In the News

New Q3 data from Synergy Research Group shows that HPE, Cisco and Microsoft continue to lead in the three main data center infrastructure market segments — enterprise data center hardware, service provider data center hardware and data center software respectively. Cisco continues to lead in service provider hardware and Data center software is totally dominated by Microsoft.

Microsoft and Red hat have come a step closer on the emerging platform of cloud. Red Hat has added support for Microsoft’s Azure cloud to its latest release of CloudForms hybrid cloud management. With the support of Azure Microsoft shops will be able to manage Azure Workloads and resources from within cloudform.

Microsoft India plans to sign a 4G data-bundling pact with India’s No 1 carrier Bharti AirtelBSE -0.70 % to encourage the latter’s customers to buy the recently launched Lumia 4G smartphones. “Microsoft India is keen to partner with Bharti Airtel for a 4G data-bundling pact, wherein their customers may be able to double their data packs for free on purchasing our Windows 10 Lumia 4G devices such as the 950, 950 XL and the soon-to-launched Lumia 550,” said Ajey Mehta, Country Head, Mobile Devices, Microsoft India.

Story telling is an art and now with Sway you have a chance to bring this art alive. A digital storytelling app on Office 2016, Sway makes it quick and easy to create and share interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, and more for work, school and home. Tell your story with interactive content, bring your presentations to life with interesting multimedia content, add videos, tweets, vines, GIFs and interactive charts to your presentation without any effort. The most robust, dynamic storytelling tool, Sway is for the cloud-first, mobile-first world that is extremely user-friendly and interactive.

Microsoft Ventures said it will soon take start ups, which are part of its accelerator programme, to the US to connect them with investors and potential customers. “This year, we will really push on to bring companies to the US, especially in San Francisco and New York. The important criteria is picking the start ups when they are ready to sell to its core global customers,” Scott Coleman, General Manager, Microsoft Ventures, said.

Uber’s product team has now upgraded its smartphone only experience into an all-round Window Universal app. The cool bit to note here is that you can now actually call for an Uber ride from your desktop. Microsoft has commented that users will just need to register with their mobile number (like always) on the desktop app and you can book a ride directly from your desktop without the need to touch your Windows 10 powered smartphone.

Think Next 2015 – a forum that brought thought leaders in technology driving transformation via innovation together under one roof – concluded. The forum not only saw the participation of more than 800 delegates from leading corporates, investors, thought leaders and delegates from Microsoft who partnered to push the collaborative innovation agenda for the ecosystem, but also witnessed the graduation of Microsoft Ventures’ winter batch 2015.

Partners are calling for tighter integration between Cisco and Microsoft as the networking leader starts to dive deeper into collaboration with the revamping of Cisco Spark. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, in a statement to CRN: “We see great potential in our current relationship with Cisco and continue to seek out new partnership opportunities that provide the greatest benefit to our mutual customers.”

Microsoft provides greater flexibility and support for critical IT deployment needs, according to Keitt. Office 365 customers have more options when it comes to licensing for apps and data that will be hosted by Microsoft partners; access to the platform in a shared environment; and using dedicated Office 365 environments. “Google doesn’t provide that deployment flexibility,” Keitt says, and adds that Google for Work only supports multi-tenancy deployments. Microsoft’s strengths are particularly appealing to Forbes Global 2000 companies, according to Keitt.

According to Shannon Loftis, General Manager of Microsoft Studios, the company treats gamers as consumers so it fits within their plans. “I think one of the best reasons for Microsoft to continue to engage in games is just because gamers are also consumers,” Loftis in an interview. “That loyalty, the passion that they bring to their gaming and entertainment experiences, the communities that they build,” he added.