Microsoft, Fujitsu in 'Cloud' Tie-Up
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Fujitsu Ltd. have decided to team up in cloud computing, and will likely announce the tie-up in the coming week, a person familiar with the matter said Saturday.
The alliance between the U.S. software giant and the major Japanese technology service firm comes as IT industry players world-wide are pinning their hopes on the expected diffusion of next-generation computing services that are accessed online. Cloud computing is Internet-based and provides resources, software, and information to computers and other devices on demand.
The tie-up would allow Microsoft to take advantage of Fujitsu’s data centers and customer base, with Fujitsu offering Microsoft’s Windows Azure, which gives Internet-based access to Windows software stored at data centers, the person said. Fujitsu plans to set up platforms for cloud computing at its existing data centers in the U.K., Australia, Singapore, Germany and the U.S. by the end of the current fiscal year.
