Online wagering operator, Centrebet, (ASX: CIL), is consolidating its IT infrastructure to reduce costs and remove system duplication following its $183 million takeover by UK-based rival, Sportingbet, in September last year.

CIOs looking to move existing software assets into the cloud but unsure about the licensing arrangements should leverage credits and other transfer services to minimise the impact, says one of the designers of Microsoft’s Azure cloud service.

Infor on Monday will announce plans for applications running on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, deepening the vendors' already close partnership and adding momentum to the industry's shift away from on-premises ERP (enterprise resource planning) software.

On Monday, during the kickoff of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference being held this week in Washington D.C., Microsoft announced that it would be releasing a version of its Windows Azure cloud computing platform that can be run as part of an appliance offering.

Microsoft is firmly on the cloud-computing bandwagon and with good reason -- it can make more money by doing so, even as it helps customers cut costs, business division head Stephen Elop said at the Convergence conference in Atlanta on Sunday.