LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 

Microsoft clears the path for Azure


By David Worthington
Email    print   
March 4, 2009 —  (Page 1 of 3)
Microsoft is poised to deliver its Windows Azure Web services platform this year, the company has confirmed, and has begun conditioning its customers to understand the challenges and benefits of cloud computing.

"We are hardening the surface areas of the core Azure operating system and getting ready for commercial availability," said Steven Martin, senior director of developer platform product management at Microsoft.

Azure's platform technology will evolve more rapidly than Microsoft's traditional operating system release schedule, Martin said. It will be more like a Web construct than a series of Windows milestones, he explained. The Azure operating system is a modified version of Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft is also plugging away at Azure's building bock services, including Dynamics CRM, .NET services, SharePoint, SQL and Windows Live services. It has begun to cycle extra resources to SQL Data Services based on developer feedback, Martin said.

SQL Data Services, which analysts have compared with Amazon's SimpleDB, is being given a much broader focus than it had at its introduction and is being given more relational database functionality.

"There will be a significant expansion of what it looks like today," Martin noted. Details will be disclosed later this month at the company's MIX09 conference.

"Microsoft is making a good attempt at cloud computing, but it appears there is a lot left to deliver, so the jury is going to be out for a while," said Denis Pombriant, managing principal analyst of Beagle Research Group. He posited that Microsoft was rushing Azure to market to counter the growing success of Salesforce.com, not because it was totally ready.

Ahead of MIX09, Microsoft has begun pitching its customers with cloud computing scenarios. Martin cited an example where a company with applications that have high, short-term workloads could use capacity on demand to lower maintenance costs when those applications are not running.

While it is introducing cloud-based scenarios, the company offers little guidance through developer-focused reference applications. Martin said that Microsoft's Live Meeting Web conferencing service was using components of Azure services, and that more of Microsoft's Web-based offerings would use Azure as their infrastructure as time goes on.


Related Search Term(s): Azure, cloud computing, Microsoft, Windows

Pages 1 2 3 


Share this link: http://sdt.bz/33316
 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Branching and merging: the heart of version control
Providers hold their own views of the landscape, but the Git SCM system is drawing looks from them all
Not so fast when it comes to testing in the cloud
Developers face outsourcing, virtual lab management and mobile devices as obstacles
Microsoft pivots toward business intelligence
The goal is to make business intelligence accessible "to the masses"
From the Editors: Node.js is unruly, but that’s where the fun is
The time to get involved with Node.js is now; Hadoop is about to break its own barriers
Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter



Comments


11/24/2010 10:55:01 PM EST

This is one of the best blogs i've read in a long time.

United Statesugg classic cardy


Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
Loading




close
NEXT ARTICLE
Company ports COBOL to Windows Azure cloud
Micro Focus' Customer Information Control System was demonstrated at the Professional Developers Conference. It is capable of running COBOL applications in a cloud environment, and the company described how it was developed on the Azure platform Read More...
 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 

Download Current Issue
FEBRUARY 2012 PDF ISSUE

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Want to subscribe?


 
blogs tab
GitHire: Use Headhunters to Find Your Perfect Programmer
Are you a hiring manager tired of scouring the job boards? Check out this new service that will find 5 people interested in your jobs.
02/03/2012 12:17 PM EST

Facebook claims hacker cred
Facebook's SEC S-1 filing form includes a short essay on the Hacker Way by Mark Zuckerberg himself.
02/02/2012 08:26 AM EST

Ryan Dahl steps down
Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js, steps back from his position as gatekeeper for the project.
02/01/2012 04:58 PM EST

Bloomberg opens its API
Bloomberg's APIs could lead to a future standard for accessing market data.
02/01/2012 04:41 PM EST

The case for piracy
In the aftermath of SOPA and PIPA, some copyright holders have begun to embrace piracy as inevitable...and even beneficial.
01/30/2012 02:39 PM EST

Tablet sales boom, but applications lag
The installed base of tablet computers and e-book readers is growing rapidly, but no killer app has yet emerged -- hint, hint.
01/28/2012 05:48 PM EST

 
Events calendar tab
Cloud Connect
2/13/2012 to 2/16/2012
Santa Clara
TechWeb

SPTechCon: The SharePoint Technology Conf.
2/26/2012 to 2/29/2012
San Francisco
BZ Media

RSA Conf.
2/27/2012 to 3/2/2012
San Francisco
RSA

IBM Pulse Conf.
3/4/2012 to 3/7/2012
Las Vegas
IBM Tivoli

Game Developer Conf.
3/5/2012 to 3/9/2012
San Francisco
TechWeb