Microsoft today announced several upcoming features to both its public Microsoft Azure services, as its private cloud solution based on Windows Server and System Center. CEO Satya Nadella stated that more than 80 percent of the Fortune 500 is using the Microsoft Cloud and that by the end of 2014, Microsoft Azure will be operational in 19 countries around the world.
For Microsoft Azure Microsoft announced new G-Series of Virtual Machines and Premium storage and new partners in the Azure Marketplace:
- Cloudera providing enterprise analytics and data management
- CoreOS, a container based Linux OS
For Windows Server and System Center Microsoft announced the Microsoft Cloud Platform System (CPS), a Windows Server, System Center and Windows Azure Pack (WAP) preconfigured configuration build on top of DELL Hardware.
Mary Jo Foley from ZDNet provides some more detailed information about the news in her article: “Microsoft launches Azure cloud in a box“. The title itself is a little bit misleading though suggesting that microsoft would put its public Azure technology in an appliance, which isn’t the case.