Amazon.com’s computer-rental service seems to have made its way from infancy to adolescence in a smooth fashion.
Earlier today, the online retailer began reaching out to customers of its EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) service to let them know that Microsoft’s business software would soon be an option. The nod to Microsoft will include the Windows Server operating system and SQL Server database software, allowing customers to buy access to physical servers running this software on a per use basis.
Need 10 Windows servers today and 20 next month? No problem. Amazon will handle all of the hardware costs and installation work. Customers can just log into their servers via the Internet.
Last week, Amazon also welcomed Oracle’s database to the EC2 service.
The addition of Oracle and Microsoft shows Amazon heading toward large, business customers with its variety of “cloud computing” services for renting software, storage space and processing cycles.
Up until this point, Amazon had focused on supporting software such as the open-source Linux operating system and MySQL database, which are often associated with Internet start-ups and companies that move a lot of web traffic, such as Google and Yahoo.
As a result, Amazon’s new services had tended to appeal to younger companies. By adding mainstream business software, Amazon appears to have expanded its ambitions with an eye toward attracting large businesses.
Amazon said its expects to roll out the Microsoft support this Fall.
4 Comments
Amazon.com’s “hidden asset” is becoming visible. While many of us tend to define the future of Amazon.com as an Internet retailer, their movement into cloud computing could become just as important in terms of revenue growth opportunities.
http://insidedigitalmedia.com/a-hidden-asset-at-amazoncom/
— Phil LeighI did not do this to stop customers using MySQL, I embraced Amazon because I wanted to. I did it all by myself, I was not forced by watching my customers disappear into the MySQL cloud.
— Larry EllisonAdding Windows Server support is good move for Amazon. There are many enterprise scenario’s where Cloud Computing makes sense but Windows is a requirement. The Cloud Economics then depend on the usage model and alternative costs. For a simple example cost comparison take a look at:
http://TechInstigator.com
— Chris FleckThis is promising…
It means Amazon will now have to provide a real Service Level Agreement (SLA) for EC2 before enterprises start sitting in their cloud..
— Fritz - California