http://brilliont.com/blogs/above-c-level/2008/08/20/head-in-the-clouds/ Just another Brilliont.com weblog Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:02:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 http://brilliont.com/blogs/above-c-level/2008/08/20/head-in-the-clouds/#comment-84 Above C-level » Blog Archive » The Lure of Azure Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:28:51 +0000 http://brilliont.com/blogs/above-c-level/2008/08/20/head-in-the-clouds/#comment-84 [...] When I wrote in on this topic in August, I was optimistic that cloud computing was the wave of the future for enterprise applications, but I questioned whether mainstreaming would occur anytime soon. Azure will certainly accelerate that timeline. And even though Azure is an obvious reaction to Google Apps, I like Microsoft’s chances. Microsoft enjoys a virtual stranglehold on the industry with their Office suite, and it will be a long, expensive and arduous process for any company to surmount the monopoly. Furthermore, Google Apps is yet to impress. Although Google is synonymous with innovation, they did a poor job of building products to truly compete with Microsoft Office. For example, their spreadsheet program lacks critical functionality for power users. Finally, the day is still far away from when large companies move to a pure cloud computing environment. Microsoft already has the locally installed Office to ease that transition, and in fact may bolster functionality due to compatibility between Azure and Office. [...] […] When I wrote in on this topic in August, I was optimistic that cloud computing was the wave of the future for enterprise applications, but I questioned whether mainstreaming would occur anytime soon. Azure will certainly accelerate that timeline. And even though Azure is an obvious reaction to Google Apps, I like Microsoft’s chances. Microsoft enjoys a virtual stranglehold on the industry with their Office suite, and it will be a long, expensive and arduous process for any company to surmount the monopoly. Furthermore, Google Apps is yet to impress. Although Google is synonymous with innovation, they did a poor job of building products to truly compete with Microsoft Office. For example, their spreadsheet program lacks critical functionality for power users. Finally, the day is still far away from when large companies move to a pure cloud computing environment. Microsoft already has the locally installed Office to ease that transition, and in fact may bolster functionality due to compatibility between Azure and Office. […]

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