Windows Live Skydrive, your “USB” stick in the cloud has been upgraded yesterday from 5 GB storage to 25 GB
December 03, 2008
Microsoft Generation 4 Datacenter Vision
As part of the overall Online Strategy, Microsoft is expanding its global datacenter facilities globally.
Building large datacenters is not only path Microsoft is taking. Modular datacenter also form an important part of the strategy. Check out this video to get an idea of the concept :
If you are in any way interested in Microsoft’s strategy with regards to datacenters, please check out the weblog of Michael Manos.
Michael is General Manager for Global Foundation Services, basicly the entity repsponsible for the strategy, implementation eand operations of Microsoft’s Global Datacenter Infrastructure.
Michael wrote a blogpost (or better article) on the Modular datacenter strategy That’s very interesting :
Data Centers are a hot topic these days. No matter where you look, this once obscure aspect of infrastructure is getting a lot of attention. For years, there have been cost pressures on IT operations and this, when the need for modern capacity is greater than ever, has thrust data centers into the spotlight. Server and rack density continues to rise, placing DC professionals and businesses in tighter and tougher situations while they struggle to manage their IT environments. And now hyper-scale cloud infrastructure is taking traditional technologies to limits never explored before and focusing the imagination of the IT industry on new possibilities.
At Microsoft, we have focused a lot of thought and research around how to best operate and maintain our global infrastructure and we want to share those learnings. While obviously there are some aspects that we keep to ourselves, we have shared how we operate facilities daily, our technologies and methodologies, and, most importantly, how we monitor and manage our facilities. Whether it’s speaking at industry events, inviting customers to our “Microsoft data center conferences” held in our data centers, or through other media like blogging and white papers, we believe sharing best practices is paramount and will drive the industry forward. So in that vein, we have some interesting news to share.
Read on : Michael Manos’ blog
And if you still haven’t had enough, check out this interview with Michael on TechEd Online : Datacenter Leadership
December 01, 2008
Common Craft Client Video: Windows Live.com
I’m a big CommonCraft fan. Very glad to see they’ve created a video for Microsft on Windows Live .. how cool things come together …
Common Craft was hired by Microsoft to help explain the new Windows Live.com. We were so excited to work with a local organization on a project that highlights a new direction for the company.
Source: Client Video: Windows Live.com
Ferris Research : Summary of Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint Online
Ferris Research gives a comprehensive summary of Microsoft’s recent release of Online Services …
…On November 17, 2008, Microsoft launched cloud-based (Software as a Service) versions of Exchange and SharePoint — Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online. …
…
- Microsoft has put a lot of effort into designing a system that is easy to subscribe to and easy to support. At first sight, the design seems first class.
- Microsoft is encouraging third-party system integrators to participate in support, either by providing mainstream IT applications support, or by building services on top of Microsoft’s cloud-based offerings.
- A lot of work has gone into allowing the coexistence of hosted Exchange and on-premises Exchange, primarily through AD federation.
- Microsoft envisages the common development of applications that span on-premises and cloud-based systems. This is an interesting idea that merits further contemplation.
Additional observations will follow over the short term. …
… David Ferris and Nick Shelness
Source and full article on: Summary of Microso…ft Exchange and SharePoint Online
November 30, 2008
Energizer says Microsoft's a great host
Energizer is one of Microsoft’s first clients of desktop services; Microsoft Managed Services which was the precursor of Online Services … this has brought Microsoft reat insight as to what’s needed to provide these services and it has also brought Energizer some great benefits …
One might think that as a CIO, it would be tough to have someone else running all of your desktops and many of your servers.
Not so, says Randy Benz, CIO of Energizer. For more than three years, Energizer has handed off much of those duties to Microsoft. And he'd be fine with Microsoft running just about everything, save perhaps for the company's iconic battery-powered bunny.
"If I never run another server in there for the rest of my life, I'm as happy as can be," Benz said over lunch last week following the launch of Microsoft Online, essentially the company's effort to turn the Energizer experiment into a business.
