Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Data Center, IE Re-visit?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been working to establish itself in the mobile space while also upgrading some services – highlighted by the launch of Office 2013 in the coming days. But it is pretty clear that behind the scenes the company is investing in preparation for the future, which may likely be focused in the enterprise.

This might explain part of the new investment in Big Data, as a report surfaced that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is expected to spend $348 million to upgrade a data center that it built in 2010 in Mecklenburg County, Va., to update the company’s software services, server utility and computer capacity. The upgrade is expected to create about 30 jobs in Virginia.

On another note as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) tries to re-establish itself in the marketplace, Microsoft has lost market share with its Internet Explorer browser, so it is working to bring some developers back and convince them to give IE another shot. Redmond is showing off modern.IE, which is a portal that has resources for developers “designed to make it easier for developers to ensure their sites work beautifully across Internet Explorer as well as other modern browsers.” This includes BrowserStack with a three-month free subscription – which would allow developers to test their web site on any browser running on a Windows platform.

“(W)e recognize that customers on older versions of IE continue to be a real challenge for developers testing their sites, particularly for those developers on non-Windows devices,” wrote Ryan Gavin, general manager of Internet Explorer, in a blog post. “We want to help. We want the web to move forward. And we genuinely want web developers to spend more time innovating and less time testing.”

As of 11 a.m. ET Thursday, Microsoft stock is down slightly to about $27.65 per share.

What does this mean for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)? Do you think it’s still viable in the marketplace? If not, what do you think it needs to do to change its status? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

DISCLOSURE: I own no positions in any stock mentioned.

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