WPC 2010 --- All About Clouds

The theme of the week at the Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) was Cloud, Cloud, Cloud and that Microsoft is “All In”

We're All In

This was the catch phrase we heard over and over again every day and all day long.

Of course, if you have been paying attention to the tech space for the past few years you know why Microsoft is making a big commitment to the cloud computing model. It’s a hot market and will continue to be for many more years. Whether it is called Saas, PaaS, or my favorite XaaS – customers are asking Microsoft and every other vendor for their plans to do Cloud Computing.

Just the Beginning

Kevin Turner, Microsoft CTO, alluded to the fact that this is phase I of a 20 year investment cycle for Microsoft. I think this is a smart move and one that should put both customers and partners at ease (not to mention Microsoft employees, analysts and investors). In the not too distant future customers will not typically even think about or ask Where is my data?

Azure, Appliances and AppFabric

We heard a lot about the first two of these. Azure has come a long way in the last few years. I think we will start to see more appliances – both physical and virtual to handle computing loads, storage tasks and perhaps in the near future to become accepted as the de facto way to scale up and scale out to meet customer needs dynamically. AppFabric seems to be the new kid on the block – there are versions for for traditional developers and for Azure oriented developers. In the future these will meld together.

One Criticism - There is no Personal Cloud

One point was made by a Microsoft speaker that PC = Personal Cloud. While I appreciate the attempt I have to disagree. There is no personal cloud.  However, I do think there is the concept and growing reality of Your own Virtual and Private Cloud.

At the recent Gartner CRM Summit one of the analysts said - “If it is digital, it’s discoverable. Privacy is dead! If you don’t want to share it, don't type it.”

It’s About Time

I’m happy to see Microsoft making a significant commitment to the Cloud Computing space. Of course, several other vendors – some of the larger vendors too – have jumped in a little earlier. Depending upon how to you define cloud computing Microsoft has been “doing” cloud computing for a few years. I’m happy to see that now, by Microsoft’s own admission, they are “All In.”

What do you think?

• Is Microsoft on the right path?
• Is Cloud Computing the next Wave? 
• Can Microsoft effectively leverage their assets – Office, Windows, SQL, SharePoint and the Microsoft Partner Network

Your comments are appreciated. Please drop a comment here or use any of my contact coordinates below.

About The Author:
I have spent the last 20 years working in various aspects of the ECM industry. I am currently with Kodak as a Director of Business Development. In my past I have spent time at Kofax, Microsoft, FileNet, K2, and at Captaris (which was acquired by Open Text). Prior to that I was a Unix VAR running my own company. Follow me on Twitter, check my blog, send email or find me on Facebook or LinkedIn.