Microsoft Datacenter Tour: Where is the Microsoft Cloud?

Microsoft & Mada announce “Imkaan” to bring technology to the disabled

Microsoft and MADA Assistive Technology Centre have together formed "Imkaan", a program that brings the benefits of information technology to disabled people in Qatar.

The joint collaboration, named after the Arabic word for “possibility”, will facilitate greater digital inclusion to people with disabilities through provision, education and innovation. The initiative will also aim to raise awareness around the potential of technology in creating opportunities for people with disabilities at work, school, and in social settings.

Mr. Mohammad Hammoudi, Country Manager, Microsoft Qatar, said: "Empowering people through the use of technology and providing the opportunity to do so is something Microsoft is committed to, and by joining up with MADA Assistive Technology Centre we are able to better empower disabled people in the country. With the Centre’s extensive work in Qatar and the organization’s relationship with the disabled community, we have been able to place the technology that will provide new opportunities for maximum accessibility. Training of IT professionals on ensuring access to ICT for all is also core to aiding the initiative to reach the largest number of people."

The project is set to comprise four essential pillars to achieve its goal:

• Community Support: Placement of technologies, such as Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Lync, Microsoft SharePoint, Kinect and Windows Live Messenger in various environments including the MADA Assistive Technology Centre resource centre and Hamad Medical Corporation facilities to connect people with disabilities to the world of ICT.
• Capacity Building: Providing digital literacy materials to the disabled community while training the IT community in Qatar on accessibility standards.
• Empowerment: Addressing the personal technological needs of disabled individuals by providing Microsoft software to people with disabilities in Qatar, providing technical support and encouraging the disabled to embrace technology without the concerns of financial barriers.
• Innovation: Applying research and development initiatives within Qatar in the field of assistive technologies while opening new areas of capacity development for the student and workforce community in Qatar.

It’s Official: Microsoft to acquire Skype

Microsoft today released a press release confirming that they will acquire Skype.

The interesting bits, quoted below:

The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services.

With 170 million connected users and over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010, Skype has been a pioneer in creating rich, meaningful connections among friends, families and business colleagues globally. Microsoft has a long-standing focus and investment in real-time communications across its various platforms, including Lync (which saw 30 percent revenue growth in Q3), Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail and Xbox LIVE.

Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.

Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Steve Ballmer.

I believe that this is a very strategic decision and will invariably have a positive impact on the way businesses and consumers communicate. The Skype acquisition is undoubtedly a prominent milestone in our continued success as a company that looks into the world and sees opportunities to do more with technology – technology that will empower and enable people.

Microsoft wins “Most Ethical” Award

Microsoft made it to the list of the 2011 World’s Most Ethical Companies ranking by Ethisphere in March 2011.

The ranking covered companies from various industries. In the computer software industry only Microsoft, Adobe, Salesforce, Symantec and Teradata made it to the list.

Interesting to note that companies like Apple, Facebook and “don’t be evil” Google did not make it to the list.

Ethical. And Social too.

Last year, Microsoft also topped the list of the world’s “most social” companies, thanks to the hundreds of Microsoft employees that reach out to the public through blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

What is a cloud? (and why should I care)

The ‘cloud’ is definitely an often used (and misused) buzz word in today’s technology industry. So what exactly is a cloud? What is a cloud made of? Is it any different from hosting? These are some of the matters that I will address in this post.

So what is a cloud?

Wikipedia defines Cloud Computing as “internet-based computing, whereby shared servers provide resources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand, as with the electricity grid. Cloud computing is a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architecture and utility computing. Details are abstracted from consumers, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control over, the technology infrastructure “in the cloud” that supports them.” (retrieved Jan 6, 2011)

Let’s take a closer look and break it down a bit.

“…shared servers provide resources…”

So the cloud is made of shared servers working together in a manner that results in the abstraction of the underlying infrastructure from the user or the consumer.

“…on demand…”

The cloud is elastic, which means, it can scale to any extent to help you manage utilization “spikes”, just like an electricity grid. If your business application or website suddenly requires more resources or above normal utilization due to that marketing campaign you just launched, the cloud will be able to provision and make available resources to you “on the fly” during your time of need and then “de-provision” these resources when utilization is back to normal. Because the cloud abstracts the underlying infrastructure, this entire process is invisible to the consumer.

“…a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architecture and utility computing.”

By now, you would have realized it. If you need shared servers working together, abstracted from the user, dynamically scalable to any business demand – you need virtualization. But, does simply having the leanest, meanest hypervisor in the market help you implement the cloud? No. It is as important that you have a robust management solution. If your abstracted infrastructure cannot understand how a utilization spike on your application looks like, how will you be able to provide “on demand” services to your users? If your cloud infrastructure does not have visibility on the health of your ‘service’, how can it predict or understand a need to scale up dynamically?

