Cloud Computing


Office 365 Licensing Demystified

WEB EXCLUSIVE: With so many licensing choices available, IT pros can expect to have at least a few questions if they decide to migrate to Office 365. Consultancy Directions on Microsoft recently shed some light on the ins and outs of Office 365 licensing in an online discussion.

Cisco Pads Cloud Portfolio with newScale Acquisition

Cisco Systems announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire newScale Inc., a provider of self-service, self-catalog and lifecycle management software.

Amazon Rolls Out EC2 Dedicated Instances for Cloud Customers

Amazon Web Services launched its EC2 Dedicated Instances service on Monday, in response to indications from its enterprise customers that they do not want to share computing resources with other companies.

Microsoft Rolls Out Server App-V for Azure with SCVMM 2012 Beta

The beta of Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012, which Microsoft released earlier this week as part of the unveiling of the System Center 2012 line, includes the company's Server Application Virtualization tool for Windows Azure.

Microsoft Releases Windows Intune, Outlines MDOP Plans

Microsoft announced the release of Windows Intune on Wednesday during its Microsoft Management Summit, taking place this week in Las Vegas.

Microsoft, RIM Ink BlackBerry Cloud E-Mail Deal

Citing information from Research In Motion senior executives, a Bloomberg article published on Wednesday reports that Microsoft has struck a cloud computing deal with the smartphone developer.

Microsoft Rolls Out LightSwitch Beta 2 at Developer Partner Summit

Beta 2 of Visual Studio LightSwitch, Microsoft's rapid business application development tool, is now available for immediate download.

HP's Apotheker Announces Major Public Cloud Plans

Hewlett-Packard Co. announced plans to launch a public cloud service in a speech by CEO Leo Apotheker on Monday at the company's annual analyst meeting.

Salesforce Adds Facebook Connector to Service Cloud

Salesforce.com is beefing up the social networking capabilities of its Service Desk app with support for native Facebook integration.

Partner Relationship Management: The Four C's, Productivity and You

The more efficient your PRM plan is, the more efficient and productive you'll be.

Clouding the MPN's Future

What happens in one part of Microsoft doesn't always sync with what happens in another. And that can spell trouble for partners.

BPOS Billing Reaction Floods In

If Microsoft doesn't get BPOS billing right, the sharks will certainly be circling.

Windows Intune Availability Set for March 23

Cloud-based systems management product acquired MSP capabilities in a second beta, and partner internal-use rights are included in Microsoft's partner program.

Microsoft Slams Google Office Plug-In

In a Thursday blog post, Microsoft panned the recently released Google plug-in for Microsoft Office, which allows document sharing and collaboration.

Amazon Launches CloudFormation for Cloud App Deployments

Amazon Web Services on Friday rolled out a new tool designed to facilitate the deployment and development of apps to the cloud.

Alleged Leak Suggests Windows 8 Coming Mid-2012

According to veteran Microsoft watcher Mary-Jo Foley, Microsoft may be planning a "Windows 8" release for mid-2012.

Microsoft Rakes in Public Sector Cloud Deals

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it recently signed contracts with over a dozen state and local government entities for its cloud computing services.

Google Debuts Microsoft Office Collaboration Plug-In

On Thursday, Google made globally available its free Microsoft Office plug-in that enables document collaboration and sharing.

Cisco Pulls Plug on Cloud E-Mail Service

Cisco is discontinuing its hosted e-mail service, which the company made available for testing over a year ago.

Judge Blocks Salesforce from Hiring Ex-Microsoft Employee

A Washington superior court judge today enforced a temporary restraining order preventing Salesforce.com from hiring a former Microsoft employee for an executive sales position.