Microsoft and eBay are to work together on a cloud computing platform.

Cloud computing may not be at the top of most eBay buyers and sellers, whose main concern is organising payment and an international parcel delivery.

But eBay, along with Dell, Fujitsu and HP are the first partners to utilise Microsoft's new Windows Azure cloud computing platform.

It is thought that eBay will integrate Windows Azure into two of its data centres to boost its service and speed things up for users.

"We are at an inflection point in technology history," commented Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer.

"For customers, cloud computing creates tremendous value, which translates to massive opportunity for Microsoft and its partners."

EBay's adoption of Microsoft's cloud computing platform may be an attempt to recoup some of its value that shrunk during the recession.

Despite coming out sixth in Kantar's Retail report of the most valuable brands, eBay's brand value fell by 29 per cent over the last two years.


Article Added: 13/07/2010 09:38:56