On the cusp of launching its Azure cloud computing service, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is also making a savvy bid to lock up a patent for one of the main worries--vendor lock-in--of cloud users. (The other big concern is security.) The folks from Redmond have filed a patent application for migrating data to a new cloud, which is what you'd have to do when leave your first vendor.
The patent has a number of unusual angles, so bear with me while I deconstruct it.
The application is number 20080080526, filed by Microsoft this past April, and entitled "Migrating Data To New Cloud." (The current application appears to be a refile of a doc originally submitted in Sept. 2006. Such resubmittals are common practice, by the way.)
Two things immediately jump out at the reader. First off is the fact that this patent proposal addresses data migration not so much from a vendor lock-in perspective (as in, you have to migrate your data because you want to bag your provider and go get a better deal) but rather as an auto fail-over data protection mechanism. (I'll get to the second thing, which is that this is constituted as an automated migration process, later on.)
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/11/microsoft_seeks_1.html;jsessionid=Y1LXRKWZ3YPHTQE1GHPCKH4ATMY32JVN
No comments:
Post a Comment