Apple has hired a high-level Microsoft cloud executive, according to a report. Microsoft confirms the exec has indeed left the company.
Apple has poached a cloud executive
from Microsoft, according to reports.
The Green (Low Carbon) Data Center Blog reported
April 13 that Apple has hired Kevin Timmons, general manager of Microsoft's
Datacenter Services unit. Microsoft confirmed that the executive is moving on,
although Apple has not yet returned eWEEK's request for comment.
"Kevin Timmons, general manager of
Datacenter Services, has decided to pursue other career opportunities and is no
longer working at Microsoft," a Microsoft spokesperson wrote in an April 15 email
to eWEEK. "We appreciate the contributions he made to Microsoft during his time
here."
According to
Timmons' LinkedIn page, he started work at
Microsoft in June 2009, coming from Yahoo, where he spent nearly a decade.
Before that, he worked for three years as director of operations for GeoCities,
and as a senior software engineer for Marconi Dynamics.
Apple has been looking to expand its
presence in the cloud. On April 13, the blog
Apple Insider noted the company's job listing for
a "Cloud Systems Software Engineer" to help build "the future of cloud services
at Apple."
For months, rumors have circulated
about what Apple intends to do with the massive data center it spent most of
2010 building in North Carolina. The possibility exists that the company could
use that newfound cloud capacity in the next version of its iOS mobile
operating system, offering services such as online storage for music and other
media.
Unnamed sources recently suggested to
TechCrunch that iOS 5, the next iteration of that software, will incorporate
substantial cloud elements.
"The new iOS will be heavily built
around the cloud, and we could see several new services launch from Apple that
take advantage of this,"
read the March 26 report. "But much of the cloud
stuff will be talked about first at WWDC, Apple's developer event which will
take place in June."
For months, Microsoft has also touted
its "all in" strategy with regard to the cloud. In an April 11 keynote address
at the Convergence conference in Atlanta, CEO Steve Ballmer told the audience:
"Make no mistake, when it comes to the cloud, Microsoft's all in. ... Every one
of our products will be engineered to deliver the full benefits of the cloud."
Much of Microsoft's cloud efforts are
focused on businesses. In addition to announcing that the next versions of its
ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications will be available on the
cloud-based Windows Azure platform, Microsoft also used the conference to offer
a glimpse at Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, an ERP application whose beta is due
this month. The platform includes Unified Natural Models, a library of business
processes for real-world situations, and enhanced business intelligence
capabilities for discovering fresh insights in data.
Other Microsoft cloud initiatives in
the works include Office 365, which combines Microsoft Office applications,
SharePoint, Exchange and Lync into a unified cloud platform. Such offerings
will allow Microsoft to expand into new areas beyond its traditional focus on
desktop-bound software.
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