It was a breakout year for Microsoft Azure, and IT pros with skills in the company's cloud technology are the highest earners in the 19th annual Redmond Salary Survey.
The replication feature Microsoft introduced in Windows Server 2012 provides business continuity. Though no substitute for failover clustering, it's an affordable option.
There's no shortage of software, hardware and cloud providers adding Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) if Hyper-V Replica isn't enough for your requirements.
Microsoft has made a big bet this year that DRaaS will be a killer application for its Cloud OS and Azure service. Numerous players are making similar gambits.
Hyper-V virtual machine protection in a private cloud or the Azure cloud is simplified with the new replication and recovery service.