Microsoft Cloud Computing: Azure and Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS)
Microsoft Business Productivity Suite Online [SaaS] Azure [PaaS] and [IaaS]
Azure: noun. The blue color of the unclouded sky
--Merriam-Webster dictionary
Here is Microsoft's cloud computing strategy as of Q3, 2010:
>> The cloud computing venture from Microsoft promises to bring a whole lot of new ventures in the near future. They expect it to be a source to added revenues into their accounts. They expect to bring the Business Productivity Suite, Office Web Apps, Windows Azure and Dynamics CRM online. Due to all these applications and their availability online, COO terms Microsoft as the undisputed leader in the commercial cloud services. Microsoft is confident about leading the world of cloud computing with the products that it has been offering for quite some time now.
>> Microsoft has been offering some other services to the online world as well. There are packages that give people from around the corporate world with different opportunities about their respective jobs. These are more like value added services in the online world. ISVs can make user of Windows Azure and SQL Azure to develop applications as well making it a complete packaged suite.
The Azure™ Services Platform is an internet-scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers. The Azure Services Platform is a development platform including a cloud operating system and a set of developer services. They support a wide range of open-source development standards such as HTTP, REST, SOAP, and XML and SDK’s and modules to help Ruby, PHP and Java communicate with the Azure platform.
Visual Studio 2008 includes project templates and reusable code objects to migrate .NET applications to the cloud. However, COM applications have security risks in moving to Azure.
Azure was in CTP (Community Technology Preview) until November, 2009. Services are now commercially available, but are beta-quality. We do not recommend deploying production applications on Azure until it becomes more robust, which is expected in 2011.
That said, if you have a base of .NET applications, begin testing and
deploying Azure applications locally without expending any Public Cloud
resources or cost using AppFabric to create a Private Cloud as needed. When it comes time to promote to the Public Cloud, just copy the deployment file and configuration file to the Azure Public Cloud. Azure applications can be set up to run locally via AppFabric in the Private Cloud, until local resources are maxed out. It is then possible to spin up extra servers / storage in the Azure Public Cloud, on demand, to handle the overage, as needed.
Bill Billings, chief security officer of Microsoft Federal, said the company is currently in the process of taking its Business Productivity Online Suite through the ISO 27001 certification process. The hosted service includes products released by Microsoft in 2007 such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Live Meeting and Office Communications Online. He declined to say just when Microsoft hopes to achieve the certification. For pricing details and info on each offering, see their sales calculator.
