Windows Azure success could determine Microsoft's cloud future

  In February 2010, well before Steve Ballmer declared Microsoft to be a devices and services company, the commercial version of Windows Azure made its debut. The newly minted cloud platform was tucked tightly into Windows Server, which owned, and still does, a commanding share of the server operating systems market.Whatever the strengths or weaknesses of Azure turned out to be, surely integration with Windows Server would guarantee it some measure of success.But nearly four years later, in a time when Windows operating systems have lost some of their mojo, and where Microsoft faces multi-billion dollar, cloud-focused competitors such as Amazon and Google neither of which aspires to own a server operating system  the pressure of...

Oracle VM Previews Now Available on Windows Azure

Microsoft and Oracle have released previews of virtual machine (VM) images that enable Oracle workloads to run on Windows Azure.The two companies announced their partnership on Azure in late June, but the VM images apparently weren't available at that time. The preview images, which come prebuilt and which include the Oracle licensing, were either released on September 24 or yesterday, according to Microsoft's blog announcements. Using the previews isn't exactly free as there are Windows Azure compute and storage costs incurred, but there are no Oracle licensing charges to use the images during the preview period, according to Microsoft. It's not clear how long they will stay at the preview stage, however.To run the images, users need to...

Windows Azure Gains Federal Security Approval

  Microsoft has secured what could be a major coup for its Windows Azure cloud platform and possible governmental use in the United States.Susie Adams, chief technology officer for Microsoft Federal, announced on The Official Microsoft Blog that her company was notified that “Windows Azure was granted the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board (JAB) Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO).” That earns Azure the distinction of being “the first public cloud platform, with infrastructure services and platform services, to receive a JAB P-ATO,” she noted.The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a security assessment, authorisation and monitoring program that governs the implementation of federal cloud services. The...

Microsoft achieves FedRAMP JAB P-ATO for Windows Azure

  Windows Azure is the first public cloud platform, with infrastructure services and platform services, to receive a Provisional Authority to Operate from the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board. Microsoft Corp. announced Monday that its public cloud platform, Windows Azure, has been granted Provisional Authorities to Operate (P-ATO) from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Joint Authorization Board (JAB). Windows Azure is an open and flexible cloud platform that enables customers to quickly build, deploy and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.  Windows Azure is the first public cloud platform, with infrastructure services and platform services, to receive a JAB...

Microsoft continues cloud ERP push with Dynamics NAV update

Multitenancy and closer alignment with Office are among the new features on tap.Microsoft is preparing to roll out a new version of its Dynamics NAV ERP (enterprise resource planning) software that includes a key feature for cloud-based deployments as well as tighter integration with Office.NAV 2013 R2 is set for release in October and will feature support for multitenancy, an architectural principle common to cloud software wherein customers share a single application instance with their respective data kept separate.This helps vendors run their operations at greater scale with less overhead, such as by applying patches and upgrades to all customers at the same time.Dynamics has historically been sold through partners, who specialize in...

Halo 4 streamed to Windows Azure in Phone for cloud technology

  While Microsoft has touted its Azure-based cloud computing to help power Xbox One games, Sony plans to launch its Gaikai-powered cloud gaming service in 2014 that will stream Playstation 3 games to the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. It appears that Microsoft is working on game streaming as well though and showed off Halo 4 being streamed to a Windows Phone during a company meeting Thursday.The report comes from Twitter posts made by Winsupersite.com blogger and insider Paul Thurrott and With inWindows blogger Rafael Rivera who says he was at the meeting.Thurrott was first to tweet the news when he wrote, "Microsoft apparently showed Halo4 running on Windows Phone at its annual company meeting. Not clear if this is something "happening" or demo."Both...

