Windows in the 'cloud'

Microsoft have joined Amazon and Google in providing 'cloud computing' - infrastructure that lets companies rent storage space and application hosting. With HP, Dell and IBM also due to join in, is this the beginning of the end for companies running their own servers in datacentres?

Probably not - the inertia of a world of technicians who understand how to get a database or fileserver running on a local server will restrain the cloud's growth, but it's certainly going to be growth. This is one of those major shifts in an industrial revolution - just as when factories stopped generating their own electricity and took it from a national grid.

'Azure', as it's called, doesn't actually do anything out-of-the-box for small and mid-sized companies - they'll have to wait for developers to build applications on it. For 'tangible' cloud computing, look at Google Docs (in beta) or Microsoft Online Services (coming soon) which offer the standard suite of office applications through a web site.

If you're interested in trying these as part of your IT services, contact Conosco.