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you claim that contracts at this level are executed on the basis of technical merit?

I'm not sure I would call it technical merit, but sentiment and reputation do play a role in negotiations. No cloud provider wants to be perceived as having a weakness in terms of security compared to its closest competitors.

There are debates about risks when large companies move to the cloud - in some industries more than in others. Opposing groups within companies as well as competitors' sales people will be looking for weak spots to make their case.

In isolation, incidents like this don't make a difference. If it looks like a pattern that would be bad for business though.

Does Microsoft have a reputation for good security, adequate security or poor security?

How has this affected sales over the years?

I believe they won the PC wars years ago and there has never been a good replacement system with enough customer incentive that met the same price point. It is this cow they continue to milk.

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