Microsoft Gets Serious About Big Data

By Tim Beyers – Oct 31, 2013 at 6:00PM

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Mr. Softy embraces Hadoop in Windows Azure, bringing Big Data analysis to the cloud.

It's time to think of Microsoft (MSFT -1.96%) as a serious player in cloud computing, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

Just this week, Mr. Softy made available a version of Hadoop for Big Data analysis via its Windows Azure cloud infrastructure platform. Clients can "spin up" a cluster of servers for analyzing data on demand. The goal, Microsoft's Eron Kelly said in an interview with ZDNet, is to bring Big Data tools to "a billion people."

That's a good sign for investors, Tim says. Microsoft isn't merely willing to concede advanced cloud infrastructure projects to the likes of Amazon.com and Rackspace Hosting. Instead, Mr. Softy is using Azure to deliver sophisticated features even as it extends the life and usefulness of Windows networks.

Do you agree? Are you managing Big Data projects? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then leave a comment to let us know where you stand.

Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He owned shares of Google and Rackspace Hosting at the time of publication. Check out Tim's web home and portfolio holdings or connect with him on Google+, Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.

The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Google, and Rackspace Hosting. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Google, and Microsoft. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.