Microsoft Corp aims to open a cloud computing center in Taiwan in June. The center is a joint project with the government to further promote the cloud computing ecosystem in Taiwan.
The Microsoft Software and Services Excellence Center is scheduled to be launched at Computex Taipei, the world’s second-largest tech trade fair after Germany’s CeBIT, John Kalkman, Microsoft vice president of OEM engineering and services, said in Taipei yesterday.
Details including the center’s investors are still being ironed out with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the software giant hopes to obtain the green light from the government in time for the June launch.
“The center is focusing on the hardware community [in Taiwan] and the software they would put on top on that,” Kalkman said. “We will look at other areas after these OEMs and ODMs expand.”
According to a statement, potential partners in these areas include contract computer makers Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), as well as electronic services provider Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
The joint project was announced in November after Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer signed a memorandum of understanding with the economics ministry during a visit to Taipei. Ballmer then said the cloud computing center would be dedicated to the development of emerging technologies that allow users to access data saved in remote servers through phones or computers.
With the excellence center being set up here, the company expects to engage more deeply and actively with the local technology community, Ballmer said.
Kalkman, who is from the US, has been based in Taipei since mid-February to work with local partners on cloud computing projects and oversee the establishment of the center.
The nation’s largest telecoms service provider, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), has deployed Microsoft’s solutions and launched “hicloud” on April 1.
Hicloud is Chunghwa Telecom’s first cloud computing solution targeted at small and medium businesses, allowing the company to manage customer relationships or rent hardware from the telecoms provider remotely.
To date, there are 18 local firms taking part in Microsoft’s “Taiwan Cloud Computing Industries Alliance,” formed in December.
These enterprises — including Hewlett-Packard Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom and Tatung System Technologies Inc (大同世界科技) — are working with Microsoft to develop private cloud solutions for businesses.
Separately, Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技), Taiwan’s leading anti-virus solution provider, yesterday announced it would open 40 internship positions to university students to work on the cloud computing solutions this summer.
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