Microsoft is cutting prices for hosting and processing customers' online data in an aggressive challenge to Amazon.com's lead in the growing business of cloud computing.
The world's biggest software company said Tuesday that it will match Amazon's prices for some of the more common online data services it provides, which would mean price cuts of 21 percent to 33 percent.
It is Microsoft's most aggressive move yet in the arena. The company hopes its Windows Azure business can win customers from Amazon Web Services, which pioneered the renting of technology resources such as computing power and storage, known as cloud computing.