Five Companies That Came To Win This Week

The Week Ending Oct. 31

This week's roundup of companies that came to win include Microsoft's efforts to boost Office 365 with an aggressive cloud storage offer, Google's big customer win with Google Apps for Work, VMware's key database technology acquisition, Ruckus Wireless' new SMB offering and cloud database announcements from IBM.

Microsoft Offers Free, Unlimited Cloud Storage To Office 365 Users

Microsoft went on the cloud offensive this week, offering unlimited OneDrive cloud storage for Office 365 Home, Personal and University customers. Plans to offer unlimited storage for OneDrive for Business customers using Office 365 are also in the works.

The move could reshape the cloud storage landscape, with channel partners saying Microsoft's move would have Google, Box, Dropbox and other cloud storage service suppliers rethinking their business model.

Google Snags PricewaterhouseCoopers as Google Apps Customer, Partner

Google wasn't sitting idle in the cloud arena. It scored a competitive win over Microsoft and its Office 365 service this week when it enlisted PricewaterhouseCoopers as a customer and a channel partner for its Google Apps for Work cloud applications offerings.

PwC will adopt Google Apps for Work for 45,000 employees in the U.S. and Australia. But perhaps more significantly, PwC will help its customers adopt and manage the Google cloud applications. Only a small percentage of Google's Apps for Work customer base is large, enterprise businesses today. This week's PwC alliance is a big step toward changing that.

VMware Boosts Hybrid Cloud Lineup With Database Acquisition

VMware this week acquired the assets of Continuent, a developer of database clustering and replication technology, for an undisclosed sum. VMware will integrate the technology with its vCloud Air public cloud offering and other software-defined data center products.

The acquisition will strengthen VMware's hand in the hybrid cloud arena and allow it to more directly target business application owners rather than selling to IT.

Ruckus Makes Noise In SMB Market With Xclaim

Ruckus Wireless made an aggressive move to expand in SMB and SOHO markets this week when it launched a new brand and set of products specifically targeting smaller organizations. The company is also recruiting a new set of channel partners with an SMB focus as part of the strategy.

The price of the current Ruckus product portfolio has made it difficult for partners to gain entry to SMB markets. Several partners told CRN the Xclaim line is going to be a big hit.

IBM Goes On Cloud Offensive With Mobile, Database And Analytics Blitz

While IBM has been weighed down lately by its troubled computer hardware business, the company this week unveiled a significant expansion of its cloud offerings at its Insight 2014 conference – services the company is counting on for its future growth.

News from the Insight show included announcements around IBM's cloud-based DataWorks (data refinery services) and dashDB (data warehouse) offerings. The company also debuted an on-premise version of the company's Cloudant cloud database called Cloudant Local.