The Windows® Azure™ Platform (Azure) is an internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together. Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities. Its open architecture gives developers the choice to build web applications, applications running on connected devices, PCs, servers, or hybrid solutions offering the best of online and on-premises.

Azure reduces the need for up-front technology purchases, and it enables developers to quickly and easily create applications running in the cloud by using their existing skills with the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment and the Microsoft .NET Framework. In addition to managed code languages supported by .NET, Azure will support more programming languages and development environments in the near future. Azure simplifies maintaining and operating applications by providing on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage web and connected applications. Infrastructure management is automated with a platform that is designed for high availability and dynamic scaling to match usage needs with the option of a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Azure provides an open, standards-based and interoperable environment with support for multiple internet protocols, including HTTP, REST, SOAP, and XML.

Microsoft also offers cloud applications ready for consumption by customers such as Windows Live™, Microsoft Dynamics™, and other Microsoft Online Services for business such as Microsoft Exchange Online and SharePoint® Online. The Windows Azure Platform lets developers provide their own unique customer offerings by offering the foundational components of compute, storage, and building block services to author and compose applications in the cloud.

Who Benefits From the Windows Azure Platform?

The Windows Azure Platform is designed to help developers easily create applications for the web and connected devices. The services platform offers the greatest flexibility, choice, and control in reaching users and customers while using existing skills.

Easy developer on-ramp to the cloud – Millions of developers worldwide already use the .NET Framework and the Visual Studio development environment. Utilize those same skills to create cloud-enabled applications that can be written, tested, and deployed all from Visual Studio. In the near future developers will be able to deploy applications written on Rubyon Rails and Python as well.

Enables Agile & Rapid Results – Applications can be deployed to the Windows Azure Platform with the click of a button. Changes can be made quickly and without downtime, making it an ideal platform for affordably experimenting and trying new ideas.

Imagine and Create New User Experiences – The Windows Azure Platform enables you to create web, mobile, or hybrid-applications that use the cloud with on-premises applications. Combined with Live Services ability to reach over 400 million Live users, new opportunities exist to interact and reach users in new ways.

Standards-Based Compatibility – The services platform supports industry-standard protocols, including HTTP, REST, SOAP, RSS, and AtomPub, for consuming, exposing, and integrating with third-party services. You can easily integrate applications built on a variety of different technologies and operating systems.

Benefits for Business

he Windows Azure Platform offers a range of businesses flexibility, control, and an affordable solution for running Web-scale applications. The services reduce tedious and expensive infrastructure management and planning and are built with security and reliability in mind, along with the option of a pay-as-you-go model.

Whether you’re a software vendor, corporate IT group, or a start-up, by using the services platform you can focus on your business and the needs of your customers.

Simplify Capacity Planning – Additional computing and services capacity can be available for your needs, eliminating the need for planning, purchasing, and provisioning expensive hardware to meet unpredictable spikes in usage.

Simple Infrastructure Management – The services platform manages critical operating system updates and management tasks, giving you control of the environment while letting you focus on the needs of your users.

Give New Life To Existing Investments – The services platform can be used to provide new capabilities to existing on-premises and Web applications. The Windows Azure Platform can be integrated into existing applications or used to expose on-premises application services to consumers, business partners, or other organizations.

Selling is hard work, but it’s even more difficult when the sales team starts exhibiting dysfunctional behavior. Here are the seven major sins of sales teams, along with some advice on how to cope:

1. OVERCONFIDENCE. When everyone wants to make big numbers, there’s a tendency to sell too much, too quickly. Solution: Before closing, always make certain that the customer really needs your offering and that your firm has the resources to deliver promptly.
2. GRANDIOSITY. If you’ve got a terrific offering, it’s all too easy to pretend that it’s a panacea. While some products do arguably “change the world” they’re few and far between. Solution: Focus on helping the customer, rather than converting them to a “product” religion.
3. HUBRIS. Sales professionals know what worked in the past, but the memory of past success blind the team to changing customer requirements. Solution: Become obsessed with customer satisfaction and measure it through an objective customer survey.
4. DEHUMANIZATION. Sales technology is great, but if it becomes too pervasive it can hinder the person-to-person interaction that is the core of relationship building. Solution: Use technology sparingly and use face-to-face communication for key customer meetings.
5. OVERWHELM. During times of change, there’s a tendency demand more from everybody on the team, and management may pile on extra offerings, making it difficult for keep abreast. Solution: Stay focused on what the customers are buying today.
6. STOVEPIPING. In every company there is a tendency for sales to view itself as the only group that’s really important; meanwhile, other groups start viewing the sales team as arrogant. Solution: Get other groups involved in the sales process by inviting them to meetings with key customers.
7. STRESS. Sales is, by nature, a stressful activity. If a sales team isn’t careful, it can end up creating a sales culture where stress becomes habitual, like a drug. Solution: Make humor and laughter an integral part of your personal sales process.

Have I missed anything?

At one point in time, I did not believe that there is a company which main product are software could not have coding standards on their shelf. But guess what. I’ve found one. And I found more from reading blogs. In some software development company setup, different teams could have different coding standards and application framework they follow on developing their projects. While this setup will work to each team and still make profits, the stakeholders may not be aware that there are still more room for profitability by making software production more efficient by implementing

Coding Standards. But what are the challenges they will face when they start building their Coding Standards? Here are five common challenges for them:

1. The organization should find a team of talented and well experienced developers within their own organization to start developing rules and items for establishing and implementing “Coding Standards”. These experts will identify common points of software development process that are mostly the source of coding deviation throughout the development of the software project.

2. That identification process itself could be a daunting task for some developers.

3. The developers who will use and implement the “Coding Standards” may not embrace this rule at the first stage of implementation. So, code review on the first phase of its implementation should be done thoroughly and meticulously.

4. They might feel some friction because the coding style that they are very familiar with is now bounded by rules.

5. The programmers might feel confused at first because their traditional approach may no longer effective as before because standardized approach to coding has been implemented.