Microsoft Corp.'s computer-network- management software, a product that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer once came close to scrapping, emerges today as the cornerstone of a bid to challenge VMware Inc.



From Businessweek:

A new version of System Center 2012 will be released as part of its final testing phase, said Brad Anderson, a vice president in Microsoft’s management and security division. The software is used with Windows and virtualization software, letting companies turn their servers into so-called private clouds. The offering is cheaper than VMware’s competing product and has equivalent features, Anderson said.

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