Microsoft out with Windows Server 2012 to Power Cloud OS

In a global online launch event yesterday, the president of Microsoft Server and Tools Business, Satya Nadella has announced the general availability of Windows Server 2012 built from the cloud up for the modern datacenter.

In his keynote speech, Nadella described how Windows Server 2012 is a cornerstone of the Cloud Operating System (OS) that provides customers with a modern platform for the world’s applications.

“The operating system has always been the heartbeat of IT and is now undergoing a renaissance in the new world of continuous cloud services, connected devices and big data,” Nadella said, addig that, “Microsoft’s unique legacy in the most widely used operating systems, applications and cloud services positions us to deliver the Cloud OS, based on Windows Server and Windows Azure, helping customers achieve a datacenter without boundaries.”

Microsoft built Windows Server 2012 from the cloud up, applying its experience operating global datacenters that rely on hundreds of thousands of servers to deliver more than 200 cloud services.

The software, Microsoft explained expands the definition of a server operating system and adds significant new advancements in virtualization, storage, networking and automation.

Hundreds of new features, according to him, can help customers achieve a transformational leap in the speed, scale and power of their datacenters and applications.

In combination with Windows Azure and System Center, Windows Server 2012, he added empowers customers to manage and deliver applications and services across private, hosted and public clouds.

He further explained that customers can use their existing skills and investments in systems management, application development, database, identity and virtualization to take advantage of Windows Server 2012 and realize the promise of cloud computing. Many enterprise customers are already seeing tremendous value in early deployments.

“A survey of 70 early adopter customers from across the globe revealed that they expect, on average, 52 percent reduction in downtime, 41 percent reduction in workload deployment time, and 15 hours of productivity time saved per year, per employee. 91 percent of the companies surveyed expect a reduction in server administration labor, and 88 percent expect reduction in network administration labor” he said.

Already, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the government’s safety authority for commercial flight operations, chooses Windows Server 2012 to utilize the existing IT infrastructure within the agency. as well as create a fully scalable and high density cloud environment.

“Deploying Windows Server 2012 has enabled us to do more with less, thereby reducing cost and enhancing considerably the ICT ROI for my organization and bringing efficiency in the use of technology to value-centric proportions,” said Ogochukwu I.F., CIO of NAMA.

Menzies Aviation, an airline passenger and cargo handling company that employs more than 17,000 people, is using Windows Server 2012 to provide identity access management and information access policies to its employees as it rapidly incorporates newly acquired businesses.

“We are very impressed by Windows Server 2012 and Microsoft’s overall solution to help us manage our systems and applications across our private cloud environments as they scale with our business,” Martin Gallington, senior vice president of IT at Menzies Aviation, said, adding that , “This is a dramatic leap forward, matched by a simple, cost-effective pricing model