Microsoft Cloud Briefing
Microsoft’s cloud services are growing at a steady rate. Microsoft CFO Amy Wood claims that Azure and Office 365 products were up 100% in revenue over the past year. This is a good sign for the software giant as they look to make their offerings more cloud centric. Many analysts wonder if Microsoft is taking away from their own traditional licensing customer base and simply moving them to the cloud. Will the old traditional method of installing Office on your PC and having to use a key to activate it go away?
Most experts believe the answer is “not anytime soon.” That doesn’t mean Microsoft should focus on the old way of doing business. If Microsoft doesn’t continue to innovate its applications for the cloud, organizations will simply find cheaper cloud alternatives that essentially do the same thing as Office. PC sales remain soft although Surface sales and Windows 8 sales are currently on the uptick.
In other news, Microsoft has released a statement saying that they plan on letting their clients choose which part of the world they wish their Azure services to be located. Microsoft’s GC Brad Smith commented on the release by saying, “People should have the ability to know whether their data are being subjected to the laws…in some other country and should have the ability to make an informed choice of where their data resides.”
Smith brings up a good point in regards to data location. Many analysts also believe that government intelligence agencies will be less likely to attempt to snoop on corporations if the datacenters that the companies use are on foreign soil. Local laws may require that sensitive data not physically leave a certain country or part of the world. Microsoft is aware of all of these intricate nuances. That’s why Microsoft has given organizations the power to choose where their data is physically located in order to stay compliant with local laws and regulations.
