Microsoft aims to persuade more firms into the cloud

Microsoft aims to persuade more firms into the cloud

Microsoft is aiming to persuade more customers to adopt cloud computing by introducing cloud services to its own system.

The Windows Server and System Center system will link directly to the Azure cloud in updated versions introduced later this month. It is part of the software giant’s efforts to ease more businesses into the cloud and get around issues with IT support and budgets that have put off a wider uptake. Users will be able to connect with 13 Azure data centres worldwide.

Microsoft executive Satya Nadella said: “Azure is a new operating system, designed not just for our cloud, but for anybody to build a cloud with. We've taken all the capabilities available on Azure and stood them up on Windows Server. Early feedback is that it is quite robust.”

Microsoft is confident the system will persuade more users to move into cloud computing because they are already familiar with the tools it supplies businesses to build their cloud. Azure has been around since 2010, originally aimed at developers seeking a cloud platform. It became available for general use earlier this year.

Although businesses will find cloud versions of software they are already comfortable using, Microsoft said it had redeveloped the systems to be suitable for cloud computing.

The introduction comes after a survey revealed earlier this month that British businesses have been slow in adopting cloud technology because of worries about regulations and the security of their data.

Just over a third of UK companies are now estimated to use the cloud but more than two in 10 do not because of these concerns. Three in 10 told the WideAngle poll that they had no intention of making the switch. The number of UK businesses that don’t want to convert to cloud computing was higher than the global average of 14 per cent.

Businesses looking to move services into the cloud should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.