Weekly #WhyMSFT Round-Up 4/13/2012

Each week, we round up industry news and articles you might have missed. Enjoy this week’s selections.

Office 365 Registers Increased Adoption in Italy
“The Microsoft cloud solution has given us a totally reliable and redundant system for managing communications among employees, customers and suppliers,” Fabio Salvotti, chief information officer at Leroy Merlin said.

Office 365 for the Large Enterprise
There will always be certain types of data large enterprises want to keep in-house, but doesn't the idea of the regular documents, which hold no business IP but just necessary tasks, out in the cloud sound appealing?

Microsoft Lync Pilot Aids AstraZeneca Sales Rep, Researcher Collaboration
Biopharmaceutical vendor AstraZeneca has launched a unified communications pilot using Microsoft Lync to improve collaboration among pharmaceutical sales reps, doctors and researchers.

Cloud, SaaS Adoption Grow Among Small Businesses: Microsoft
“Growth companies want a scalable environment that can meet their expanding needs, with an affordable, pay-as-you-go pricing model that eliminates the need for over-investment in IT,” the report noted.

Computing Future is Name of the Game for Microsoft's Craig Mundie
Microsoft spends $9 billion a year on research and development. The number includes product development, but it is larger than the National Science Foundation's $6.9 billion budget last year.

Nokia Lumia 900 is a Bold Comeback Move
I like the hardware, and I like the operating system. Windows Phone is fresh and different from iOS and Android, and offers a strong alternative to the status quo.