<p>Two decades ago, much of our transactional data was transmitted via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) through very expensive Value Added Networks (VANs). But with telecom and e-commerce advances, the development of XML and SOAP protocols and standards, the dramatic decline in the costs of hardware, and the move toward web services and virtualized environments, enterprises and service providers alike are trying to figure out their path forward in the cloud.</p><p>The cloud is the evolution of software and collaboration it's something companies need to be thinking about, or they will get left behind.</p><p>Within Microsoft's ecosystem, what is driving much of this dramatic shift toward the cloud is Microsoft itself, rather than their customer base. With competitors like Google driving a new breed of products and services geared toward the cloud and away from the traditional operating system model, Microsoft has scrambled in the past few years to outline their own cloud strategy whether or not their vast customer base is ready for it.</p><p>At the forefront of Microsoft's push toward the cloud is the latest release of SharePoint, which was designed with the cloud in mind. During his keynote at SPTechCon San Francisco in February 2012, Jared Spataro, Director of SharePoint Product Marketing at Microsoft, announced that SharePoint 2013 is being developed using a "Cloud First" strategy.</p><p><a href="http://www.cmswire.com/cms/social-business/how-the-cloud-is-impacting-sharepoint-2013-019777.php">Keep reading...</a></p>