Microsoft aims for the clouds

Microsoft has been making swift developments in its infrastructure products to ensure it is expanding its business offerings as competitors launch innovative technologies beyond the capabilities of existing Microsoft products. Steve Ballmer has recently been interviewed by nearly every major IT publication following his key note speech at his company’s London conference “Technologies to Change Your Business: How Customers Are Implementing Tomorrow’s Strategies Today”.

We have seen Google advance its development to become a key player in the provision of software, and with Cloud Computing becoming a hot topic companies seeking alternatives to existing outdated or inefficient systems need to think seriously about sustainable infrastructures rather than fashionable technologies.

At Calsoft we discover many of our customers have a number of products patched together to create a network of data management, however more often than not these systems do not communicate to provide a consolidation of information and data. For any company looking to reengineer its IT infrastructure, a multiplatform system should utilise existing tools that can be applied throughout the organisation and integrated with each other to maximise the return of investment in these products.

While we were at Oracle Openworld 2008 CEO Larry Ellison, of Oracle, of which Calsoft ES is a certified advantage partner, said that ‘cloud computing’ is just a fad, in fact Oracle has been doing it for years. And I quote: “The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women’s fashion. Cloud Computing…. It is the most nonsensical. I mean I read these articles … I have no idea what anybody is talking about. I mean it is really just complete gibberish.”

There are a lot of buzz words in the technology industry, but to make the most of any existing system without wasting finances – it is essential businesses understand the capabilities of existing systems before implementing a whole new infrastructure.