Oracle in cloud road show

Hardware and software specialist Oracle has kicked-off a global tour which aims to convince businesses of the huge benefits cloud computing can offer, writes One Stop Click.

The cloud computing road show will take to 80 cities around the world and will be particularly beneficial for outsourced cloud computing end users - and those considering migrating their IT infrastructure to the cloud.

According to Oracle, the global event will give businesses the chance to hear from cloud computing experts who "will share real-world best practices, reference architectures, detailed customer case studies, and more".

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may have dismissed Bob Muglia from his role as head of the company's $15 billion Server and Tools Business (STB) unit because he felt Muglia was not the right individual to lead Redmond into the cloud computing age, says Information Week.

"Our key conclusion from the management change is that Ballmer feels that new leadership is needed to navigate Microsoft's evolution to the cloud," said Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jason Maynard, in a research note.

Still, Maynard said he was "very surprised to see Muglia's departure since STB has arguably been the top performing unit in Microsoft. We have always been impressed with Muglia during our meetings over the years and thought he was on top of the space".

Start-up firm Nimbula is preparing to release a new cloud platform designed to make it easier for enterprises to build and operate an internal cloud for scale-out applications, likening it to having a behind-the-firewall version of Amazon's EC2 service, according to V3.co.uk.

Nimbula joins a growing number of vendors offering a cloud platform. However, the company explained that it is not trying to compete with players such as VMware and Microsoft, but is focused instead on infrastructure-as-a-service akin to EC2, and providing automation to make it simpler to manage.

The firm has existed for only a couple of years, but lists several notable executives from Amazon and VMware on its team, including both founders of Amazon's EC2 cloud service and former VMware chief executive Diane Greene.