Initially, Microsoft is offering to host only a few of its server products--Exchange and SharePoint, although over time businesses will gain the option to run most of Microsoft server products as a service running from inside the software maker's data centers.
So, one might reasonably ask what Benz and his team are doing if they aren't running all the servers and managing desktops?
For one thing, his group now offers a much broader range of computer training for Energizer workers. Beyond just teaching how to use specific products, Benz said Energizer now has classes for different types of workers focused on their particular role. One recent creation is a specific program just for road warriors.
"It cuts across products," Benz said.
Read on : cNet.com
Ray Ozzie featured in Wired Magazine
… The keynote speaker at this past summer's TechReady conference—a gathering of 6,000 or so Microsoft engineers from around the world—was the company's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie. This was not a routine appearance. Ozzie arrived at Microsoft in 2005, and the following year he inherited the title of CSA directly from Bill Gates. He was now the microprocessor of the Microsoft machine. But he had never addressed the semiannual conclave. His explanation? He wanted to wait until he had something big to show the troops. …
November 23, 2008
Forrester: There Are Two Types Of Compute Clouds
So now you know it … according to Forrester there are 2 types of Compute Clouds. I would say Cloud Type 1 is plain old Server / Business App hosting ..
Cloud computing is a confusing topic for vendor strategists. One reason? Most of us confuse two fundamentally different types of compute clouds as one. Server clouds support the needs of traditional business apps while scale-out clouds are designed for massive, many-machine workloads such as Web sites or grid compute applications. Scale-out clouds differ from server clouds in five key ways: 1) much larger workloads; 2) loosely coupled software architecture; 3) fault tolerance in software, not hardware; 4) simple state management; and 5) server virtualization is for provisioning flexibility — not machine sharing. Strategists must update their server virtualization plans to embrace the evolution to server cloud, while developing a separate strategy to compete in the arena for scale-out clouds.
November 22, 2008
Microsoft to Google: Get Off of My Cloud
Business Week features a great article on Microsoft’s commitment to Software + Services, including some juicy details on the Datacenter infrastructure. So in case you thought Microsoft just got started, we are well underway ..
… The world's top software maker plans to build about 20 state-of-the-art data centers as it tries to outpace cloud computing rival Google, BusinessWeek has learned
Corporate America is increasingly leaving computing to the experts. Why go to the trouble and expense of building and managing complex systems to handle your spiraling data-crunching needs when another company can do it for you? And who better, faster, or cheaper than Google (GOOG)?
That's just the kind of conventional wisdom Debra Chrapaty wants to change. As Microsoft's (MSFT) vice-president for Global Foundation Services, Chrapaty wants to prove that her company is no less capable of running the sprawling data centers to offer software doled out via the Internet. The company is especially keen to handle the ubiquitous Microsoft software that consumers and corporations have been running for themselves for the past few decades. "Google has done a great job of hyping" its prowess, Chrapaty says. "But we're neck and neck with them."
And if Microsoft isn't there yet, it may be soon. Chrapaty, who's in charge of Microsoft's data centers, is stepping up a multibillion-dollar building binge, BusinessWeek has learned. Her group is embarking on a plan to build in the coming years some 20 supersize data centers that can cost as much as $1 billion apiece, according to a person familiar with Microsoft's plans. "We're going to reinvent the infrastructure of our industry," Chrapaty says. She declines to discuss specifics of the plan. …
Read on : BusinessWeek.com
Will Microsoft Online Services Cannibalize On-Premises Exchange, SharePoint?
