Google tool targets MS users

Google introduced software to make it easier for businesses using Microsoft's Outlook to switch to its Web-based communications and collaboration products, says Reuters.

The Internet company said its new software can easily transfer data from a Microsoft Exchange server to Google's cloud-based online service.

The new product allows business users to continue using the Outlook client for e-mail and other tasks, but the back-end functionality and data storage would move to Google, instead of residing on a company's internal servers running Microsoft software.

Rackspace's Lew Moorman will be outlining the cloud computing roadmap to customers in San Francisco, states ZDNet.

Rackspace will push a hybrid approach that tightly couples outsourcing, hosting and cloud computing approaches.

Customers will begin toggling between hosted data centres and cloud computing resources as standard operating procedure.

SAP is expected to announce plans to integrate its online services more closely with its traditional software business, reports Computer Weekly.

The plans will be unveiled at a conference in the Netherlands by John Wookey, SAP's executive vice-president in charge of on-demand services, according to the Financial Times.

The initiative, which targets SAP's large customers, will mark the German enterprise software company's second attempt at providing software-as-a-service.