Azure

Microsoft is making it simpler for business applications in its Azure cloud to automatically turn services up and down as demand requires and for apps to incorporate features of Office 365, company executives told the Build 2013 developer conference.

Microsoft's successes, including Azure and Office 365, suggest the company's culture may finally be changing.

Citrix Systems is making its cloud-based storage service ShareFile more Microsoft-friendly with SharePoint integration and the ability to store data on Azure.

Microsoft is adding to its Azure cloud service offerings and lowering prices in order to attract customers who may already have chosen another service provider, experts say, but it might not be enough.

Microsoft is pushing Azure cloud service to the 5,000 attendees at its management conference this week, encouraging them to take advantage of the system now for specific tasks but to keep in mind that it fits into a full-blown hybrid-cloud framework that may become more attractive to them over time.

Microsoft Azure's cloud outperformed Amazon Web Services in a series of rigorous tests conducted by Nasuni, a storage vendor that annually benchmarks cloud service providers (CSPs).

With the release of the first service pack for Microsoft System Center 2012, Microsoft is taking another step in its ambitious goal of helping customers manage their on-premises IT and Microsoft Azure cloud services with a single set of IT management controls.

Microsoft is the latest to drop the price of its cloud computing services, following two price cuts each by Google and Amazon Web Services.

Microsoft is intertwining Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Windows Azure to help developers build multiplatform, cloud-friendly apps

Company claims system requirements will be the same as those of Visual Studio 2010 despite performance increases