According to the Cloud Computing Journal, Microsoft has just unveiled a new 700,000 square foot cloud data center in a warehouse in the Suburbs of Chicago.

Microsoft is predicting that facilities like this $550 million dollar warehouse are the future of computing.

The new facility, which opened September 1st is one of a series of cloud data centers that Microsoft is building around the world, the others are in Dublin and Texas.

The cloud center in Chicago is a generic looking building that houses thousands of servers that will provide extensive processing power and huge storage capacities.

Cloud computing centers are strategically placed digital hubs that will allow alleviate customers from having to manage their own systems and lower their costs by taking advantage of huge economies of scale.

Microsoft is not alone in their vision of the future, according to Greg Burns of the Chicago Tribune “The competiton is hot from arch-rival Google, Inc. And nearly every tech giant from IBM Corp to Yahoo, Inc. has a cloud strategy in mind.”

This is a major strategy change for Microsoft who currently control have the dominate market share of operating systems with Windows and office tools with Office.

Micosoft’s cloud-computing platform, called Azure, could dramatically cut computing costs creating a system of screens connecting to the digital hubs that store applications, processing power, and storage capacities.

This new era of computing will eventually diminish the need for local installations of Microsoft’s traditional cash cows, Windows and Office.

The new facility in Chicago is the realization of Microsoft’s vision for the future of computing.

The unassuming building, located along the Tri-State Tollway in Northlake, is in Chicago because of the areas large collection of fiber-optic telecommunication lines and immediate availability of 30 megawatts of power and plenty room for expansion.