There were many clever entries, but in the end “Hard Hat Area” won out.  Thanks to all who participated.

Related posts:

1. Cloud Power Caption Contest [Win VMware Workstation 8!]
2. vComeback Contest Winners! [Microsoft Cloud Power]
3. vComeback Contest: Microsoft Cloud Power Billboard
4. Idle RHEV Hypervisors save power?

As it turns out, this Microsoft Cloud wasn’t zoned for optimal utilization — it ended up in a construction site.  Sort of like unsuspecting consumers of the Office 365 service, which is so prominently featured on the sign.  Or, as they say at Azure: Temporary “DNS issue” folks. Nothing to see here.

Cloud Power: Under Construction. Hard Hat area. (Winner: Josh Atwell)

Submit Your Caption for a Chance to Win!

Think of your most clever caption to the photo above and post it below as a comment for a chance to win a copy of VMware Workstation 8 ($199 value).  Hurry, contest ends October 11.

Here are a few examples to get you started:

• This cloud looked a lot taller in the brochure.
• Are they building an entrance?  Or an exit?
• Traffic fines doubled… and so have my operational costs!

Google vs. Microsoft

Want to know the real irony here?  This obstruction is a pedestrian footbridge that will be frequented by Google employees on their commute to one of many buildings in the area.  You can’t make this stuff up.

View Larger Map

Rules: Winner selection is subjective.  If similar entries are received, the first submitter will have priority.  Entry must be received by October 11, 2011 11:59 p.m. PDT.  Prize not claimed within five days of notification will be forfeited.  Contestants must be legal residents of earth.  Not sponsored or endorsed by any third-party.

Related posts:

1. Announcing the Cloud Power Caption Contest Winner
2. vComeback Contest: Microsoft Cloud Power Billboard
3. vComeback Contest Winners! [Microsoft Cloud Power]
4. Unboxing the Cloud

Before today, a refrigerator is probably the largest appliance you or I have encountered.  But today, Microsoft announced an Azure appliance that consists of hundreds of servers — a “cloud-in-a-box” that is managed by Microsoft but hosted in a customer datacenter.

Why would Microsoft go through the trouble of creating and managing numerous miniature Azures?  One possible explanation is that customers are trying the proprietary platform to see what the fuss is all about, but not sticking with it — kind of like garlic ice cream at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.  It could just be that Azure is not taking off as everyone imagined.

Customers leaving Azure in droves?

I recently acquired an email from Microsoft, desperately seeking to address an apparent exodus of customers from Windows Azure:

My team is working to understand why some of our valued customers have stopped using their Windows Azure platform subscription(s). I am emailing today to ask you to complete a short survey on why you have stopped using our service.

We will use this information to improve our platform and address issues that may have led you to stop using your subscription. We take your feedback seriously and it will lead to direct action.

Whatever the reason for this sudden shift may be, the most succinct take on the announcement goes to Om Malik, who concluded in this GigaOM article:

Microsoft, it seems, is merely following what is en vogue these days.

Interesting strategy shift:  If customers won’t come to your proprietary platform, see if you can trap them inside a box right in their own own datacenter.  Cloud computing at its finest.

Related posts:

1. Unboxing the Cloud
2. Multiple hypervisors? What about multiple SANs?
3. Hypervisor Footprint Quiz
4. Microsoft likens vSphere cloud to ancient fax machines