Google expands support of Microsoft software on its cloud

Google is making more Microsoft software available to users of the Google Cloud platform.

Google announced on December 8 that it will allow customers to run Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition on the Google Cloud platform. That version of Windows Server is available in beta form on Google Compute Engine.Google also is "working on support" for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 on it cloud and will have more information on availability "soon," according to a post today on the Google Cloud Platform blog.

Google also is offering Microsoft License Mobility on Google Cloud, according to today's post. That means users can run their licensed versions of SQL Server, SharePoint Server and Exchange Server on Google Cloud without having to pay any additional Microsoft software license fees.

To take advantage of this offer, the customer-licensed apps must be covered by an active Microsoft Software Assurance agreement. In addition to the three aforementioned apps, Google also is allowing customers to run their licensed versions of Lync Server, System Center Server, Dynamics AX Server, Microsoft Project Server, Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, BizTalk Server, Forefront Identity Manager, Forefront Unified Access Gateway and Remote Desktop Services on its cloud for no additional fee.

Amazon already offers its customers the ability to run a number of Windows Server variants (including Server 2012 R2), plus various Microsoft enterprise software applications on its cloud platform via Microsoft License Mobility.