The objective of the centre is to advance the potential of cloud computing across devices, in the datacentre and within new industries - all topics Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer addressed when he visited Taiwan last year. Via the SSEC, the company combines its research and development (R&D) expertise and technology leadership in software, services and cloud datacentre technologies with Taiwan's global leadership in hardware innovation to create next-generation connected devices and cloud data centres, creating new business opportunities for the company and its partners. Moreover, Microsoft will license patents from its industry-leading portfolio and share its software development expertise with academic and R&D institutes in Taiwan to help strengthen the software and services technologies for the Taiwan Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem.
"Over the past two decades, hardware manufacturers in Taiwan have established their global leadership in PCs, netbooks, cell phones, LCDs and other IT technologies, which is important for the global ICT industry," said Guggenheimer, who helped celebrate the centre's opening. "The opening of the SSEC is a significant milestone for Microsoft and its hardware partners in our collaboration for the development of additional business opportunities in the era of cloud computing."
"Cloud computing services are a strategic industry that the government is promoting, and the centre will expedite the development of the Taiwan ICT industry toward cloud services," said Wu Ming-Ji, director general, Department of Industrial Technology, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
"The Taiwan ICT industry will be able to bring in the most advanced software technologies, as well as cloud datacentre implementation experience from Microsoft to integrate them with the existing system and R&D resources provided by the government. This will not only strengthen the existing competitiveness of the Taiwan hardware industry but also develop new business opportunities from cloud services. We believe that the integration of existing government resources with innovations provided by Microsoft is going to help upgrade the Taiwan hardware industry, which will be even more successful in the era of cloud computing."
The SSEC commenced cooperation with many Taiwan companies long before its opening and already there are significant initial achievements with Quanta Computer Inc., Delta Electronics Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc. In the next three years, more than 100 Taiwan ICT companies are expected to participate in developing cloud computing solutions.
"Our three-way research collaboration between Quanta Computer, Delta Electronics and Microsoft Research's eXtreme Computing Group has led to the creation of a new generation of cloud servers," said Dan Reed, corporate vice president, eXtreme Computing Group, Microsoft Corp. "The collaboration creates a unique opportunity to bring together leading-edge hardware with new software concepts to enable fundamental breakthroughs."
The first prototype cloud server from the collaboration will be deployed at the SSEC later this year.
"Cloud computing is a mega-trend in our industry. The SSEC is an important milestone for Taiwan's bourgeoning efforts in cloud computing. This centre will allow Compal to work closely with Microsoft to build next-generation products and solutions with advanced user experiences and cloud-based services and explore the potential of private and public cloud scenarios," said Ray Chen, CEO of Innovation Centre, Compal Electronics.
The Microsoft SSEC has three goals:
