A Window Into Microsoft's Conundrum

Forbes.com
Then there's Azure, the ambitious project to create a new platform for customers to outsource critical computing functions to Microsoft data centers (“the Internet cloud”). The system, of course, competes with traditional products like Windows and Microsoft's software for big corporate servers, which companies run themselves. "There is going to be conflict" between the old and new products, says Narinder Singh, chief marketing officer for Silicon Valley startup Appirio, which helps companies implement cloud computing. Microsoft is also playing catch-up to cloud providers like Google and Amazon.com.