Microsoft post new product at blog, called "Ethereum on Azure" which is based on proof-of-authority (PoA) consensus, it's a “more efficient” way of building decentralized applications (DApps) for private or consortium networks. The user can deploy and configure an Ethereum blockchain network in minutes.
Earlier in June, the R3 blockchain consortium announced that the firm — together with 39 global financial companies — had successfully tested its know your customer (KYC) application, running a total of 45 nodes on Microsoft Azure.