Blogger: Guy Creese
I'm observing Microsoft's PDC Conference at a seven time zone distance (I'm on vacation in London ["on holiday" as they say in the UK] while PDC is taking place in Los Angeles). Microsoft so far is saying the right things--for example, that part of Azure's purpose is to blur the line between software and services. However, the devil is in the details. For example, how seamless will the experience be: for developers, for end users, for buyers (e.g., licensing), and for IT (e.g., monitoring the online and in-house services from a single, unified dashboard). In short, the announcement is heartening for enterprises and their IT departments; however, how Microsoft delivers the reality (e.g., seamlessness and pricing) will make all the difference in the world. Microsoft's current offerings are not seamless (e.g., partners at the moment can't significantly customize SharePoint when it's hosted by Microsoft) and in some cases expensive (e.g., Office vs. every other productivity suite), and continuing along the same lines just won't fly with the clients I talk to.
The announcements I was pre-briefed about under NDA take place today (I think). So I'll have to wait to offer commentary about them. Nevertheless, I would urge you to monitor what Microsoft is saying at PDC. This appears to be the largest coming out party to date for Microsoft's future direction.
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