Microsoft plans changes to Office 365 targeted at SharePoint Online users

  To prevent SharePoint Online customers from feeling boxed in, Microsoft wants to improve the way they upload and store documents in the cloud collaboration server.Over the coming weeks, Microsoft will roll out a set of changes to Office 365 targeted at SharePoint Online users, including increasing from 250MB to 2GB the size of files that people can upload to their individual SkyDrive Pro repositories and to SharePoint Online team site document libraries, the company said on Thursday in a blog post.The enhancements are in response to companies' increased use of Office 365, according to the blog post's author, Mark Kashman. "Users are uploading more documents to SkyDrive Pro, teams are building numerous team sites to work with internal...

Google Microsoft in 2-Horse Race for Government Cloud Contracts

 As tech behemoths Google and Microsoft try to win over public-sector CIOs with their cloud-based productivity suites, government agencies eye cost savings and an increase in productivity and collaboration.When Flint Waters began work as Wyoming's CIO in April 2011, the IT apparatus that he inherited was in bad shape.  Agencies throughout the state government were running their own email systems, underused servers had piled up in Cheyenne and around satellite offices, and rigid rules for accessing the VPN limited the options for mobile workers, nearly all of whom carried BlackBerries."We had siloed IT at each of the agencies. Most of the agencies ran their own Active Directories, their own email systems," Waters recalls. "There...

Microsoft behind in infrastructure space, admits cloud computing

  Microsoft has lagged behind in the cloud infrastructure space, the company's CTO of cloud and enterprise, Dave Campbell, has admitted to Computing.Speaking to Computing at GigaOEM's Structure Europe in London this week, Campbell, when asked if he felt Microsoft had fallen behind in the cloud space, replied: "I would say that in the infrastructure space - yes. We started platform as service before the world knew what it is, but... I sometimes use the analogy of ski slalom races: some are set up where if you miss a gate, you lose a few seconds. The question is, if you miss a gate, do you want to go back up the hill to try to get it, or just go onto the next gate.However, Campbell said Microsoft is now starting to "have conversations...

Xbox One: Microsoft to prove right about the Cloud

  As an owner of all the current-gen consoles, it was the Xbox One which caught my attention for its heaps of Cloud-based promises.PlayStation fans have rightly gloated about the raw power of their chosen system – but both will offer comparative 1080p/60fps gameplay; so gamers need to look at all the added benefits they’re getting.Microsoft’s Xbox One just won the “Next-gen gaming tech of the year” ShortList award. When you take a step-back; it’s only the Xbox which offers the unique features – Kinect 2.0, “Snap" apps whilst gaming or watching TV consecutively, instant switching, haptic feedback...Yet it’s Sony which is looking likely to be the initial winner in terms of sales this generation; with a recent Reuters survey showing 26 percent...

Microsoft announces free cloud computing for non-profits

  Microsoft has announced the global availability of its new Office 365 for non-profits programme.The new scheme will allow qualifying charities, foundations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to access a free version of the cloud computing software.Officials at Microsoft say that the programme will be available in 41 countries starting immediately and will be made ready for a further 49 nations by July in 2014. This will help eligible bodies to more effectively manage their data and documents across global networks.Qualifying foundations will be glad to hear this announcement from the Seattle-based tech giant as non-centralised storage was previously an expensive administrative difficulty for charities that prevented...

Microsoft boosts Windows Azure security with multi-factor authentication

  Microsoft has added an additional layer of security, called multi-factor authentication, to its Windows Azure public cloud platform to provide increased access security and convenience for IT and users while accessing cloud applications.The new security tool provides Microsoft cloud users with secure access to on-premises and cloud applications from anywhere in the world. In addition to a user name and password, Windows Azure users will be able to authenticate via a mobile phone app, an automated voice call or a text message with a passcode, said Steven Martin, general manager of Windows Azure at Microsoft.“Identity and access management is an anchor for security and top of mind for enterprise IT departments. It is key to extending...

Microsoft Could Enable Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Using Cloud Tech

  Those prospect Xbox One owners, who would like to have an opportunity to play Xbox 360 games like Gears of War or Halo in the future will have to keep their existing X360 consoles. But, maybe, not for long.In the upcoming clash between Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 the latter will have one distinct advantage: it will be compatible with previous-generation games thanks to Gaikai cloud game streaming service.  On the other hand, Microsoft also have exceptionally capable cloud-based service in place for Xbox One, which will be initially used for other purposes. Nonetheless, over time, it might get additional capabilities and one of them could be backwards compatibility.Cloud computing is widely used for...