Without doubt, management is an indispensable component of the cloud. I explained this in greater detail in an earlier post.

This is why System Center, with components like Operations Manager, Virtual Machine Manager and Opalis are key players in your journey to hosting your own ‘private’ cloud.

“Details are abstracted from consumers, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control over, the technology infrastructure ‘in the cloud’ that supports them”

This re-affirms the abstraction of the underlying infrastructure. The business does not need to know what hardware, operating environment or hypervisor you’re running on. All the business cares about is the ‘service’. To be able to ensure availability the ‘service’ at any scale that the business requires dynamically, abstracting everything else is a key characteristic of the cloud.

Hosting vs. Cloud:
So is the cloud what my hosting provider offers me?

Well, it depends. Many hosting providers today state that they bring you the cloud. In reality, some of them actually do, others don’t. The key message here is that mere server hosting is not cloud. Only when the benefits I discussed above are realized, then behold — we have a cloud.

If your “cloud” hosting provider states something like they will give you a ‘dedicated’ HP blade server with 2.5GHz Processor, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SAN storage, 80 GB backup storage, a dedicated Cisco firewall and a 1 TB monthly traffic included – chances are they have missed the cloud by a mile!

Why? Because they are simply not providing you a cloud – shared servers that provision resources on demand. Instead, they are just giving you a hosted server. There is no elasticity, no dynamic resource provision and no abstraction. In a real cloud, you wouldn’t know what hardware spec you’re running on, simply because it doesn’t remain constant – just as your business doesn’t remain constant.

Interesting. So why should I care about the cloud?

My colleague Michael Mansour lists out top 10 reasons why the cloud is changing the consumer and business landscape. His post is definitely worth a read.

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‘Stop Press’ Humor: Wikipedia also defines ‘cloud’ as a visible mass of water droplets or frozen ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. Certainly not the cloud we’re talking about!

Craig Mundie at Doha, Qatar

Craig Mundie, Chief Research & Strategy Officer at Microsoft was in Qatar yesterday and spoke to customers at a TechTalk jointly organized by Microsoft QSTP and the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) at the Four Seasons Hotel yesterday evening.

Craig Mundie provided great insight into the current research being done at Microsoft, the “client+cloud” strategy, and the trends in modern computing. He discussed how these trends will create a startling transformation in how humans and computers interact, and how computers will increasingly work on our behalf, rather than at our command.

Earlier in the day, he spoke on similar lines to students and faculty at Qatar University.

Microsoft and Qtel sign strategic alliance

Based on content from Microsoft PressPass

Microsoft Corporation and Qatar Telecom (Qtel) announced on Feb. 17 the signing of a broad strategic alliance to bring together integrated cloud-based services, software applications, mobile services and devices over Qtel’s converged network. The alliance aims to expand Qtel’s service portfolio, helping redefine the digital work style and lifestyle of their subscribers. The announcement was made at Mobile World Congress 2010.

Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO of Qtel, said Qtel and Microsoft would collaborate to deliver truly integrated and innovative communications services to business and consumer markets.

"This is an important alliance that will deliver world-leading services and applications from Microsoft over Qtel’s world-class networks to make a real difference in people’s lives all made available through a seamless one-click, one-touch user experience," Marafih said. "Qtel’s efforts will add a distinct element of mobility and connectivity to enrich the overall experience for people, to make the technology truly come alive.

"For businesses, Qtel will deliver unified communications offerings — a combination of telephony, e-mail, mobility, conferencing, collaboration and tools like ‘presence’  to fuel a sense of real possibility and potential across the region."

The first products are planned to be introduced in the market by mid-2010.

Photo: Qtel.qa

"Together we’re building a road map to deliver rich, connected experiences," Mulinder said. "Spanning TV, PC and mobile devices, these new services will bring differentiation for Qtel and deliver compelling new scenarios for consumers and businesses.", said Austen Mulinder, corporate vice president for the Communications Sector at Microsoft.

In its first phase, Qtel and Microsoft plan to run mobile e-learning pilot projects in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman aimed at providing students and teachers with the ability to easily communicate, collaborate and access various educational services, using solutions including Windows® Phone and the Windows Live platform.

Other services contemplated under this alliance include the delivery of value-added services across the PC, phone, TV and gaming with the goal of bringing consumers closer to experiencing seamless digital entertainment experiences across the many screens in their lives.