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Cloud clout: Who are the real powers in the cloud?

Tags:
Applications,
SaaS,
Services,
Cloud

Cath Everett ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 18 May 2009 14:39 BST

ONE TO WATCH: Microsoft

Microsoft has consistently been late with all things relating to the internet and its move to the cloud is no exception. But Microsoft being Microsoft, such delays are unlikely to dent its influence over its all-important application development community or the broader value-added reseller channel, to which it invariably manages to sell its world view.

The vendor will be one to watch when it enters the market in the second half of 2009 — even though it faces attacks from all sides, and from Google, Amazon and Salesforce.com in particular.

How long has it operated in cloud computing?
Microsoft plans to launch its Azure Services Platform in the second half of 2009.

What cloud services does it provide and what is the pricing model?
The Azure Services Platform is targeted at developers, software vendors and systems integrators wanting to build web-based consumer services or line-of-business application-based services for businesses. Details will be unveiled when the service is launched, but pricing will be based on consumption and subscribers' business models. It will also include pre-payment options.

Microsoft also has non-cloud web-based services, such as the Hotmail free consumer email service with 350 million users, and the Xbox Live online gaming service with more than 17 million active accounts. Silver membership is free, but gold membership costs $49.99 per annum.

Examples of hosted rather than cloud-based SaaS include Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. This service is only offered in the US and Canada, but has 15,500 customers who pay $44 per user per month. There is also the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite, which provides communication and collaboration tools, starting at $15 per user per month.

The vendor is in the process of moving all its SaaS products and web-based services over to the Azure Platform. The migrated SaaS offerings will be come under the Microsoft Online Services banner as they become available, as will any new third-party applications created by the company's development partners using the new environment.

What back-end cloud infrastructure does it have in place?
The supplier has datacentres in Quincy, Washington and San Antonio, Texas, but is in the process of building others in Chicago, Des Moines, Iowa and Dublin.

What service-level agreements (SLAs) or security controls does Microsoft provide?
Azure will come with SLAs and Quality of Service guarantees. Doug Hauger, Microsoft's general manager of marketing and business strategy for cloud infrastructure services, says: 'Security is a top priority." More details on both areas will be released at launch.

What procedures does it have in terms of migration should customers decide to switch vendors or bring services back in-house?
The vendor will support industry standards and protocols such as Soap, Rest and XML to make data portability as straightforward as possible for its customers, says Hauger.

How does it position itself in terms of cloud computing?
Hauger says: "What we're doing is bringing our enterprise expertise from the on-premise world to the cloud to ensure that the platform is robust. But we want to offer customers choice and flexibility in how they use our technology — whether it's on premise or run by Microsoft in our datacentres, or a mixture of the two. We have the largest installed base of software of any vendor so we're able to integrate that with cloud services in a value-added way.

"So, for example, with the Zune music player, because it's not a browser-only application, you need to install some software on your PC. You pay a monthly fee to access millions of songs in the cloud so it's scalable, but you look after your local music collection on your machine to give you a robust music-management experience. That wouldn't be possible with just a browser-based application, so our approach gives you the best of both worlds."

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