Microsoft has launched a raft of new partnerships and products to remove barriers to Cloud adoption as Gartner predicts almost half of all businesses will adopt hybrid Cloud by 2017.
Microsoft vice-president, Cloud and enterprise division, Brad Anderson, said mobility and Cloud were the future of business, "and the future is now."
“Our differentiated Cloud innovations, comprehensive mobile productivity solutions and developer tools help all of our customers realize the true potential of the Cloud era," he said.
Microsoft has used the TechEd North American forum to launch a range of new products including private connections to the Cloud.
Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute enables customers to create private connections between Azure and on-premises environments.
Through alliances with providers such as AT&T, BT, Equinix, Level 3, SingTel, TelecityGroup, Verizon and Zadara Storage, ExpressRoute offers enterprises new options for embracing the Cloud, including fast speeds, security and reliability features, and low latency.
Available in preview, Microsoft Azure Files streamlines Cloud storage by enabling a single file share from multiple virtual machines, helping save customers time and money.
It has also announced the availability of compute-intensive virtual machine sizes, in-region and cross-region virtual networking connections, and reserved IP addresses.
Also available in preview is Azure API Management which lets customers improve inter-departmental information sharing and create new business models by exposing APIs through the Cloud.
Next month, it will release in preview, Azure Site Recovery, formerly Hyper-V Recovery Manager.
This enables enhanced, cost-effective disaster recovery in the Cloud.
With this new capability, customers can replicate and recover virtual machines and services to Azure in the event of an outage at their primary datacentre.
There will also be new Microsoft Antimalware for Azure, available in preview. It offers customers the ability to install an anti-malware agent for both Cloud services and virtual machines.
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In addition, Microsoft announced solutions with Cloud security partners Symantec and Trend Micro that integrate with Azure virtual machines.
Beginning in July, Microsoft will begin to deploy new encryption technology for Microsoft Office 365 business customers, ensuring that every file stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business is encrypted with its own key for highly secure content storage.
In June, existing Data Loss Prevention capabilities available in Exchange will now expand to include documents stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business for Office 365 E3 enterprise customers. Data Loss Prevention helps prevent the sharing of sensitive content inside and outside an organization.
Later this year, Intune and Office 365 will deliver mobile productivity across Office for iPad, iPhone and Android phones including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook Web App.
Part of the Enterprise Mobility Suite, Intune will also deliver a tool to help customers manage existing iOS and Android line-of-business apps.
Available in preview, Azure RemoteApp helps companies give mobile employees access to Windows applications across a range of devices. Combining Microsoft’s powerful Remote Desktop Services capabilities with the scale and cost efficiencies of Microsoft Azure, RemoteApp will help end users stay productive on the go and enable IT to easily scale and meet customer needs.
Microsoft also announced a series of tooling and framework updates that enable enterprise developers to embrace development opportunities with next-generation Cloud and mobile applications, including optimised .NET for the Cloud, advanced mobile development and agile software development.
