Packard Co announced a partnership Wednesday to integrate their software and hardware offerings for companies looking to move their applications and data online, popularly known as “cloud computing.” The world's biggest software maker and the world's No. 1 PC maker, which have cooperated in this area for some time, said they would invest $250 million over three years in marketing and supporting the new venture. The two hope the combined effort will make it easier and more cost-effective for companies to buy and operate server systems, essentially combining Hewlett-Packard's hardware and Microsoft's software. Cloud computing - broadly the practice of storing information and running computer programs in remote data centers that are accessible over the Internet - has long been expected to revolutionize business computing, but actual take-up has been gradual. Microsoft launched its Azure cloud computing service earlier this month, giving customers the option of storing data in Microsoft's data centers and providing software developers a platform for creating cloud
