Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform sales soared as the tech giant’s total revenue hit a record US$41.7 billion for its most recent quarter, up 19 percent from a year ago. The No. 2 cloud provider reported Azure sales were up 50 percent year over year as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to force organizations into digital transformation mode. “We are building Azure to address organizations‘ needs in a multi-cloud, multi-edge world,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a Tuesday call with analysts. Microsoft’s commercial cloud — which includes Office 365 Commercial, Azure, LinkedIn’s commercial business, Dynamics 365 and other commercial cloud properties — generated US$17.7 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 33 percent year over year.