HP, Microsoft announce tie-up; to invest $250 mn

World's biggest tech vendors,Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co.,on wednesday announced a patnership to integrate their software and hardware offerings for companies looking to move their applications and data online, popularly known as "Cloud Computing",said they would invest $250 milloin over three years.



"The cloud is a significant inflection point in how our customers will be building their next generation applications," said Bob Muglia, the head of Microsoft's server and tools business, in a telephone interview.


"We (Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard) have decided to double down and commit to building the next generation architecture," said Muglia.


With this strategic partnership, HP and Microsoft will collaborate on an engineering road map for data management machines; converged, pre-packaged application solutions; comprehensive virtualisation offerings; and integrated management tools.


Microsoft launched its Azure cloud computing service earlier this month, giving customers the option of storing data in Microsoft's data centers and providing software developers a platform for creating cloud-based applications.