RIM signs Microsoft cloud deal

The deal gives RIM access to use Microsoft servers and software to offer its clients cloud-based storage solutions.

RIM believes that around a quarter of its large corporate customers will make move their data into the cloud by the end of this year, with half having made the shift by 2012.

Jim Tobin, RIM’s senior vice president, software and business services, said, "It's a more efficient model for everyone. As the smartphone starts to handle more of the work effort versus a desktop, and now you add the tablet, that's the time to move away from storing information on computer hard drives and local servers.”

The Microsoft cloud deal comes as RIM gears up to launch its highly-anticipated PlayBook tablet, which is rumoured to arrive in early April in the US.

You can read more about the PlayBook here.