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The Windows Azure platform will become commercially available in Jan. 2010, giving Microsoft a broad set of online services for developers, business customers, and consumers, and substantially completing the first stage of the company’s “software plus services” strategy. Nearly every important Microsoft enterprise server will have an associated online service, and while these services could replace on-premises software in some scenarios, the company will continue to emphasize how well they work with locally installed software. This report identifies Microsoft’s major online services and their competitors as of the Nov. 2009 Professional Developers’ Conference (PDC); explains their benefits, drawbacks, and relationship to other Microsoft products; and describes what’s known about future updates.
Goals of Software Plus Services
- Embrace new delivery models like software as a service (SaaS), and new business models like online advertising
- Cross-sell other products, particularly Office and Windows
- Keep developers engaged with technologies such as ASP.NET and the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
Business Services
- Microsoft Online, which includes hosted servers such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online (which will add Office Web Apps in 2010), and Communications Online, plus Live Meeting
- The Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), which licenses per-user access to Microsoft Online
- Dynamics CRM Online
- Exchange Hosted Services, a set of services for on-premise e-mail servers, including Forefront Online Security for Exchange (FOPE), which is also included in the Enterprise Client Access License (ECAL) for Exchange 2010, as well as Exchange Hosted Encryption, Exchange Hosted Archive, and Exchange Hosted Continuity
- PowerPoint Broadcast Service, a new free service that comes with PowerPoint 2010
- System Center Online Desktop Manager, a forthcoming PC management and security service for small and mid-size businesses
Developer Services
- The Windows Azure Platform (previously Azure Services Platform), which includes Windows Azure, SQL Azure Database, AppFabric Service Bus, and AppFabric Access Control, as well as forthcoming services such as “Dallas” and hosted Windows Server VMs
- Bing APIs, including Bing API 2.0 and the Bing Maps Web Services API
- Live Services, including the Messenger Web Toolkit, Admin Center SDK, and Contacts API
- Recently discontinued or delayed services, such as the Live Framework and Silverlight Streaming
Consumer Services
- Windows Live services, such as Hotmail, Messenger, SkyDrive, and Office Web Apps
- Windows Live Essentials clients, such as Mail, Photo Gallery, Family Safety, and Movie Maker
- Bing
- MSN
- MyPhone
This Report Contains [4,390 words]
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