In a statement, city chief information officer Brett Goldstein said, "The cloud strategy gives city employees the ability to do their jobs more effectively while saving taxpayer dollars, decreasing duplication among departments and streamlining our operations across the board." As of 10:30 a.m. ET Friday, Microsoft stock was quoting just north of $27 per share, down about 0.8 percent on the day.

Do you consider this a big deal for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)? How important is cloud computing to future success of Microsoft or Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)? We'd like your opinions, so give us some feedback as to where you think this battle stands and which company you think will ultimately win.

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