Office Standard Tax concerns to push Microsoft Azu

Microsoft is producing preparations to maneuver applications that developers are hosting on its Azure cloud infrastructure from its Washington state datacenter,Windows 7 Ultimate Product Key, as a result of a change inside the tax laws there.Microsoft warned buyers testing their apps about the Azure check release regarding the planned alter earlier this week. Microsoft is readying a migration instrument to support testers together with the move, business officials stated.Cloud-computing and .Net professional Roger Jennings put together all of the several reports and clues right into a comprehensive August 5 post on his OakLeaf Methods blog.As Jennings noted, on August three, the Windows Azure team announced ideas to disable the “USA - Northwest” option for new Azure-hosted programs. (Existing programs that are part with the Azure beta may be allowed to remain hosted inside the Quincy, Wash., datacenter,Office Standard, as the Microsoft weblog publish says. Later on, the team appears to contradict that fact, however, saying all apps and storage would be moved.)From the Azure group;s post:“This change is in preparation for our migration out of the northwest region. Due to a alter in local tax laws, we’ve decided to migrate Windows Azure applications out of our northwest data center prior to our commercial launch this November. This means that all applications and storage accounts inside the ‘USA - Northwest; region will need to move to another region inside the next few months,Microsoft Office 2007 Pro Plus, or they will be deleted.”Earlier this year, there were reviews that Microsoft (and Yahoo) had halted datacenter construction in Quincy. At that time, a lot of corporation watchers believed the halt was likely temporary and was on account of the poor economy. It turns out it was because of a Washington state tax alter, as DataCenter Knowledge explained.“Late last year Washington State attorney general Rob McKenna ruled that data centers were no longer covered by a state sales tax break for manufacturing enterprises, and thus must pay a 7.9 percent tax on data center construction and equipment.”(Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire is trying to restore the exemption for data centers, according to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer story cited by Jennings.)Jennings speculates that Microsoft might be moving its U.S.-based Azure-hosted programs to its San Antonion datacenter.I;ve asked Microsoft for more information on this, including what is going to happen to its Quincy datacenter. I;m also asking whether the decision to maneuver the Azure-hosted apps from Quincy will stand if a tax exemption comes to pass. If and when I receive responses to these questions from Microsoft, I;ll update this post.Update: So far, this is all Microsoft is willing to share on this matter. A corporate spokesperson sent me the following e-mailed statement:“Beyond the information inside the Windows Azure group weblog post that you referenced in your post this afternoon,Microsoft Office Professional Plus, we don;t have additional specifics to share about the Windows Azure data migration from NW to SW datacenters.”Update No. 2 (August 6): The aforementioned Microsoft spokesperson just e-mailed a second statement, with an answer to my question on Quincy;s future. No word on which services will continue to be housed in Quincy or why users; Azure apps but not other services are going to be moved on the Southwest. But here;s what the enterprise is saying:“Microsoft will continue to host many Microsoft online services out of our mega data center in Quincy,Office 2010 Pro Plus, Washington.“The delivery of online services is a fairly new online business model. We are working together with the Washington state legislature and the Governor to identify ways the state can offer competitive advantages over other states eager to attract this business enterprise, including areas such as tax regulations. Microsoft continues to be committed to our business enterprise in the state of Washington and the data center in Quincy.”