Cloud Computing


Microsoft Releases System Center 2012 RC with Private Cloud Angle

All eight solutions in the System Center 2012 product family are now available as release candidates (RCs), Microsoft announced on Tuesday.

Google Inks Its Largest Cloud Deal Yet with Spanish Bank

The cloud contracts just keep on coming for Google, which this week inked a deal for the biggest rollout of its Google Apps suite to date.

Boom Times for Cloud-Based App Marketplaces

Partners would be ill-advised to ignore the growing popularity of app stores.

Microsoft Execs To Talk Up Private Cloud Vision

Microsoft will reveal more about its vision for the private cloud during an hour-long webinar on Jan. 17 titled "Transforming IT With Microsoft Private Cloud."

Marching Orders 2012: Big Ideas for the Microsoft Channel

RCP asked 19 channel luminaries for their best piece of advice for the year ahead. Here are their tips on ways to make 2012 a banner year for Microsoft partners.

For Partners, the Cloud Keeps Getting Cloudier

The fight for market share is intensifying, and as a result the costs for a share point of growth are getting frightfully more expensive.

Report: Linux Is Coming to Microsoft's Azure Cloud Service

Microsoft would not comment on a report that states the company is planning to allow customers to host Linux servers on its Windows Azure cloud service this year.

9 Huge Opportunities for Microsoft Partners in 2012

WEB EXCLUSIVE: For many partners, matching their priorities with Microsoft's is a sure-fire way to boost business. Conveniently, Microsoft has just listed its top priority areas -- or "priority workloads" -- for the Microsoft Partner Network. Here they are, along with the related products and competencies for each.

Microsoft Loses UC Berkeley Cloud Contract to Google

Microsoft has lost the bid to provide cloud-based e-mail and calendaring services to the University of California, Berkeley, which announced this week that it has chosen Google Apps for Education over Microsoft's Office 365 suite.

Microsoft Exec: Analysts Will Be 'Shocked' When Office 365 Sales Figures Come Out

WEB EXCLUSIVE: In Part 2 of our Q&A with Microsoft's Tom Rizzo, he discusses Office 365's momentum and how Microsoft's advisor and syndication partners are contributing to its growth.

Microsoft Exec: Google's Problems in L.A. Wouldn't Have Happened to Us

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Part 1 of our two-part Q&A with Microsoft's Tom Rizzo. He talks about the cloud, Office 365's recent compliance coup, and why Google Apps wouldn't be missed if it got shuttered.

Analysis: How Apple, Google Are 'Disrupting' Microsoft's Dominance

Gartner analysts say that while the three companies are different, they are competing in the same battlegrounds: social networking, portals and collaboration, mobile device operating systems, the Internet cloud and e-mail.

Microsoft Puts SkyDrive on Windows Phone, Apple iOS Devices

Microsoft on Tuesday made its consumer-oriented SkyDrive cloud storage service available for Windows Phone-based devices and, somewhat surprisingly, for Apple mobile devices.

2012: The Year of Cloud Acceleration

All this cloud hype will finally come to a head next year. Here's what your business needs to do to get ready.

The Microsoft Partner Network's 1st Year: What Changed, What Worked and Where Does the Cloud Fit?

What's happened since Microsoft completely switched over to the Microsoft Partner Network with its dramatically different competency, specialization and incentive structures? A lot.

Parallels Adds 3 Execs, Including Microsoft Technical Fellow

Parallels announced Thursday the addition of three senior executives, including a Microsoft technical fellow, to support the cloud services enablement and desktop virtualization company's global growth goals.

Microsoft Mulling Cloud Sales for Gold Competencies?

A recent interview with Jon Roskill, Microsoft's channel chief, hints at a possible cloud requirement for the Microsoft Partner Network's highest tier.

The 3 Stages of Cloud Sales Mastery

A quick progression from the moment you meet a prospect to the moment you close the opportunity is critical to a partner's cloud business. The "Velocity Sales Process" shows you how to get from Point A to Point B.

Microsoft Issues First Major Office 365 Update, Revamps SkyDrive

Microsoft on Tuesday announced major updates to two of its cloud-based services, Office 365 and SkyDrive.

Microsoft Opens Lync for Mac 2011 to Office 365 Users

Subscribers of Microsoft's Office 365 cloud service can now download the Lync for Mac 2011 unified communications solution, which Microsoft broadly released on Wednesday.