google has been one of the key contributors to .NET Foundation projects since the last couple of years, among the organizations outside of Microsoft.

With support for Windows servers, Google is allowing developers to deploy .NET applications on its cloud platform. Google has also offered .NET libraries for more than 200 Cloud services for the last several years. Google has also participated in the ECMA standardization process for C#.

Google Cloud Platform gives appropriate support to .NET workloads. Recently, Google had also announced support for Powershell and native integrations for Visual Studio IDE on Windows as part of its cloud platform. Consequently, a lot of technical experts feel that the announcement itself is not surprising considering the background, and the .NET foundation blog also states that Google will prove a natural fit into the Technical Steering group.

Google and Microsoft – Rivals Joining Hands?

An interesting aspect to observe is that both the companies are natural competitors & rivals for their product lines as well as services. In spite of competition over products and market share, both enterprises found a common area to develop win-win synergies for the betterment of the technology world, possibly burying their hatchet.

Google states on its cloud platform blog that in the enterprises of tomorrow, IT professionals & developers will work in an open, cross-platform environment that has the characteristic of technology choice. Google also emphasizes its commitment to nurturing an open platform as organizations continue to adopt different cloud models at an increasing rate.

The .NET Technical Steering Group

The .NET foundation technical steering group plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of .NET as a technology and platform. The steering group continues to work with the .NET Foundation to provide the best possible technical reviews & help co-ordinate across stakeholders and core .NET projects.

The technical steering group primarily participates in a major platform & architectural decisions, release schedule plans & roadmap changes. The group can also be consulted for C# / VB language proposals as well as new .NET foundation project submissions.

If developers were to believe that Microsoft traditionally governed the .NET platform only via a centrally, powerful core team, it is a common misconception. There is a core team that works on core libraries, platforms, compilers & frameworks, but that is not all. There are multiple teams spread globally that remain in touch via a different communication medium to retain consensus on the future of the platform.

It is always interesting to know how the technical steering group synergizes the acumen and commitment of the original participating companies and the new ones that join.

Industry Reactions To The Big News

While Google and Microsoft will likely remain, competitors, when it comes to the IT industry in general, this move is being viewed as a constructive one for developers considering the popularity of .NET framework and the expertise that Google is about to lend it.

After the statement by Chris Sells declaring Google’s intention to be part of the technical steering group, other experts at both organizations as well as externally have lauded the move.

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In a Nutshell

Effectively, both companies benefit from each other. Microsoft has also stated in its blog that adding Google to the technical steering group will boost innovation for the .NET platform. Google has recognized that Dot Net Development is proving to be a key component for modern enterprise technology.

Microsoft is displaying a willingness to embrace competitor platforms if developers remain happy, and more importantly, it meets the needs of their end customers. Satisfied customers will spend more time on Microsoft platforms and promote the usage even further, so industry experts feel that in the long run, this strategy will benefit Microsoft and its competitors in a positive way.