By Tim Ferguson, 2 June 2009 16:39
What's Microsoft's thinking behind this?
Well, it's all about the cloud computing craze that's gaining a lot of interest in the tech industry at the moment. With Google and Amazon, among others, really working to popularise hosted computing power and applications, Microsoft is looking to get itself a piece of the action.
So is this all about a tech dinosaur getting down with the IT kids?
I suppose you could say that. Microsoft is renowned for coming to internet services late but recently it's been punting out a number of hosted products aside from Azure.
One example of Microsoft's cloud push is Business Productivity Online Suite which features an online version of Exchange and SharePoint, with Dynamics CRM technology also set to be offered through BPOS in the coming months.
Dynamics, however, will also figure in Azure Services Platform. So what's the difference between how Dynamics will work with BPOS and ASP?
According to Microsoft, ASP services are more for developers, focusing on putting functionality into applications - developers can add Live Messenger or Dynamics features into an online application for example. In contrast, Business Productivity Online Suite applications are basically hosted versions of Microsoft software which are used more or less in the same way as if they were located in the office.
It'll be interesting to see if these services remain distinct or whether they eventually merge under the Azure banner. One would imagine Microsoft is exploring the options before really committing to one approach or the other.
Does all of this mean Microsoft could move completely away from on-premises software?
In the short term, that would be a big no. Despite what the likes of Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff are saying, it's pretty unlikely in the foreseeable future. Microsoft's revenue relies far too heavily on sales of on-premises software to even consider scrapping the concept.
While the company is starting to offer more cloud-based technology, it doesn't feel that customers are ready to put all of their data and applications into the cloud basket. One Microsoft exec recently told silicon.com that the idea of everything being offered in the cloud is "folly" with a mixture of on-premises and online applications likely to be the norm in the future.
It might also be the case that Microsoft's desktop operating system is offered as a cloud-based product but this depends heavily on how the uptake of cloud computing develops.
Windows users have received updates via the web for some time and it wouldn't be a surprise if major OS upgrades were soon something that could be acquired via the internet. Although the next iteration of the Microsoft OS, Windows 7, is unlikely to see a shift to this model, it could well be that its successor could provide that option - and be much more closely linked to Azure as a result.
So what's the situation with Windows Azure now?
Speaking to silicon.com recently, head of software and services at Microsoft International, Steve Clayton, said: "There are a lot of people out there testing it and playing with it, there are a few people building applications on it. It's sort of in pre-beta phase at the moment and we'll hear more about it this year."
Microsoft says Azure is officially available as a "community technology preview" but is likely to be commercially available be the end of 2009.
Can't wait!
Neither can Microsoft...
Comments
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1. John Hampshire
Still the major hurdles: when the IP goes down, so does your business; and the inability to guarantee ironclad security.