Microsoft’s Technologies Mean Business, From Client to Cloud

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by STB Blogger

This morning at TechEd North America in New Orleans, Microsoft Server and Tools (STB) Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson delivered the opening keynote, demonstrating how Microsoft’s new portfolio of solutions will help businesses thrive in the era of cloud computing and connected devices. The keynote featured enterprise customers such as Aston Martin and EasyJet.  Information about the day’s news can be found in the TechEd North America press release, and in the blogs linked below.  Also check out the Official Microsoft Blog post by STB president Satya Nadella where he shares an email he sent to employees about Microsoft and the enterprise cloud era.  

 News highlights from today’s event include:

  • Introduction of upcoming releases of enterprise solutions for hybrid cloud: Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, Windows Intune and SQL Server 2014, which break down boundaries between datacenters for true hybrid cloud capabilities. The In the Cloud blog from Brad Anderson and the SQL Server blog from Corporate Vice President Quentin Clark have more information on these releases.
  • New capabilities for Windows Azure: The public preview of Windows Azure BizTalk Services for enterprise integration solutions on premises and in the cloud; new industry-leading per-minute billing for Virtual Machines, Web Roles and Worker Roles that improve cloud economics for customers; and preview availability of SSL for sites hosted on Windows Azure Web Sites in reserved instances, a key security feature for websites hosted in cloud environments.  For more information, take a look at today’s Windows Azure blog, as well as a blog post from Scott Guthrie.
  • Empowering enterprise employees: New features in Windows 8.1 improve mobile productivity, while security enhancements such as fingerprint-based biometrics and multi-factor authentication on tablets protect corporate data and applications. And improved management capabilities in Windows 8.1 give customers more flexibility with supported options like System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2 and new mobile device management (MDM) solutions with third-party MDM partners, in addition to updated Windows Intune support. For more details, head over to the Windows for your Business blog.
  • Supporting modern application development: The introduction of Visual Studio 2013 and new collaboration capabilities for development teams in Team Foundation Service and Visual Studio 2013, as well as new benefits for Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers that give developers more flexibility for developing and testing apps on Windows Azure. Microsoft also announced an agreement to acquire InCycle Software Inc.’s In Release Business Unit, a leading release management solution for Microsoft .NET and Windows Server applications. For more information about these announcements, check out the blog from Developer Division Corporate Vice President S. Somasegar.

 For more information on the news delivered at TechEd North America 2013, please visit the virtual press room and follow the conversation on Twitter at #MSTechEd.