September 13, 2012 News Thursday: WebMatrix V2 Released to Web, Windows Azure Online Backup Revealed, and more Server and Tools news!

by STB Blogger

WebMatrix V2 Released to Web
WebMatrix V2 shipped for RTW this week, and it includes new Windows Azure functionality. A lightweight web development tool, WebMatrix lets you quickly install and publish popular open source applications or built-in templates. Several features have been added since V1, including fast install of open source apps such as Joomla!, WordPress, Drupal, DotNetNuke and Umbraco, and new built-in templates for PHP, Node.js and HTML5, and mobile support for all templates.

To learn more, read the Windows Azure blog post.

Windows Azure Online Backup Revealed
Last week, the Windows Azure team announced its newest feature, Windows Azure Online Backup. This service will allow customers to manage cloud backups from familiar interfaces in Windows Server 2012, Small Business Server 8 and System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager. Furthermore, Windows Azure Online Backup will provide a consistent experience for configuring, monitoring and recovering backups across on-premise and cloud storage.

For additional information, check out the Windows Azure Online Backup webpage or the Windows Azure blog post.

Windows Azure Active Directory Enhancements
Three major enhancements were added to the Windows Azure Active Directory (AD) Developer Preview: the ability to create a standalone Windows Azure AD tenant, a preview of the Directory Management User Interface and the power to write support in the proprietary Graph API. These enhancements will allow the Windows Azure AD Preview to become a standalone cloud directory with a user experience supported by a simple yet robust set of developer API’s. Users are encouraged to try the enhancements and provide feedback directly to the product team. 

Read the Windows Azure blog post to learn more.

ESG Survey Reveals 90% of IT Decision Makers Are Deploying or Plan to Deploy Windows Server 2012 
A recent survey by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) revealed that 90% of respondents are deploying or plan to deploy Windows Server 2012 within 24 months. The survey of nearly 450 IT decision makers in the U.S. and Western Europe was conducted in June 2012. Findings include:  

• 51% of respondents familiar with Windows Server 2012 found server virtualization to be an important product capability, while 49% cited private cloud enablement.
• The top reasons organizations deployed Windows Sever Hyper-V  are:
  • Operating System Upgrade – 39%
  • Economics – 36%
  • Product Capability – 35%
  • Skills Alignment  – 34%
  • Automation – 30%
• 42% of organizations are already providing IT Services via a private cloud. Microsoft’s private cloud technology is based on Windows Server Hyper-V and the System Center 2012.

More details on these results can be found here.

As you can see, there is great momentum for Windows Server 2012. If you missed the Windows Server 2012 Launch news last week, you can learn more here.  Check out this infographic to see more from customers already using Windows Server 2012 to realize the promise of cloud computing.