Cliff Saran asksMicrosoft chief executive officer Steve
Ballmerwhy he believes Microsoft's approach
tocloud computingis right for IT
departments.
Microsoft is finally starting to address
software as a service (Saas) and cloud computing. These
emerging approaches, which put less emphasis on operating systems
and software infrastructure to running IT systems, are alternatives
to the technology Microsoft has until now focused on.
Ballmer says Microsoft wants to give users choice as to where
applications run. That means software can be deployed in corporate
datacentres, on desktop PCs, or a hosted datacentre providing SaaS.
"Saas implies that all software runs on the internet. No one wants
mainframe centralised computing," he says. "I believe in software
plus services. Our vision is that software runs seamlessly in a
number of places," he says.
In the future, Microsoft software such as Office will have a
variety of modes of operation. Users can continue to buy the
software and install it. They may choose to have Office streamed
down from a centrally managed image of the software stored on a
server or via the internet. Or they can run Office using Microsoft
Terminal Services, from a thin client device, which provides the
Windows GUI over an internet connection.
"We will also rewrite Office to work in a browser," he says.
Ward-Dutton says Microsoft has been at risk of being knocked
back by Saas providers. "Its cloud strategy means that third-party
application suppliers can build Saas applications using the cloud
Windows model." This means businesses can buy Windows compatible
third-party software as hosted services or buy traditional
licenses.
Giving users greater choice is a good idea Chris Ingle, research
director at analyst IDC, says because Saas is not always the most
cost effective way to deliver IT. "Microsoft has the right idea
because I think businesses will continue investing in software and
hardware."
Running Microsoft software in the cloud is an alternative to
outsourcing IT, says Ray Titcombe, chairman of the Strategic
Supplier Relationships Group (SSRG). "But users will need to work
out the legal and security implications of having confidential
corporate data stored on Microsoft's servers."
So Microsoft is finally making the leap from desktop and server
computing to the internet cloud. In Ballmer's vision Windows still
has a role to play: he says it will enable users to run the same
applications either as a software service or in a datacentre.
Clearly this gives users the choice. But the real benefactors of
Microsoft's strategy is third-party software providers, who will be
able to offer their applications either as traditionally licensed
software or as services hosted in the internet cloud.
Beyond the cloud
Microsoft is facing increasing resistance from users to upgrade
to the latest version of Windows. In spite of sales in excess of
180 million units, the operating system has not been taken up by
corporate users in the volumes anticipated.
"We [improved] security in Vista, but we had to break backwards
compatibility to make it secure," Ballmer says. As a result,
applications have needed to be re-engineered for Vista, slowing
down the take-up in business.
Ballmer is adamant this will not happen again. "If we have to
break backwards compatibility each time, we may as well get out of
the operating systems business."
The next version of desktop Windows, called Windows 7, will be
an easy upgrade for Vista users. "We will not be changing the
underlying software architecture in Windows 7," he says.
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