CLOUD COMPUTING

The Amazon S3 Storage Service went down Friday morning causing companies to lose access their own data stored on the server.

On Thursday, Google expanded its free software suite, called Google Apps, to the enterprise market, allowing co-workers to collaborate on documents, calendars or presentations and to chat via instant messaging.

Microsoft Inc announced the launch of its beta Office Live Workspace on Monday, marking its debut onto the already bustling arena of web-based programs.

U.S. search engine giant Google plans to offer internet users access to online storage services, a move which provides a boost to web computing and encroaches on Microsoft's territory, according to a report.

IBM is staking out a major new source of business helping clients like banks or retailers manage data centers on a par with Internet players such as Google or Microsoft, a top official said on Wednesday.

Google Inc is moving to attract big business users to its Google Apps service just a year after entering the software market, as the company said on Tuesday it is offering stepped up e-mail management services at no additional cost to paying users.

Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it will offer a free, advertising-supported version of its basic productivity software, Microsoft Works, as part of a test program with computers manufacturers.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) said on Monday that it will acquire the web-based security company Postini for $625 million as it adds to its suite of online accessible applications.

While online office software is still in its infancy, new research released today reveals that the world's number 1 search provider, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), also led the market as the top provider of Web-based productivity tools for the last three months of 2006.

Within five years, a quarter of all software sales wont come in traditional off-the-shelf packages as they do today, but they will be hosted on remote servers, with users paying per usage, one research firm states.

Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it may offer a free, advertising-supported version of its basic word processing and spreadsheet software, in an apparent bid to fend off a nascent challenge from Google Inc. in the business software market.

Google Inc. is making its most concerted move beyond search and advertising into the business software market, starting with a set of Web programs for e-mail, scheduling and communications, the company said on Sunday.