Microsoft creates a “Server and Cloud Division”

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The Windows Server Division weblog announced yesterday that the people who build Windows Server, Windows Azure, SQL Server, SQL Azure, Visual Studio and System Center will all now be part of the same organization, Server and Cloud Division (SCD).  

cloudThis re-org is part of a transition for the Azure cloud business from a set of incubation projects into a mainstream business, and is intended to help Microsoft continue and increase the “bilateral sharing of technology” between the groups.  

For customers and partners, bringing Windows Server, Windows Azure, SQL Server, SQL Azure, Visual Studio and System Center together in the Server and Cloud Division should – over time – mean increasing the flexibility to:

  • Choose on-premise, cloud, or third-party hosting deployment architectures
  • Choose “hybrid” deployment architectures that span across on-premise environments, Windows Azure, and third party hosting partners
  • Migrate solution components between the Azure cloud, on-premise environments and third-party hosters
  • Manage applications and app portfolios that span across Windows Azure, on-premise, and hosting partner environments

Of course, these capabilities already exist in some ways… I personally read this re-organization as a positive signal that Microsoft is committed to additional innovation in this direction and is actively working to make these capabilities richer and more robust for our customers and partners. 

These capabilities are at the core of what Microsoft means when it talks about “Software-plus-Services”.  Ultimately, as computing devices (PCs, phones, TVs, cars, picture frames, industrial equipment, etc.) become more pervasively distributed, and the cloud becomes more mature as a complement to on-premise and hosting environments, we need all of our solutions to work together well – and be flexible, secure, and manageable, too.  

One of the best ways to learn more about where Microsoft is going with Windows Server, SQL Server, the Windows Azure Platform, Visual Studio, and System Center is to check out the videos from PDC09 here, and especially the Ray Ozzie and Bob Muglia Day 1 Keynote.

In addition to the keynotes, you can see all the individual PDC09 session videos, and even download session PowerPoint files.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,cloud computing,Azure

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