Cloud, Mobile to Drive Growth for Microsoft

  Microsoft Corp. has been criticized for being late to the game on many fronts. As Microsoft tries to remain a relevant player in markets they historically have ignored, questions abound as to how the company planned to overcome its competitors. Executives answered, in their first financial analysts meeting in two years, with much optimism but without much detail.“Google happens to say let’s not have any profit be in the device. Let’s move it all into search. We and Apple kind of have a different view of the world,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at the Sept. 19 meeting. “Amazon, I don’t know where they want to put market profit, they don’t seem to put the profit anywhere. And that’s not a shot, it’s just I can’t tell you what profit...

IT Skills Slowing Enterprise Shift to Cloud Computing

   Simon Crosby, co-founder and CTO of Bromium, a cloud security company, and a panelist at this week’s Washington Technology Industry Association TechNW: North to Innovation event on cloud computing and big data.Crosby, who previously co-founded XenSource, maker of the Xen open-source hypervisor used by services including the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, says public clouds are ready for enterprise IT use. But the people working in enterprise IT organizations came up in the world racking and stacking on-premises servers, and installing and managing Windows—”skills we don’t need anymore,” he says.You sell to people’s existing fear set, he says, so regardless of how cool your technology is, if the person making the purchasing decision...

Staffordshire County Council picks ANS cloud

  Staffordshire County Council has implemented private cloud computing services as it aims to offer more public services online.Staffordshire County Council chose Manchester-based cloud supplier ANS Group to design and implement its IT infrastructure to support the web services. Staffordshire Council’s ageing infrastructure was not fit to support its growing requirement for a faster and more reliable IT environment.The private cloud platform was implemented in its datacentre infrastructure.“The council was running on dated infrastructure that was no longer fulfilling the organisation's IT demands for agility and ‘always on’ services,” said Vic Falcus, head of IT service management at Staffordshire County Council.The local authority needed...

Microsoft Lowers Price of Azure Service

  Microsoft has announced that in October the price for the lowest level of its Azure service will reduce by twenty percent, allowing customers to have greater flexibility in assigning storage.With lower prices small developers can test and create their applications on Microsoft Azure, while existing users can explore capacity options with affordable prices.This move is hoped to increase the number of developers using Microsoft’s service so that more customers can use Azure with its entry-level cloud computing platform. Microsoft aims to grab a larger share in the market by this move.“Beginning in October, the price for the lowest level of Microsoft’s Azure service will fall 20% and clients will have more flexibility to allocate usage...

AT&T teams up with Microsoft to deliver enterprise cloud solution in 2014

  Microsoft and AT&T have announced that they will be working together to deliver a more secure and reliable cloud solution to enterprise customers. The new solution will connect clients to a Windows Azure based cloud platform through virtual private networking, to deliver a new level of security to businesses around the world.In addition to enterprise-grade security, Microsoft claims that customers will be able to access the cloud platform with “as much as 50 percent lower latency than the public internet”.While many of us at home feel secure enough using SkyDrive, Dropbox, or one of the many other cloud services available today, enterprises and corporations with large amounts of confidential data are looking elsewhere.Microsoft...

Microsoft’s big opportunity in cloud computing

The recent announcements of Steve Ballmer stepping aside, a corporate reshuffling and the acquisition of Nokia—all within two months’ time—can be seen in a couple of ways. A popular view is that Microsoft is adrift in a stormy sea, unable to gain in the tablet and mobile spaces with an aging leadership that is too institutionally invested.Another view, of course, is that this is an opportunity to transparently remake itself, with new leadership ready to move the company in new directions.Let’s break it down one point at a time.Ballmer. When he took the reins as CEO in January 2000 from company founder and inspirational leader Bill Gates, Microsoft was fighting it out with IBM for the heavyweight title of largest technology company in the...