Microsoft and the cloud -- will it be enough?
Microsoft is definitely jumping into the cloud -- big time. Over the last little while, they introduced a number of initiatives which see the cloud as the main (buzz?) keyword for their business.
Their main step into the cloud seems to be with Azure. Understanding what Azure is can be a little challenging.
It's still the early days, but in their own words:
Windows Azure is a service that allows developers to run applications and store data on servers owned and operated by Microsoft. These cloud applications can be targeted at businesses, consumers or both.
You should be able to have available a "virtual" (cloud-based) Microsoft Windows installation (along with IIS, SQL Server, storage, and so on) and only pay what you actually use. Joannes Vermorel's blog has a nice list of updates and wish list for Microsoft's Azure. The platform is definitely getting there.
Microsoft is also aware that people want to run their own private clouds. This DOC document. The document is rich with Microsoft's own lingo about virtualisation and cloud computing. However, their "Hyper-V Cloud" initiative is clearly a rather strong attempt to spread the word about the possibility of having reliable, scalable and private clouds running on Microsoft.
Finally, they recently released Microsoft Atlanta, which is a service where customers can monitor their SQL servers. It works as a two-tier piece of software: you install an Atlanta agent on your server, which acts as a collector of information which is then sent back to Microsoft's monitoring service. The good side is that it's like having a Microsoft SQL specialist in your server. However, it needs to be seen 1) How good this specialist is, especially since Atlanta has just been released 2) How well Microsoft respects your data's privacy (their record is not exactly the cleanest in the industry). Finally, I have to wonder: is this really cloud?
So, Microsoft is approaching the computing world from all angles. They are telling their customers that if they want to have a remote deployment of Microsoft technologies, they can use Azure. At the same time, if they want to run their own private clouds, they can use Microsoft's Hyper-V Cloud solutions. They are also active in the more classical world of web services, with Microsoft Atlanta.
Microsoft is definitely working hard here. Unlike Windows and Office, where they have an effective monopoly and are allowed some incredibly amount of slack and still stay on top, on the cloud they face fierce competition -- plus, they are latecomers as far as the cloud is concerned. They definitely have the resources to get there, but it's a matter of "when" -- and whether that "when" translates into "early enough to gain substantial market share".
