Fujitsu Launches Global Cloud Platform Service Powered by Microsoft Windows Azure

TOKYO, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fujitsu Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. today announced that the first release of its Global Cloud Platform service powered by Windows Azure, running in Fujitsu's datacenter in Japan, will be launched in August 2011. The launch of this service is the result of the global strategic partnership between Fujitsu and Microsoft announced in July 2010. The partnership allows Fujitsu to work alongside Microsoft providing services to enable, deliver and manage solutions built on Windows Azure. As of April 21, 2011, Fujitsu has been offering the service in Japan on a trial basis to 20 companies. This launch marks the first official production release of the Windows Azure platform appliance by Fujitsu. By using FGCP/A5, customers will be able to quickly build elastically scalable applications using familiar Windows Azure platform technologies, streamline their information communications technology (ICT) operations management to accelerate business expansion, and enhance their competitive edge in the global market.

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Background

The Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform service, FGCP/A5, is the result of the strategic partnership between Fujitsu and Microsoft on the development of a Fujitsu-branded cloud service running specifically on Fujitsu servers with scalable compute and storage powered by Windows Azure. The appliance will be operated from a Fujitsu datacenter in Japan, and will run the Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform, FGCP/A5, the first cloud service hosted in Japan to provide Windows Azure developers with a familiar and consistent application and data platform.

FGCP/A5 offers a set of application development frameworks, such as Microsoft .NET, Java and PHP, and data storage capabilities consistent with the Windows Azure platform provided by Microsoft. The basic service consists of compute, storage, Microsoft SQL Azure and Windows Azure AppFabric technologies such as Service Bus and Access Control Service, with options for interoperating services covering implementation and migration of applications, system building, systems operation and support.

Delivering on the promise of cloud computing, the Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform service will offer many benefits over traditional computing for customers worldwide, including reducing the operational expense required to provision, deploy and manage an application server, enabling developers to more quickly develop applications and data services, and offering elastic scalability to respond more quickly to competitive challenges and business needs. FGCP/A5 will be supported by well-established operational and monitoring technologies enhanced by Fujitsu-developed middleware, which can be deployed with FGCP/A5. In addition, Fujitsu will begin efforts to train Windows Azure platform technical experts, allowing the company to further expand its network of systems engineers and broaden its systems integration capabilities through FGCP/A5.

The Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform service powered by Windows Azure will be globally accessible, building on additional investments in cloud-oriented services including consulting, migration and implementation support. To meet the needs of customers who want to quickly take advantage of this new platform, Fujitsu will offer various services to help with the development of new applications and migration of existing applications.

FGCP/A5 is geared toward a wide variety of customers — ranging from leading enterprises to value-oriented small and medium-sized companies — by offering an even more secure, reliable and highly-available computing infrastructure with greater flexibility at an affordable price.

"Based on the success of the trial service, we are now ready to launch FGCP/A5 officially," said Kazuo Ishida, corporate senior executive vice president and director of Fujitsu. "We are very confident that this cloud service will deliver to our customers the flexibility and convenience they are looking for in streamlining their ICT operations management costs."

"We're excited to see the fruits of our collaboration with Fujitsu," said Bill Laing, corporate vice president for the Server and Cloud Division at Microsoft. "The launch of the Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform service powered by Windows Azure will greatly benefit customers both in Japan and around the world."

Greater Reliability, and Increased Control and Compliance

The FGCP/A5 service will be hosted in a Fujitsu datacenter located in Japan. This will allow customers who prefer to store their business data domestically to have timely access to the datacenter when necessary and reduce delays due to network latency. With some of the most advanced technologies in the industry, Fujitsu datacenters in Japan combine cutting-edge disaster-readiness, security and environmental friendliness. With 14 years of uninterrupted operations, the datacenters' highly-reliable operations provide a solid foundation to support FGCP/A5.

Streamlined Operations Through Sophisticated Monitoring and Integration Services

System operations are simplified through advanced application monitoring, detailed logs and process automation. In addition, the deployment of Java or COBOL applications and distributed monitoring of hybrid-cloud environments are enabled by Fujitsu middleware products, such as Systemwalker, Interstage and NetCOBOL. Fujitsu will also offer optional support and consulting services for integration or migration of existing applications and infrastructure.

Fujitsu's Unique High-Quality Support Service

Fujitsu's dedicated Japanese support desk is available to customers 24x7, offering one-stop service for not only FGCP/A5 services, but also for middleware and application services.

Pricing and Service Launch

Sales Target

400 enterprise companies, 5,000 SMEs and ISVs in a five-year period after the service launch.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of ICT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 170,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$55 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com.

About Windows Azure

The Windows Azure platform is commercially available in 41 countries and enables developers to build, host and scale applications in Microsoft datacenters located around the world. It includes Windows Azure, which offers developers an Internet-scale hosting environment with a runtime execution environment for managed code, and SQL Azure, which is a highly available and scalable cloud database service built on SQL Server technologies. Developers can use existing skills with Visual Studio, .NET, Java, PHP and Ruby to quickly build solutions, with no need to buy servers or set up a dedicated infrastructure, and with automated service management to help protect against hardware failure and downtime associated with platform maintenance.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.