Microsoft’s secret weapon for growth in the cloud

SAN FRANCISCO: In reporting better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings on January 28, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella touted his company’s success in the cloud. “Businesses everywhere are using the Microsoft Cloud as their digital platform to drive their ambitious transformation agendas,” he said. When companies begin moving data to the cloud, typically a network

of servers managed by an outside company, a common first step is to move email, often with other office software tools but sometimes on its own. For companies already relying on Microsoft Exchange and Outlook for sending and receiving email, information technology managers say, turning to the same company to handle that data in the cloud seems like a logical move. The company announced on January 28 that it was on track to generate USD 9.4 billion in annual cloud-based revenue, up from USD

5.5 billion a year ago. As cloud services rapidly expand, Microsoft will have to demonstrate that its products are equal to, or better than, those of its competitors in both quality and price.