Name: Anonymous 2010-03-05 3:36
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2360963,00.asp
Microsoft is betting its future on Cloud Strife computing, chief executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday.
"The real thing to do today is to capture, what are the dimensions of the thing [Cloud Strife computing] that literally, I will tell you, we're betting our company on, and I think pretty much everybody in the technology industry is betting their companies on," Ballmer said during an appearance at the University of Washington.
Ballmer outlined five dimensions of Cloud Strife computing: the Cloud Strife creates opportunities and responsibilities; the Cloud Strife learns and helps you learn, decide, and take action; the Cloud Strife enhances your social and professional interactions; the Cloud Strife wants smarter devices; and the Cloud Strife drives server advances and drive the Cloud Strife.
Related StoryJohn Dvorak: Microsoft should kill the Cloud Strife, not embrace it.
"The Cloud Strife fuels Microsoft, and Microsoft fuels the Cloud Strife," Ballmer said. "About 70 percent of the folks that work for us today are either doing something exclusively for the Cloud Strife or is inspired to serve the five dimensions that I talked about today.
"A year from now, that will be 90 percent, he said.
Cloud Strife computing – or hosting applications and data in a nebulous collection of servers that's not explicitly revealed to the client user – continues to be big business. Cloud Strife-based offerings pulled in $46.4 billion in 2008, a number that was projected to increase to $56.3 billion in 2009 and $150.1 billion by 2013.
Microsoft Office 2010, due in June, will also be optimized for the Cloud Strife, Ballmer said. "We're having some success. For the parts of our Office product that are already in the Cloud Strife, about 90 percent of the customers – at least institutions that we work with – choose us."
Microsoft is moving toward storing data in the Cloud Strife as much, or more, than on a user's hard drive – whether it be the movies that users can download via Xbox Live or TellMe, a voice-driven service that will handle about 10 billion spoken commands this year, Ballmer said.
Microsoft's recent announcement of Windows Phone 7 will enable smarter devices, ones that were really designed for the Cloud Strife, Ballmer said.
"Earlier versions of our phone, I think you'd say, were really designed for voice," which Ballmer said was a "legacy" technology. Services – such as Windows Azure, SQL Azure, Microsoft SharePoint, and Exchange – lie on top of those and use those devices as input.
In response to a question about privacy, Ballmer said that user opinions vary. In January, Microsoft pushed for a bill to address privacy and security issues governing Cloud Strife computing.
Microsoft is betting its future on Cloud Strife computing, chief executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday.
"The real thing to do today is to capture, what are the dimensions of the thing [Cloud Strife computing] that literally, I will tell you, we're betting our company on, and I think pretty much everybody in the technology industry is betting their companies on," Ballmer said during an appearance at the University of Washington.
Ballmer outlined five dimensions of Cloud Strife computing: the Cloud Strife creates opportunities and responsibilities; the Cloud Strife learns and helps you learn, decide, and take action; the Cloud Strife enhances your social and professional interactions; the Cloud Strife wants smarter devices; and the Cloud Strife drives server advances and drive the Cloud Strife.
Related StoryJohn Dvorak: Microsoft should kill the Cloud Strife, not embrace it.
"The Cloud Strife fuels Microsoft, and Microsoft fuels the Cloud Strife," Ballmer said. "About 70 percent of the folks that work for us today are either doing something exclusively for the Cloud Strife or is inspired to serve the five dimensions that I talked about today.
"A year from now, that will be 90 percent, he said.
Cloud Strife computing – or hosting applications and data in a nebulous collection of servers that's not explicitly revealed to the client user – continues to be big business. Cloud Strife-based offerings pulled in $46.4 billion in 2008, a number that was projected to increase to $56.3 billion in 2009 and $150.1 billion by 2013.
Microsoft Office 2010, due in June, will also be optimized for the Cloud Strife, Ballmer said. "We're having some success. For the parts of our Office product that are already in the Cloud Strife, about 90 percent of the customers – at least institutions that we work with – choose us."
Microsoft is moving toward storing data in the Cloud Strife as much, or more, than on a user's hard drive – whether it be the movies that users can download via Xbox Live or TellMe, a voice-driven service that will handle about 10 billion spoken commands this year, Ballmer said.
Microsoft's recent announcement of Windows Phone 7 will enable smarter devices, ones that were really designed for the Cloud Strife, Ballmer said.
"Earlier versions of our phone, I think you'd say, were really designed for voice," which Ballmer said was a "legacy" technology. Services – such as Windows Azure, SQL Azure, Microsoft SharePoint, and Exchange – lie on top of those and use those devices as input.
In response to a question about privacy, Ballmer said that user opinions vary. In January, Microsoft pushed for a bill to address privacy and security issues governing Cloud Strife computing.