Adobe bets that Creative Cloud, not the desktop, is the future
RIP Adobe Creative Suite. In a true sign of the times Adobe nixes continued development on its landmark desktop apps to refocus on SaaS delivery. Read more »
Say what? Microsoft Azure’s a $1 billion business?
Microsoft says it’s sold a billion dollars worth of cloud services. But as is usually the case, the value of cloud sales depends on what your definition of cloud is. Read more »
Microsoft earnings: Windows wasn’t as bad as expected but it wasn’t good either
photo: Flickr / ToddABishop
Despite flat year-over-year WIndows revenue, Microsoft logged a 19 percent profit year over year. Not too shabby for the much maligned company. Read more »
This week in cloud: Office 365 goes down and Microsoft stocks up Azure store
photo: Shutterstock / winui
Another week of high-profile outages may spook some prospective cloud users but Amazon Web Services strength shows the appeal of cloud. And Microsoft keeps adding Windows Azure options. Read more »
Microsoft Office 365 hits pothole
photo: Flickr / ToddABishop
Just days after the Microsoft Office 365 Premium launch, the service goes down for many users. Read more »
Microsoft-Apple flap over App Store fees reportedly about Office for iOS
Microsoft is planning to bring Office to the iOS App Store next year, and is trying to negotiate a revenue share plan that’s lower than the standard 30 percent cut Apple takes. Apple is reportedly not budging on its rules, according to an AllThingsD report. Read more »
Wait, Google Apps for Business is a “real” business?
Updated: Google reportedly earned $1 billion from Google Apps for Business last year. While that pales in comparison to Microsoft Office numbers, it’s still not chump change. Read more »
Microsoft takes Azure to China
photo: Flickr / brandnliu
Chasing a potentially huge market, Microsoft has inked a pact with the municipality of Shanghai and with ISP 21Vianet to offer Windows Azure services in China. The deal could be huge but also problematic, given problems Google and other U.S. companies have had in China. Read more »
Surprise! There may be a business in Google Apps after all!
photo: Shutterstock / Raywoo
Cloud Sherpas has seen revenue from both its Google Apps and Salesforce.com businesses double in the past year. That seams to indicate that third-party VARs and integrators can make a living off low-cost SaaS applications — and that Google gets that it needs an ecosystem. Read more »
Mimecast scores big dough to push beyond email archiving
photo: Mimecast
Mimecast, which bills itself as a unified email specialist, has $62 million in new Series C funding from private equity firm Insight Venture Partners. The UK-based company plans to build more applications that tap into customers’ unstructured data and boost its presence in North America. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Quality of the cloud: best practices for ISVs
Demand for cloud computing continues to increase exponentially as consumers, businesses and government agencies seek to defer the expense of acquiring, operating and maintaining infrastructure and applications to third-party service providers. Likewise, software publishers are finding the cloud computing model an efficient and effective mechanism for delivering their products as a service and as an operational expense to their customers. For independent software vendors, cloud computing is opening up new markets and making their applications more accessible and affordable to scores of new customers. For a multitude of reasons, many ISVs are choosing to forego data center development and are partnering with hosting providers that have the infrastructure, resources and expertise in managing and delivering cloud services. This report provides ISVs with guidance on partnering with hosting companies, establishing criteria for selecting a hosting service, metrics for measuring hosting performance as it relates to cloud services delivered and an understanding of the responsibilities they retain even when outsourcing a large part of their services functions to a third party. Companies mentioned in this report include Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.com. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Office 365 vs. Google Apps for Business: Screenshot comparison
On Tuesday, Microsoft officially launched Office 365, the Redmond software giant’s suite of online collaboration and office tools. It competes with Google Apps for Business, but how do the two compare? Here’s a look at some screenshots of key applications in the two suites. Read more »
Microsoft takes on Google Apps, finally launches Office 365
Microsoft has now launched Office 365, its suite of collaboration and office tools that aims to take on Google Apps for Business. But with a product that costs more than Google’s offering and is coming much later to market, will Office 365 be a success? Read more »
Microsoft Tries to Get Collaborative in the Cloud With Office 365
Microsoft has launched the public beta of Office 365, an online suite of collaboration and office tools aimed at small businesses. It includes access to Office Web Apps, plus access to hosted versions of SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Lync Online. Read more »
