Amazon got a head start in the cloud computing arena by launching Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) where people can run applications without having to buy their own servers or set up their own networks. Now, says Amazon's Werner Vogels:
With today's announcement that Microsoft Windows Server is available on Amazon EC2 we can now run the majority of popular software systems in the cloud. Windows Server ranked very high on the list of requests by customers so we are happy that we will be able to provide this.
Vogels adds: "In past weeks I met with a number of folks from the entertainment industry and often their first question was: when can we run on Windows?" These folks have WMV videos, which makes me wonder if Amazon is going to support porn sites, where WMV is the standard.
He also says: "several customers would like to maintain a global single Windows-based desktop environment using Microsoft Remote Desktop". I sincerely hope you never have to work for a company that thinks this is a good idea….
While Amazon may assure us it is responding to customer demand, the fact is, the customer demand isn't new. However, what is new is that Microsoft is about to unveil a rival service, running Windows for Cloud Computing (unless they come up with a zappier name for a "hypothetical Microsoft service possibly called Red Dog, or possibly not").
Suffice it to say, if you are going to Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles (October 27-30), then you'll be one of the first to see the Windows Cloud, as well as getting a free copy of Windows 7.
As I also pointed out earlier this year in the context of Live Mesh:
Providing what is, in effect, an operating system for the web is going to take a lot of computer power, and Microsoft is building several $500m data centres. It has opened one near Seattle, is building others in Chicago and San Antonio, and plans one in Dublin. This is serious.
Providing cloud services makes sense if you are already in the business of running giant server farms, as both Amazon and Google are. It isn't Microsoft's prime business, but it does run server farms to support Hotmail, Spaces, SkyDrive, Office Live and similar services, Microsoft Search, and Windows Update. It's also getting into the business of doing hosted CRM and Microsoft Exchange services, so it probably does have the economies of scale to be competitive.
However, I don't expect Microsoft's offering to be cheap, for three reasons. First, I expect it will want to market the service via resellers and partners, so they get a cut of the profits; that adds to the price. Second, Microsoft won't want to make its offering so attractive that it makes a serious dent in corporate sales of server software. Third, it will be a Microsoft-based solution backed by Microsoft's huge cash resources, so it has the ability to squeeze rivals on price. It will therefore try hard not to do this, in order to stop the US Justice Department and EC from jumping on its neck. (Anti-trust actions are great for keeping prices up and adding to Microsoft's profits.)
