Cloud reduces energy consumption

A Microsoft study bears out what environmentally-conscious companies have hoped for all along: cloud computing has the potential to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30%, reveals eWeek.

Large data centres, like those run by tech giants Microsoft and Google, benefit from economies of scale and operational efficiencies, according to the study.

Small businesses, of about 100 users, moving business applications away from on-site servers into the cloud can see net energy and carbon savings of more than 90%, the researchers wrote.

With 240 million copies sold, Windows 7 has certainly been hugely successful, according to Ars Technica.

Windows XP, however, remains the most common version of Windows, and corporate customers are a big part of Windows XP's continued ubiquity.

Microsoft expects businesses to adopt a new platform more slowly than consumers. Consumers will generally stick with the operating system pre-installed on a new computer, and so migrate, in a sense, 'automatically.'

Vodafone has released a new solution to help businesses manage smartphones connecting to corporate networks, reports ITPro.

Smartphone Professional focuses on the data security aspect of business mobility, enabling IT administrators to control applications, restrict a device's functionality and remotely wipe corporate data from a lost or stolen phone.

Vodafone's service also includes Good Technology's 'Good for Enterprise' solution, which encrypts data from companies' servers and restricts information access within a special application.