Related to Microsoft launch of Online Services last Monday, eWeek published an article disussing the focus Microsoft has with the Online offering vs the current on-premise installed base. The message : competition and new ground and software + Services …
… Microsoft executive Chris Capossela denies that Microsoft Online Services such as Exchange Online and SharePoint Online will eat into the market share of Microsoft's traditional on-premises messaging and collaboration software suites. If this is true, it's good news for Microsoft as it moves deeper into cloud computing and SAAS to take on Google in Web services. …
The Analysts seem to be in agremeent on Microsoft’s focus:
… eWEEK asked analysts who follow the space closely whether Microsoft would eat up some of its own Exchange and SharePoint CAL and SA share.
Josh Greenbaum of Enterprise Applications Consulting said Capossela may have not mentioned Google because he knows Google is already taking share from Microsoft's classic on-premises business. He applauded Microsoft's Online Services move:
In a certain sense, this is a smart strategy for Microsoft to recapture some potential lost revenue and keep it in-house. It has the potential to be less remunerative in the short run but it's better than losing seats to the competition.
Sara Radicati, of the Radicati Group, had a different take. She noted that while Google Apps' pricing is attractive, there is a segment of the customer base looking for the same Exchange and SharePoint functionality they have today but at a lower cost of operation.
At $2 to $15 per user, per month for Exchange and/or SharePoint, Radicati said she believes Microsoft's Online Services are attractive. She added:
I don't think Microsoft is so much "cannibalizing" sales of its own on-premises software, rather I think the hosted option is essential for them to hold on to SMB [small and midsize business] customers that would be migrating to a hosted (or non-hosted) lower-cost option anyway. Basically these are customers they would have lost anyway from their on-premises software offerings, so this way they have a way of retaining them. ….
Software + Services is the focus. Where the early ‘incumbants’ of SaaS still want to make us all belive the browser and the cloud are the holy grail:
.. Finally, Capossela clung to what has been Microsoft's mantra the last few years: software plus services. More choice, he said, is the winning proposition.
Everyone knows the future lies in leveraging best of cloud and on-premises software. The vast majority of customers will live in a hybrid world, where they will mix and match, software plus services. What we have is very different from Google or anybody else in the market.
Take that, Google.
Source: Will Microsoft Online Services Cannibalize On-Premises Exchange, SharePoint?
Zwakke economie deert Salesforce.com nog niet
Wat tegenstrijdige berichtgeving over Salesforce.com. AG meldt dat Salesforce.com de economische recessie goed doorstaat, alsof dat effect al merkbaar zou zijn. Begrijp me niet verkeerd, ik hoop voor ons allemaal dat het overwaait, maar deze voorbarige conclusies zijn ook niet echt nieuws.
Anyway, AG meldt:
… Salesforce.com lijkt de economische recessie tot nu toe goed te doorstaan. De Amerikaanse online-aanbieder van software voor klantenrelatiebeheer (CRM) wist de omzet in het derde kwartaal van zijn gebroken boekjaar met 43 procent op te vijzelen naar 276 miljoen dollar. ….
Dit terwijl de analisten zich juist erge zorgen maken over het instorten van de operating cashflow :
… Salesforce.com Inc. shares declined Friday after the Web-based software provider's fiscal fourth-quarter outlook essentially met Wall Street expectations, but some analysts expressed concerns about a drop in its third-quarter cash flow and increasing competition.
Salesforce's stock fell 51 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $22.32, and hit a 52-week low of $20.82 earlier in the session.
Late Thursday, the company said its fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 55 percent on an increase in customers and forecast fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 6 cents to 7 cents per share on $284 million to $285 million in revenue.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect a profit of 7 cents per share on $289.4 million in sales.
Salesforce also said its operating cash flow for the quarter totaled $17.1 million, which compares with $52 million in the year-ago quarter. The company said a change in its invoicing seasonality, strength in the dollar, an increase in prepaid expenses related mostly to payments for some Dreamforce vendors and a tax expense led to the drop.
In a client note, Piper Jaffray analyst Mark Murphy called Salesforce's third-quarter results "a mixed bag" since revenue and earnings-per-share beat expectations and billings met expectations, but the company's cash flow missed his expectation for $63 million. …
Source: MSN Money
