I read the news today oh boy,
the Redmond giant has just joined the war.
(my bad retake on a Beatles classic, I love The Beatles)
Now that Microsoft is all in the Cloud, things are set to change in some significant ways. Like it or not, Microsoft is doing what they’ve always done: embrace a technology promise with the intention to rule it. I’ve read a few articles and blogs mocking Microsoft’s Cloud announcement, which I found to be a misguided view on the tech giant.
Few would have forgotten, there was a time when Microsoft was scorning the Internet. Eventually, they turned around and entered the web browser market, and bossed it comprehensively, wiping out Netscape’s market in the process.
Microsoft all in the Cloud, There’s something in it for everyone.
For Microsoft Competitors: is it, Panic in the Cloud yet?
At the very least, lots of people will now have to scrub their presentation slides and other flyers, positioning Cloud as an alternative to Microsoft has become a confusing message, no longer a differentiator. Regardless of how they do it, if Microsoft says that they’re in, buyers will take notice and start to ponder their position, markets will react. That is what matters the most to Microsoft’s clients and partners alike, they’re definitely avoiding the fate of WordPerfect.
For Visual Studio Developers: is it, the strongest will surf the Cloud?
Enabling Visual Studio developers to directly target Cloud platform will be a huge empowerment to lots of developers. The ability to develop and package Azure applications from within Visual Studio is going to hit the right chord for many. The bad news is that, more than ever sound architecture design will determine success and failure. The finest developers will be able to do really nice stuff, those who just click their way to a solution will probably create a lot of mess.
For Windows users: is it, the Cloud sets you free?
With Windows applications becoming first-class Cloud clients, it become possible to manage documents on the Cloud natively from Windows and Ms Office products. The notion of office application development is extended, the office becomes virtual in a way. This could be a stretch for infrastructure management, which is likely to become significantly harder and fragmented. A lot of IT managers might be scratching their heads over this prospect, strategic sourcing might become more crucial to some organisations.
Should IT managers not buy into Microsoft’s Cloud story, this could be another “Vista moment” for Microsoft. On the other hand, we know that the knowledge worker has been clamouring to be set free of work location. Cloud enablement for the masses of Windows users could actually force IT management to accelerate their Cloud adoption schedule.