Internet Changes Everything

July 27, 2007

Microsoft's Ozzie opens up on Internet 'cloud' services

Microsoft's Ozzie opens up on Internet 'cloud' services | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Posted by Martin LaMonica Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie provided a fresh take of the technical components at the heart of its online services push on Thursday. Speaking at the Microsoft Financial Analysts Day, Ozzie spelled out in greatest detail yet the work he has led on "cloud" Internet services. During the next 12 to 18 months, Microsoft will introduce software and hosted services designed to enhance its current product line and derive more revenue from advertising-supported Web services, Ozzie said.

Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Echoing comments he made in an interview with CNET News.com
earlier this year, he said Microsoft is preparing a multi-layered
platform designed to build and run Web-based services or on-premise
software coupled with services.

This platform will be made available to all its customers, including
business partners, consumers, business customers and software
developers. It is part of the wider industry shift from software to
software plus services, he said.

"We are the only company with a platform DNA to viably delivery this
kind of highly leveraged platform approach to services and we're
certainly one of the few companies that has the financial capacity to
capitalize on this sea change" he said.

At the foundation of Microsoft's services architecture is what Ozzie
called Global Foundation Services, the managed computing gear at
Microsoft data centers for running Internet applications.

Next he referred to Cloud Infrastructure Services, the software tuned
for utility computing, where outsiders can purchase computing resources
as needed.

Cloud Infrastructure Services is "a utility computing fabric on which
online services run. It has an efficient, virtualized computing layer
application framework that supports different application models for
horizontal scaling, the infrastructure for automatic deployment of
services" along with storage of different types of data, Ozzie said. It
will also have network services software for serving up information to
people over the Internet.

Live Platform Services, the next layer, is a set of largely
consumer-oriented services, such as verifying a person's user name and
password, social-networking services, and other communications-oriented
tools. Microsoft's AdCenter ad-service software will be part of this
suite of services.

Ozzie said Microsoft is designing this infrastructure so that
consumers can access online services from a range of devices, including
its Xbox gaming device, PCs, its Zune digital music player, and phones.

Microsoft can also analyze consumer online behavior coming from its data center for more targeted advertising, he added.

For business customers, Microsoft's strategy is to offer enterprises a
choice of either on-premise software, Microsoft-hosted services such as
outsourced e-mail, or hosted services from Microsoft partners.

Corporations could contract with Microsoft for utility
computing-like services, where they would essentially rent computing
power or storage capacity to meet anticipated spikes in demand, Ozzie
said.

Ozzie stayed clear of making specific product announcements
except to say that his goal is to encourage every software developer at
Microsoft to add an online services components to all its products.

"The biggest services opportunity is a services relationship to our classic software products," he said.

July 27, 2007 at 01:49 AM in Microsoft | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home