Robert Wahbe, head of the Microsoft Server and Tool division, recently spoke at TechEd and gave attendees there an idea of what to expect from the company in the coming year. In short: the cloud.
Wahbe brought up a number of stats showing how virtual computing has been gaining on and in some cases surpassing that of physical computing, and showed one in particular demonstrating that while physical servers had a 7.8 million run rate, virtual ones were sitting at 10.7. He went on to say that Microsoft was using this as a jumping off point to move forward by “taking virtualized resources and pulling them together for dynamic provisioning and scaling.” Wahbe also argued that Microsoft had the broadest of the public cloud options on the market with its Windows and SQL Azure, along with its soon to be released Office 365 suite. Of course, the company is no slouch in the private cloud arena either with its Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center, which allows for individual servers and custom applications.
The Microsoft exec didn’t stop there, however, and also pointed to a number of devices that the company would soon be releasing, including their new Windows Phone 7, “Mango.” Wahbe said that not only is the projected growth of mobile devices in the next three years 81 percent, but that more smartphones than PCs are now shipping. Connectivity combined with ease-of-use – thanks to things like Kinect technology – is where Wahbe sees the market going, all backed up by the accessibility and scalability of the cloud. This year looks to be a big one for Microsoft, and time will tell if they have what it takes to establish themselves as a true cloud powerhouse.
Related News:
