Microsoft is a giant in the software industry and they are using whole of their strength and might to gain a foothold in the cloud computing market, which they have entered recently. They have released Office 365, the online version of the popular Microsoft Office suit, a few years back and they are showing a healthy performance report while taking on the likes of Google, which is a formidable opponent if nothing more. Windows Azure is another popular cloud service from Microsoft and this name is chosen to instill clarity, cleanliness and vastness of the blue sky which are the qualities that Microsoft claims to be found on their cloud computing suite.
Azure and Microsoft cloud computing platform targeting the start-ups and the small businesses so they don’t need to invest heavily on the installation of costly IT equipment on their premises. As the cost of installing, maintaining and inevitable upgrading of those equipment are eliminated, the small businesses have no problem in accepting this new technology. Licensing fees are another thing which the businesses want to avoid, especially during their early days. As the cloud computing platform is delivered using the “pay as you go” model, there is no need to pay for huge licensing fees upfront. Finally, Microsoft also allows you to store data on the cloud and run applications from the remote server as well. It means, whenever you have internet connection, even if you are not at work, you can access your complete set of programs and files.
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