To help IT pros automate the provisioning and management of services deployed to the recently released Windows Azure cloud offering, Microsoft has released a new version of its Windows Azure Service Management (WASM) Cmdlets for PowerShell.
IBM will be opening up its software portfolio online to academia to enable faculty to incorporate technology into their curricula. The company said it's working with 20 United States colleges and universities to help them use a new "academic skills cloud" that includes both software and courseware. IBM said it expects to add additional schools over time.
Java clustering infrastructure provider Terracotta recently joined forces with Eucalyptus Systems, a provider of cloud computing management software, to allow large enterprises to provision clouds on the Amazon-compatible Eucalyptus cloud platform.
Academic researchers can now apply for free access to Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud services. The company's Research division announced the program Thursday in a joint press conference with the National Science Foundation (NSF), which will act as gatekeeper between researchers and the service.
Microsoft's Windows Azure and SQL Azure cloud services are now generally available, ending the free test period for those who signed up for commercial accounts last month.
With its acquisition of Sun Microsystems complete, Oracle intends to go after Microsoft's lucrative Office franchise, the company revealed yesterday. While Oracle had been quiet about its intentions for supporting Sun OpenOffice, the company disclosed plans for a forthcoming upgrade called Oracle Cloud Office during a five-hour briefing at its Redwood Shores, CA headquarters.
With its acquisition of Sun Microsystems completed, Oracle Wednesday laid out its plans for integrating Sun's software and hardware systems into its own product lineup.
Worldwide IT spending and IT department budgets across public and private sectors are set to make something of a comeback following 2009's drastic declines. Further, all major segments in IT are expected to see positive growth in 2010, according to two separate reports released this week by market research firm Gartner Inc.
Microsoft plans to continue to operate its search service in China, despite Google's recent suggestions that it might exit that market owing to Chinese government censorship practices.
VMware said Tuesday that it's acquiring Zimbra from Yahoo, extending VMware's reach beyond system virtualization.