Windows Azure has a really nice feature that allows you to push deployments from a public Git repository on GitHub or Codeplex as well as push deployments from a local Git repository on your development PC. In the near future, Azure will support private Git repositories as well. You can easily use Git Publishing with Azure and an Orchard CMS Website with the addition of 1 file that needs to be added to your Orchard Website!
Awhile ago I wrote an Orchard Tutorial on installing Orchard CMS as an Azure Website. I showed how to create an Orchard Website using the Azure App Gallery and then import/export the publishing settings from Azure to WebMatrix and remotely connect to it. The process is really easy, but it takes 2 to 3 steps to complete. This process has been greatly simplified with new enhancements to both the Windows Azure Portal and WebMatrix 2!
Microsoft unveiled some really cool features for Windows Azure today, and one of them is the new Web Sites Feature allowing you to start small and create up to 10 free websites in a shared environment on Azure with the ability to painlessly scale each website to a reserved capacity later. In addition to creating websites from scratch, Azure has an option to install selected applications from its gallery. As it so happens, Orchard CMS is in the Azure App Gallery and can be installed in minutes, complete with full support for downloading modules and themes from the Orchard Gallery and easy management from WebMatrix. Here are the highlights for installing Orchard CMS on Windows Azure and setting up WebMatrix with Web Deploy.