Microsoft Unveils New Cloud-Based CRM Offering
Microsoft on Tuesday showcased examples of how government organizations are using the recently announced Microsoft Dynamics CRM to improve citizen services, reduce operational costs and boost productivity. Unveiled yesterday by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is the cloud service of the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 solution that is helping both public and private-sector organizations respond to the people they serve efficiently.
Metafile Predicts Cloud Computing Will Take Center Stage
"Over the past year, a cross-industry call for more paperless process automation has cultivated the need to deliver that automation in more ways to address a wider array of business challenges than ever before," said Nick Sprau, vice president of marketing with Metafile. "In 2011, cloud-based delivery of AP and AR automation technology will continue to increase, as will the technology’s use in managing evolving 1099 reporting requirements and intensifying transactional demands in the retail sector."…
Microsoft cloud CRM takes on Salesforce, Siebel
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online – the cloud version of Dynamics CRM 2011 – is now available. The on-premise and partner-hosted versions won’t be released until the end of February.
Microsoft is using the launch of Dynamics CRM Online to go after Salesforce.com and Oracle customers.
This starts with an promotional price of $A42.25 per user per month (available until June 30, and applying only to the first 12 months of service).
Tale of Two Surveys: Opinions on Cloud Security Differ
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my years in journalism, it’s that you have to take surveys with a grain (or sometimes a whole shaker) of salt. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen surveys with similar questions yield wildly different results, depending on the size and composition of the sample, the way the questions are asked, who asks them, etc., etc.
Cloud computing summit planned for Auckland
Business owners in New Zealand may be interested in attending a summit on the topic of cloud computing that is set to take place in Auckland next month.
The event is due to be held on February at a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the city, with speakers from Microsoft and IT analyst Gartner set to be in attendance, reports the TechDay website.
With the conference being organised by the former company, among the topics up for discussion will be the myths, challenges and opportunities related to cloud computing.
Meet Elastic Beanstalk, Amazon’s PaaS Play
Amazon Web Services, which popularized cloud computing with its Elastic Compute Cloud and Simple Storage Service, has moved up the stack from infrastructure to providing Amazon Elastic Beanstalk, its Platform-as-a-Service play. However, Amazon is layering its PaaS offering on top of its other services in a way that’s easily reversed, which means developers can take the easy way out of developing on Beanstalk, or they can peel back the platform to manually provision and tweak their underlying VMs if they want.