Thread: Microsoft

One of the biggest criticisms of the Cloud Computing model is about offline availability of data. For instance, what happens when the Internet connection is down, you're travelling in a plane or the service itself is down for some reason? Do you have access to your data at that time - in traditional SaaS models, you do not. This is where Microsoft pitches the "Software + Services" model over the "Software as a Service" model. According to Microsoft, services in the cloud must be rich but also be able to sync with a software in the user's enterprise (desktop/network) seamlessly to provide an offline experience as well. Microsoft - although a slightly late entrant - have probably the largest set of offerings in the Cloud Computing space and are heavily invested into it for the future as well.