Comments on: Microsoft sells Azure storage like a smartphone: free device with contract http://gigaom.com/2012/12/10/microsoft-sells-azure-storage-like-a-smartphone-free-device-with-contract/ Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:14:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: runningvm http://gigaom.com/2012/12/10/microsoft-sells-azure-storage-like-a-smartphone-free-device-with-contract/#comment-1242832 Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:14:03 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=592500#comment-1242832 Unstructured file data would be a good fit for these type of Cloud services, StorSimple and S3. Structured and Application data is a very different case, these data sets are much smaller but have greater resource and security requirements that require they are situated close (low latency) to the applications themselves. I’m not sure I see a direct link between these two data sets and although customers are more likely to use the same provider for structured/unstructured data it’s not a requirement for those considering those cloud services. In fact I see more customers selecting individual services from different cloud providers and not sourcing all services from one vendor.

]]> By: Vinod Shintre http://gigaom.com/2012/12/10/microsoft-sells-azure-storage-like-a-smartphone-free-device-with-contract/#comment-1242206 Tue, 11 Dec 2012 03:51:32 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=592500#comment-1242206 great move

]]> By: Barb Darrow http://gigaom.com/2012/12/10/microsoft-sells-azure-storage-like-a-smartphone-free-device-with-contract/#comment-1242036 Tue, 11 Dec 2012 02:39:43 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=592500#comment-1242036 @sschober i thinkg Google and AWS are doing exactly as you suggest –

]]> By: Peter Chang http://gigaom.com/2012/12/10/microsoft-sells-azure-storage-like-a-smartphone-free-device-with-contract/#comment-1241881 Tue, 11 Dec 2012 01:30:24 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=592500#comment-1241881 What is the cloud? It is just data and apps. If one’s data lives in one cloud, one will most likely do everything else in that cloud. Just look at the success of AWS. A vital strategic difference between amazon and other clouds is the enormous lead in storage. Offering compute with no storage is extremely limiting. It is more effective to keep data and compute together in one cloud.

It makes perfect sense for Microsoft to compete for developers, but why is a free storage appliance helpful when the point is to use cloud storage? Microsoft should consider giving away a large quantity of free Azure storage instead.

]]> By: sschober http://gigaom.com/2012/12/10/microsoft-sells-azure-storage-like-a-smartphone-free-device-with-contract/#comment-1241612 Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:08:46 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=592500#comment-1241612 Mirosoft’s aggressive promotion of cloud storage points to a trend that’s advantageous to the company’s prospects. Because of its deep integration with the enterprise, Microsoft could use cloud storage as a loss-leading strategy to win the business of big organizations, who could be upsold a litany of software and services all designed around the Azure ecosystem — far more than are currently on offer by the likes of Google, Amazon, or legacy hosting providers like RackSpace.

These developments raise several questions. Will Microsoft open up Azure to third-party developers, who could build upon it in a similar manner to AppExchange? Will companies that focus largely on infrastructural needs (AWS, RackSpace, etc) transform into full-scale providers that compete with Microsoft in extracting added value from stored data? Will Google make a deeper push into the enterprise with an expanded Big Data play of their own?

]]> By: Rick Westrate http://gigaom.com/2012/12/10/microsoft-sells-azure-storage-like-a-smartphone-free-device-with-contract/#comment-1241575 Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:38:59 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=592500#comment-1241575 Panzura also falls into this category of enterprise grade, cloud storage gateways.

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