Microsoft Corporation has now revealed a new round of latest technologies which is aimed at making its cloud computing services work in the field of data centers which it does not own, which includes the cloud data centers of its rivals.
The strategy, which the Microsoft analysts and executives say, has been a major key to the company’s rise in the cloud computing infrastructure market, which the research firm Gartner estimates hit $64.3 billion and where Microsoft is second only to market leader Amazon.com’s Amazon Web Services.
Microsoft last week revealed revenue from Azure, its flagship cloud offering, which grew 48% results that helped it overtake Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company.
Microsoft’s strategy has involved constructing its more lucrative cloud software services such as database tools so that they can run inside its own set of data centers, those being owned by the customers or even those of the rivals like Amazon.
Microsoft Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Chief Executive Scott Guthrie revealed in a report that the move had persuaded some clients to use its services when they cannot always use the Microsoft data centers.
Royal Bank of Canada, Guthrie revealed, faces legal requirements to keep some of its computing work in its own set of data centers and uses the latest technology known as Azure Arc to connect to those facilities to Microsoft Cloud.
Executive Opinion
“The challenge with higher-level services historically has been the concern of ‘lock in’ – what happens if I can only use them in your data center?” Guthrie said. “That freedom of movement causes customers to feel much more comfortable using those services.”
Ed Anderson, a vice president distinguished analyst with Gartner, said the approach does open doors for Microsoft with customers, but it also forces the company to compete on the quality of its software services rather than by packaging them with cheap computing power.
“To be honest, that’s a better way to compete,” Anderson said. “Customers are suspicious of rhetoric. They look for evidence of capabilities and are cautious of things where in principle technology is multi-cloud but maybe the software licensing doesn’t support it.”
More about the Azure OpenAI Service
Microsoft revealed the preview of the Azure OpenAI Service, which helps to access OpenAI API with the help of the Azure Platform. Clients will gain access to OpenAI strong GPT-3 models via this new Azure Cognitive Service.
Apart from that, access is provided with enterprise-grade security, compliance, reliability, data privacy, and some other features.
Large Language Model
Azure OpenAI Service can customize the GPT-3 model to handle apps that require a strong command of the language. For instance, converting natural language to software code, summarizing enormous volumes of information, and creating responses to inquiries are among the essential tasks. Additionally, Microsoft’s inclusion of the OpenAI API in Azure will allow the businesses to deploy GPT-3 by local regulations, laws, and technical restrictions.
