In the News

As a leading IT services and cloud solutions provider in the region, OneAsia announced their debut as the first Asia-focused System Integrator of Microsoft Azure’s ExpressRoute. OneAsia clients can now take advantage of Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute’s ability to extend on-premises networks into the Microsoft cloud over a dedicated private connection facilitated by a connectivity provider.

Microsoft has announced the general availability of its SQL Server 2016 product, after releasing a preview build late last year. The offering comes with a couple of novelties, including the updateable in-memory column stores and advanced analytics through deep integration with R Services. SQL Server 2016 also offers advanced analytics and machine learning models in the database.

Hosting, the industry’s leading managed cloud provider, was recognized last week with the Most Innovative SQL Offering at the 2016 Microsoft Cloud and Hosting Summit. The award is granted annually to the Microsoft partner that is breaking bounds with its unique and transformative SQL Server offers. Aziz Benmalek, Vice President, Worldwide Hosting and Managed Service Providers, Microsoft, said, “HOSTING continues to deliver flexible solutions that combine Microsoft technologies with its unique expertise and services. We congratulate HOSTING on this achievement and for the outstanding value it continues to provide for our mutual customers.”

Hines, the international real estate firm, and Cousins Properties, the Atlanta-based REIT, announced that Microsoft has signed a 43,000 square-foot lease at 8000 Avalon and a 224,000 square foot Class A office development in Atlanta, GA.

New Q1 data from Synergy Research Group shows that in the burgeoning market for technology to build clouds, HPE, Cisco and Microsoft continue to lead in the three main segments: private cloud hardware, public cloud hardware and cloud infrastructure software respectively. The total cloud infrastructure market has been growing at comfortably over 20% per year, though the growth rate dropped off to 13% in Q1 as a typically soft quarter followed the end-of-year Q4 peak.

Lithium Technologies announced that Microsoft Corporation is a platinum level partner and global sponsor of LiNC ’16 (Lithium Networking Conference), the industry’s only digital customer experience conference. Jujhar Singh, General Manager, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, will present a keynote on the future of CRM and intelligent customer engagement on June 9, 2016. His presentation will provide a deeper understanding of today’s digital customer and share key insights into how businesses can maximize customer data to create more personalized brand experiences.

Lookout, the global leader in securing mobility, is partnering with Microsoft to deliver an integration of Lookout Mobile Threat Protection with Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS). Brad Anderson, corporate vice President for Microsoft’s Enterprise Client & Mobility Group, said, “Lookout shares our belief that mobility should empower employees, not restrict them. Companies should be harnessing the power of the intelligent cloud and mobile threat data to limit their exposure to potential security breaches. We are excited to be working closely together with Lookout to integrate these new capabilities with EMS.”

Microsoft has found that at least four out of ten computers in Asia Pacific countries are likely to be infected with malware. While Pakistan tops the list in the Malware Infection Index 2016, India ranks 8th on the list. It identifies the key malware threats in the region and ranks markets in Asia Pacific according to how much they are affected. Keshav Dhakad, Regional Director, IP and digital crimes unit, Microsoft Asia, said, “These malwares can steal your personal information, download more malware, or give a malicious hacker access to your PC. The findings are based on data from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC) and the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIRv20).”

Helpshift, a startup working on providing customer support experience on mobile devices, has raised about $23 million from investors led by Microsoft Ventures and Salesforce Ventures. Existing investors, including Intel Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, True Ventures and Visionnaire Ventures, also participated in the round. With this the company’s total capital raised so far is pegged at $36.2 million.

Showcasing its commitment to enhancing cyber security, Microsoft has set up a Cyber Security Engagement Centre (CSEC) in Gurgaon. The CSEC aims to drive the public-private partnership to fight cybercrime, strengthen cooperation with Indian businesses, government and academic organizations on cyber security. Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said, “Our Cyber Security Engagement Centre in Gurgaon (in Haryana) underlines our relentless commitment to security and partnering India in its digital transformation.”