The weekend review: Microsoft Windows Azure and new HR strategies
At Gigaom Research, we are gathering your feedback for our upcoming Sector RoadMap. For release at the Gigaom Structure Data conference, this report will categorize the disruptive vectors at play and examine the significant vendors in the emergent class of data discovery tools. Popular reports this week discuss the increasing relevance of Windows Azure, an outlook on emerging HR practices, and a reflection on the factors impacting our web experience.
First, in “Microsoft Windows Azure: strengths and weaknesses,” analyst Janakiram MSV writes that just when everyone thought Microsoft lost the cloud game, the company has bounced back to become a formidable player. In this report, he reviews the positive drivers that allow Microsoft to catch up to AWS and the opportunities for improvement, including the lack of support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and virtual networking. Scott Gurthrie’s leadership in the developer community has resulted in open-source, hybrid cloud, and vertical-specific PaaS offerings, and four years after its launch, Azure is finally being validated as an enterprise-ready solution.
Next, Stowe Boyd in “A new charter for HR“ argues that as the distributed workforce erodes the traditional boundaries of the company, HR must be reformulated, and if executed correctly it can get a seat at the executive table through accelerated innovation. “Recent research has shown that only 30 percent of American employees are actively engaged at work,” Boyd notes, “which stands as an indictment of current operating norms and a clarion call for a new charter for HR.” In his latest blog post, Boyd examines the increasing necessity for human resources to work with IT managers, adopt social tools, and embrace network thinking.
Last, in “How new devices, networks, and consumer habits will change the web experience,” Amy Cravens posits that increased mobile content consumption is obvious but adjusting to the design challenge prompts complex questions. Through case studies, she provides a detailed analysis of four primary areas worth consideration: device differences, browser distinctions, network variations, and application performance. By understanding the numerous pain points, resource allocation can be properly managed to optimize the user experience. If a company’s web content is not built for specific device and browser delivery, it will be at a disadvantage to its competitors and risk losing revenue.
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