Cloud Computing


Inside MVP Nation: What MVPs Talk About when Microsoft Isn't Looking

"Cloud" was king at the first annual MVP Nation conference, but this year's gathering of Microsoft MVPs covered other topics as well. This is RCP's report of those discussions, straight from the show floor.

VMware Announces Deal To Buy Shavlik

Virtualization giant and cloud vendor VMware announced on Monday that it has reached a deal to acquire Shavlik Technologies, a provider of security and management software for servers and desktops.

Microsoft BPOS Suffers Multiple Outages (UPDATED)

Customers of Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) have experienced e-mail outages over the past few days.

Google 'Chromebooks' Line of Notebooks Coming June

Google unveiled "Chromebooks," a new line of notebook devices that will run its Chrome operating system, on Wednesday, at the close of the Google I/O 2011 conference in San Francisco.

Study: Security Not Priority for Cloud Providers, Users

Security is not a top priority for cloud computing vendors and customers, according to a recent CA Technologies-sponsored survey by the Ponemon Institute.

Wanted: More Windows Intune Licenses

For some reason, Microsoft is being stingy with the partner licenses for Windows Intune, the cloud-based systems management and security toolset that launched in March.

VMware Joins Amazon in Cloud Outage Damage Control

VMware's Cloud Foundry, the company's fledgling cloud offering, suffered two brief outages last week.

Guthrie To Head Microsoft's Azure Application Platform Team

Microsoft has confirmed that Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Platform at Microsoft, will move to the Windows Azure group as part of a May reorg, as expected.

HP Helps Partners Build Cloud Expertise

Finally, the company enters a cloud market that's becoming increasingly crowded with other IT heavyweights, including IBM and Cisco.

Amazon Breaks Silence on Cloud Outage, Offers Explanation and Credit

Amazon Web Services on Friday issued a detailed postmortem explaining the cause of last week's massive outage of its cloud services that left numerous customers crippled.

Telecom Giant CenturyLink Acquires Cloud Provider Savvis

Telecommunications heavyweight CenturyLink on Wednesday said it has agreed to acquire managed hosting and cloud provider Savvis for $2.5 billion.

Google Apps No Longer Free for Small Businesses

Google on Tuesday said it is changing the terms of its free service for small businesses, requiring any organization with more than 10 users to subscribe to its paid Google Apps for Business.

Amazon Restores Cloud Services, Promises Postmortem

Amazon Web Services (AWS) said it has restored service for a majority of its customers after an outage left numerous organizations crippled for more than three days.

Inside Google's Datacenter: How Google Keeps Its Cloud Secure

Also, with Earth Day falling on the same day as Google's presentation, the focus has fallen once again on whether the cloud is truly the energy-saver its big-name proponents, including Microsoft, insist it is.

Microsoft BPOS for Gov Gets FISMA Clearance

Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), a cloud-based suite of productivity applications, is now certified for government use under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Office 365 Beta: 12 Key Features

WEB EXCLUSIVE: The public beta of Office 365, Microsoft's much-anticipated successor to its Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), has just arrived, and we've got an early look. Here are 12 key features from the beta that show how Microsoft plans to deliver productivity tools in the cloud.

Microsoft Releases Public Beta of Office 365

Microsoft on Monday released the public beta of the widely anticipated Office 365, the company's cloud-based productivity suite, as well as announced the Office 365 Marketplace.

Beta for Windows Intune Ends April 18, Microsoft Warns

The beta for Windows Intune will expire on Monday, April 18, Microsoft announced on Friday.

The Dynamics Decade: 10 Highlights from 10 Years of Microsoft Business Applications

WEB EXCLUSIVE: From the early acquisitions of Great Plains and Navision, to the Burgum-Nadella-Tatarinov executive shakeup, to the company's tentative first steps toward an "all-in" cloud approach, we spotlight the top 10 milestones from Microsoft's decade of Dynamics.

Google Rebuts Microsoft's Accusations with Confirmation of FISMA Status

In response to claims from Microsoft that Google Apps for Government is not certified under FISMA, the General Services Administration has issued a statement verifying that Apps for Government is, in fact, FISMA-certified.