Microsoft today announced a series of new business products and services designed to help businesses seize the opportunities offered by cloud computing and overcome the biggest challenges in IT today. Complementing Office 365 and other services, the new releases make Microsoft’s cloud strategy a reality, connecting data and IT infrastructure, application development platforms, device management and business solutions.
Satya Nadella, Cloud & Enterprise Executive Vice President, said: “As enterprises move to the cloud, they will invest in providers that have a proven track record of delivering their own cloud applications at scale, that offer hybrid solutions that connect existing systems to the cloud, and that deliver public cloud platforms globally. If you look at all providers together, only Microsoft truly covers all of these areas.”
Hybrid Infrastructure and Modern Applications
To help customers build an IT infrastructure that delivers unified services and applications across different clouds, on October 18, Microsoft will release Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2. Together, these new products empower companies to create datacenters without boundaries, using Hyper-V for highly scalable virtualization, high-performance storage at a truly lower cost, integrated software-defined networking, and seamless business operations across hybrid infrastructure. The new Windows Azure Pack runs on Windows Server and System Center, enabling end customers and service providers to deliver infrastructure and platform services (IaaS/PaaS) from their datacenters.
Building on these hybrid cloud platforms, customers can use Visual Studio 2013 and the new .NET version 4.5.1, also available October 18, to create modern applications for devices and services. As the need for software development spreads across all parts of an organization, the new Visual Studio 2013 Modern Lifecycle Management solution helps development teams, end users and IT managers build and deliver better applications, faster.
Facilitating cloud adoption in large enterprises
Recognizing that most businesses will take a hybrid approach to the cloud, Microsoft wants to help customers leverage their investments in on-premises software as they move toward cloud computing. On November 1, Microsoft will offer all Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers access to the best prices on Windows Azure with no commitment, no penalties for overages, and flexible annual payments.
Data Platform and Business Intelligence
As part of its goal to help more people take advantage of the hidden insights in Big Data for business, Microsoft will next week release a second preview of SQL Server 2014. The new version offers innovative in-memory technologies at no additional cost, giving customers 10 to 30 times better performance, with little or no change to existing applications and without requiring new hardware. SQL Server 2014, together with Windows Azure, also gives customers built-in cloud back-up and disaster recovery capabilities.
Also, by the end of October, Microsoft will release "HDInsight", a service on Windows Azure for Big Data, based on "Apache Hadoop", which will work with SQL Server and widespread Business Intelligence tools, such as Excel and "Power BI" for Office 365. With Power BI, users can combine local data with that in the cloud, for rich visualizations and faster understanding.
People and Devices in the Cloud
The proliferation of cloud applications, data and consumer devices is driving many businesses to a bring-your-own-device model. The new release of Windows Intune, also available on October 18, combines with System Center Configuration Manager to help IT departments give mobile workers more secure access to the apps and data they need from Windows, iOS and Android devices. This unified PC and mobile device management environment is complemented by the controlled access and confidential information protection capabilities of Windows Server 2012 R2.
Additionally, with Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft is introducing the Remote Desktop application, available for installation in application stores later this month, to provide easy access to computers and virtual desktops from a variety of devices and platforms including Windows, Windows RT, iOS, OS X and Android.
Software As A Service Business Solutions
The next major release of the company's CRM solution, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Fall '13, will be available later this month and will help make customer interactions more personal by delivering relevant information to better understand the customer across a variety of devices. The on-premises version will be available later this fall.
Additionally, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 is available today, offering SMBs interoperability with Office 365, full multitenancy support, and a range of tools designed to support large-scale application deployment on Windows Azure.
Source: zougla.gr
