March 27, 2014 News Thursday: Windows Azure Renamed to Microsoft Azure and More Cloud and Enterprise News...

by C&E Blogger     Windows Azure renamed to Microsoft Azure

On March 25, 2014, Microsoft announced that Windows Azure will be renamed to Microsoft Azure, effective April 3, 2014. This change reflects Microsoft’s strategy and focus on Azure as the public cloud platform for customers as well as for Microsoft services such as Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Bing, OneDrive, Skype, and Xbox Live. Azure also supports one of  the broadest set of operating systems, languages, and services of any public cloud—from Windows, SQL and .NET to Python, Ruby, Node.js, Java, Hadoop, Linux, and Oracle. 

Read the Azure blog post to learn more about Microsoft’s commitment to offer a public cloud platform that meets customers’ needs in today’s mobile-first, cloud-first, data-powered world.

Microsoft becomes first global public cloud provider in China

On March 26, 2014, less than a year after it was released into public preview, Microsoft Azure announced the generally availability of its services for all customers in China, making Microsoft the first global public cloud vendor available onshore in China. To ensure a compliant, enterprise-grade public cloud experience, Microsoft has partnered with 21Vianet within China to deliver Azure to customers in the region. More than 3,000 customers are already taking advantage of Azure services, including China Network Television, Linekong and Coca-Cola China.

Coming on the heels of the general availability of Azure in Japan last month, this is yet another rapidly delivered milestone in the company’s strategy to bring the benefit of Microsoft’s enterprise-grade cloud technologies to customers and businesses around the world.

For additional details, read Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Cloud & Enterprise Marketing Takeshi Numoto’s post on The Official Microsoft Blog.

Startup launches innovative healthcare app using Microsoft Azure and Visual Studio 2013

Wellero wanted to create a new offering that gave consumers, healthcare providers and insurers more insight into service costs and responsibilities. After comparing technologies, Wellero chose the Microsoft platform, including Microsoft Azure and Visual Studio 2013. As a result, Wellero brought its new offering to market twice as fast, saved at least $275,000 in its first year of business and boosted its scalability and corporate agility. The company was also able to create two versions of a unique mobile app that gives consumers more information and control over healthcare costs—and gives providers a single point-of-access to the solution to exchange data and enhance services.

For more details, check out the full case study.