cloud services

December tends to be a time of reflection and planning for the year ahead. I know you’ve all experienced the consumerization of IT for quite some time, but the topic certainly heated up this year. With the vast array of PCs and devices available today, the proliferation of applications and an increasingly mobile workforce, you have a dramatically more dynamic environment to manage and secure than ever before.

If you’re a Windows for Your Business blog reader, I probably don’t have to tell you how dramatically the way we work has changed. Employees expect their PCs to work efficiently, whether they’re in the office or on the road, so they have the tools they need to get their jobs done. They need access to their information and resources regardless of where they’re working. They want to use their computers for both work and personal use.

Yesterday at TechEd, I introduced Microsoft’s latest concept of the flexible workspace to help you make the most of technologies available today (using technologies that many of you already own) in scenarios you experience every day. I discussed how the flexible workspace concept will evolve as we introduce new technologies and products over time. Thanks to those of you who joined me in this session.

Today we announced the general availability of Windows Intune as well as the Windows Intune 30 day trial. Windows Intune simplifies how businesses manage and secure PCs using Windows cloud services and the Windows 7 operating system—so your computers and users can operate at peak performance from virtually anywhere.

Today, we’re excited to announce an important milestone: Windows Live Mesh has now connected to 5 million devices, with over 3 million users syncing 2.2 petabytes to the cloud. Windows Live Mesh was released on September 30^th, 2010 and joined SkyDrive, a service already used by 70 million customers, as a core component of Microsoft’s consumer cloud strategy.

Last July, we announced the availability of the second beta of Windows Intune, Microsoft’s cloud solution for PC management. In the fall, we told you that Windows Intune would be available in 2011.

Today I’d like to pause for a moment and thank all the thousands of customers and partners —businesses of all sizes – who have signed up for the Windows Intune beta and used it to manage your Windows PCs. We appreciate the time you’ve taken to use this new cloud service, as well as the feedback you’ve given us through the forums and your own blogs.

As of today we’re no longer signing up new users for the Windows Intune beta; however, current beta participants can continue to use the Windows Intune beta and provide feedback until the next release.

I am pleased to announce that Intuit is developing an SDK for Windows Phone 7, making it easier for developers to write Windows Phone 7 applications that interface with the Intuit Partner Platform's cloud services for businesses, including QuickBooks. This enables business professionals to access key data from a variety of Windows Phone 7 devices and easily view their cloud data hosted in Windows Azure.

MIX10 officially begins tomorrow in Las Vegas. MIX is an annual event we put on for designers and developers to learn about Microsoft’s broad web platform and tools. Essentially we’re bringing a bunch of designers and developers together to talk about bringing together the clients, servers and cloud services to create great rich web applications.

What an exciting week this week will be! I won’t be attending MIX10 myself this year, so I will be joining the many who could not attend by watching MIX10 unfold online – and live.

Today at the University of Washington’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Steve Ballmer spoke to students about Microsoft and cloud services. You can watch his speech on-demand below.