Businesses like PlentyofFish, ChannelAdvisor, and CFO Strategies will gain "customized engagement plans comprising access to premier support staff, software licenses and subscriptions, new technologies, and/or access to Microsoft Technology Centers for software testing and architecture guidance," according to a formal release.  In plainer English, they’re getting a non-financial hand up.

Cold cash might be more appreciated, especially considering Steve Ballmer’s (pre-recession) talk of an acquisition binge.  Still, help from a corporation with a $300 billion market cap is rarely a bad thing, whatever form it takes.

Microsoft is also getting something out of the arrangement, of course; all these promising young businesses will (if everything goes according to plan) become quite fond of it.  Microsoft doesn’t want the next _______ (Google, Facebook, or whatever else you like) to be some sort of Linux or Mac cheerleader.

We’ll see where this goes, then.  No timelines have been given in regards to further developments.