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Blog Bytes: Cloud Computing's Billion-Dollar Week

The cloud got significantly more crowded this week, with Microsoft, IBM and Dell each announcing major initiatives.

Third-Party Software Flaws Spawn Heavy April Patch Tuesday for Microsoft

After a light Patch Tuesday in March, Windows security experts can expect a deluge of updates next week, based on Microsoft's advance notice on Thursday.

Dell To Spend $1 Billion on Cloud Computing Initiative

Dell Inc. plans to invest $1 billion in cloud computing over its next fiscal year, the company announced on Thursday.

Microsoft, Toyota Team Up on Energy-Saving Cloud Project

A new $12 million partnership between Microsoft and Toyota Motor Co. will allow automobile owners to access car telematics technologies via the Windows Azure cloud computing platform.

IBM Launches Pair of Tools for Public and Private Clouds

IBM accelerated its cloud push on Thursday, when it announced the launch of SmartCloud, a product designed to enhance IBM's public cloud infrastructure services, and Workload Deployer, a new private cloud solution.

Windows Phone 7: Will Microsoft's Mobile Plans Pan Out?

Windows Phone 7 manages to lose share for the Windows Mobile platform in the three months that span the launch. Can Microsoft show enough momentum for partners to commit to the platform?

Microsoft Appoints Capossela to Top Marketing Position

Chris Capossela has been appointed senior vice president of Microsoft's Consumer Channels and Central Marketing Group, Microsoft announced on Wednesday.

Microsoft Quietly Rolls Out Dynamics SL 2011

Microsoft's Dynamics SL 2011 enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution hit general availability late last week. For Microsoft partners, the product was made available for download on April 4.

Unified Communications Adoption To Double in 2011, Move to Cloud

According the latest CDW-G Unified Communications Tracking Poll, unified communications adoption has doubled in the United States over the past year, with many organizations moving their UC implementations to the cloud.

Epsilon Hack Exposes Customer Data from Best Buy, Others

Worldwide marketing service firm Epsilon revealed on Friday that its clients' customer data, which the company used in e-mail campaigns, have been breached.

Microsoft Releases Windows Home Server 2011, SBS 2011 Essentials to Testing

Microsoft's professional services subscribers can now download the 64-bit Windows Home Server 2011 (WHS 2011). The company has also released the general-evaluation version of Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials (SBS 2011 Essentials).

Windows Intune Rounds Out Microsoft Cloud Services

With Windows Intune's availability, Redmond's cloud lineup for partners spans the back office, CRM, systems management and Infrastructure as a Service.

Windows 7, Office 2010 Migrations Need Early Planning, Gartner Says

"The big migration" from Windows XP and Office 2003 is coming, according to research firm Gartner, and IT pros should be prepared.

Microsoft Releases iSCSI Software Target 3.3 to Windows Sever 2008 R2 Users

Microsoft released on Monday iSCSI Software Target 3.3, a Windows Server 2008 R2 addition that allows for shared block storage in storage area networks using the iSCSI protocol.

Windows Tablet Outlook: Next-Gen Arriving Fall 2012?

Unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg push back the potential release Redmond's mass-market-focused tablet offerings. 

Microsoft Puts Dynamics Franchising Plan on Hold

Microsoft has tabled a plan that would allow small Dynamics partners to become franchisees of larger integrators.

Overall IT Spending Rises, But Datacenter Budgets Stay Flat

According to two recently released studies, most datacenter managers are not planning to increase their budgets this year, but overall IT spending is nevertheless expected to rise.

Microsoft Plans To Raise Cloud Licensing, Software Assurance Benefits

Microsoft is planning some licensing changes that it says would benefit its Software Assurance (SA) customers and service provider partners.

HP Launches Partner Program for Private Clouds

Hewlett-Packard Co. has launched its CloudSystem Partner Program, which is designed to help partners sell HP's CloudSystem portfolio.

Microsoft Files Search Antitrust Complaint with EC Against Google

Microsoft has filed a complaint against Google with the European Commission, the latest salvo in the EC's ongoing antitrust investigation into whether Google is stifling search-advertising competition in Europe.