Microsoft bolstered Windows Azure with several new capabilities today, including the ability to run Windows Server instances on Azure, theoretically making applications portable between the data center and Microsoft cloud platform.
VMware wants people to be able to access enterprise applications with the same ease and flexibility they enjoy from Facebook and Gmail. That is, on any device, without a thought about where the service originated.
The next generation of IT vendors has arrived on the scene. Driven by a tentative economic recovery that is seeing venture capitalists release a few more dollars to tech startups, and a need to create tools for the world of cloud computing and virtualization, a flood of young technology companies is hitting the market.
The notion that distance doesn't matter when it comes to cloud computing is a misguided one according to new research from Forrester. Ignoring geographic issues may be "perilous" for corporate customers warned the company in a new report, Infrastructure-As-A-Service (IaaS) Clouds Are Local And So Are Their Implications
"Virtualisation is not inherently insecure. However, most virtualised workloads are being deployed insecurely."
As the global economy is recovers, pent-up business demand for new apps and market initiatives is driving server investments. Forrester finds that 25 per cent of organizations expect server spend to grow by five per cent to 10 per cent, and six per cent expect it to grow by 10 per cent or more. And to reduce operating and capital costs, improve disaster recovery, and accelerate time-to-market for new apps, organizations are turning to server virtualization.
Last week it was Colt announcing its cloud service, a little further down the scale, Atlanta has also announced its own virtualisation strategy, tying together products from a range of vendors.
SuccessFactors has introduced software that it claimed will enable organisations perform on-the-fly business calculations in the cloud.
Continuing to ride a wave of enterprise server virtualization, VMware on Monday reported a 46 percent increase in revenue for the third quarter, or US$714 million, up from $456 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
European cloud users see email as the first technology to be ported to the cloud, in stark contrast to North Americans who see software testing as the main reason to go down the cloud route. Furthermore, European companies are giving a massive thumbs-up to cloud with 70 per cent of IT execs agreeing that "cloud services are becoming more important to organisations as solutions to practical problems"
Windows 7 has been a homerun for Microsoft -- becoming the fastest selling operating system of all time. But, there are still many organizations that can't seem to make the switch from Windows XP due to reliance on legacy applications that aren't compatible with Windows 7. Microsoft has a tool to help IT admins with the transition, though: MED-V.
Vmware is set to address the problem that many SMEs find when it come to using cloud services - the lack of expertise in-house. At its VMworld Europe conference, the company is releasing the beta of a service called Go Pro, which will enable customers who are unused tp server virtualisation by simplifying connections to the clouds.
VMware has demonstrated a new client application for its vCenter management tools that runs on the Apple iPad.
Dutch virtualisation management company RES Software is to offer its VDX (virtual desktop extender) as a standalone tool.
Citrix Systems' XenClient, its bare-metal hypervisor for desktop virtualization, is a work in progress and will primarily help IT professionals get comfortable with the product, according to company officials.