Tag: AWS

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Supplier Report: 6/8/2018

That sweet Github candy - Joey Lombardi | The Source

Microsoft is purchasing code sharing site GitHub for $7.5B. The logic behind the acquisition is to push more code and development activities towards Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and away from AWS.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is worried about cloud lock-in. While Amazon does have more tools than other providers to help move off the platform, it is still a costly decision if a customer wants to go to another cloud service.

Google is opting not to continue their military AI contract and is creating corporate guidelines that prevent the company from weaponizing artificial intelligence in the future.

Acquisitions

  • Microsoft Is Buying GitHub for $7.5 Billion in Stock

    The deal values GitHub at nearly four times the $2 billion valuation given by private investors in a fundraising round three years ago. GitHub has grown into a major nexus for software developers to share and collaborate on code—it claims 28 million users. The 10-year-old company, which charges corporate customers, doesn’t disclose revenue or profit, and its financial performance isn’t clear.

    Acquiring GitHub could help Microsoft persuade more developers to create applications for its cloud-computing business, where customers rent digital resources and applications on demand. Microsoft is racing to catch up to industry leader Amazon.com Inc. in that business.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-to-acquire-github-for-7-5-billion-in-stock-1528118504

    Of course… it has to be weaponized…

    This is why Microsoft should buy $2 billion startup GitHub and turn it into a weapon against Amazon

    So the opportunity for Microsoft is fairly straightforward. If it can get the Microsoft Azure cloud tightly integrated with GitHub — basically, give developers an easy way to get a GitHub project up and running in the cloud — it can kill two birds with one stone. Developers could love GitHub even more, and it would drive more usage of Microsoft Azure.

    https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/This-is-why-Microsoft-should-buy-2-billion-12961533.php

Artificial Intelligence

  • Google reportedly won’t renew its controversial military AI contract

    According to three individuals who attended a weekly Google meeting this morning, Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene announced that the Project Maven contract would not be renewed when it expires next year. She said the backlash over the deal had been bad for the company and that the contract was pursued during a time when the company was actively seeking military work.

    Internal emails obtained by Gizmodo showed that Google’s plans for the project may not have been as low-key as the company wanted people to think. Google reportedly put at least 10 employees on the project, viewed the deal as a gateway for future military and intelligence contracts and sought and received security authorizations that would allow it to work on additional government contracts. The Project Maven contract is also apparently worth more than Google executives once said, pulling in around $15 million instead of the $9 million that was previously reported. Its budget also had the possibility of growing to as much as $250 million. Additionally, emails show that Google planned to build a surveillance system for the Pentagon that would let analysts “click on a building and see everything associated with it.”

    https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/01/google-will-not-renew-military-ai-contract-project-maven/

  • Google pledges not to develop AI weapons, but says it will still work with the military

    While the new principles forbid the development of AI weaponry, they state that Google will continue to work with the military “in many other areas.” Speaking to The Verge, a Google representative said that had these principles been published earlier, the company would likely not have become involved in the Pentagon’s drone project, which used AI to analyze surveillance footage. Although this application was for “non-offensive purposes,” and therefore hypothetically permitted under these guidelines, the representative said it was too close for comfort — suggesting Google will play it safe with future military contracts.

    As well as forbidding the development of AI for weapons, the principles say Google will not work on AI surveillance projects that violate “internationally accepted norms,” or projects which contravene “widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.” The company says that its main focuses for AI research are to be “socially beneficial.” This means avoiding unfair bias; remaining accountable to humans and subject to human control; upholding “high standards of scientific excellence,” and incorporating privacy safeguards.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/7/17439310/google-ai-ethics-principles-warfare-weapons-military-project-maven

  • IBM says it’s reaching for the ‘moon’ with Watson Health. That hasn’t stopped layoffs.

    All told, once the Truven deal closed, IBM had “invested more than $4 billion to acquire and build an unparalleled array of cognitive healthcare capabilities,” it said, having previously stressed that each of the acquisitions came with client lists and databases.

    The databases were certainly among the most important components of the deal because machine-learning systems like Watson rely on having a large number of cases to comb through in their search for analytic breakthroughs.

    Kavanaugh published a 53-page report last summer that questioned whether the investment in Watson will ever pay off for IBM, mostly on the grounds that competitors like Google and Amazon seem better-positioned to win what he called “the A.I. war.”

    http://www.heraldsun.com/news/business/article212325914.html

Cloud

  • Bezos doesn’t want AWS customers to feel ‘trapped’

    Though cloud computing can often lead to a vendor “lock-in,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Amazon Web Services works hard to prevent customers from feeling “trapped” in its services, speaking at the annual shareholder meeting last week, reports GeekWire.

    However, Bezos pointed out that adopting another cloud provider after already implementing one because of the time and money invested in the process can be costly. Developers taking time to learn application programming interfaces (APIs) is what directs many businesses to maintain a singular cloud vendor instead of “managing two different systems,” Bezos said.

    https://www.ciodive.com/news/bezos-doesnt-want-aws-customers-to-feel-trapped/524889/

  • SAP and IBM marry their cloud services in a partnership aimed at private cloud deploymentsa

    IBM Corp. and SAP SE today announced plans to launch an edition of the SAP Cloud Platform running on the IBM Cloud for private cloud deployments. The companies said the collaboration will help clients in regulated industries build new applications on the cloud without jeopardizing security and control.

    IBM has recently established or tightened cloud partnerships with Red Hat Inc., VMware Inc. and New Relic Inc. with the goal of helping enterprise customers move more easily to the cloud and take advantage of recent innovations like containers. “Our goal is to provide the cloud of choice for every enterprise, and particularly for enterprise workloads,” said Bradley Knapp, IBM’s offering manager for IBM Cloud for SAP.

    https://siliconangle.com/blog/2018/06/06/sap-ibm-marry-cloud-services-partnership-aimed-private-cloud-deployments/

Security

  • The damage from Atlanta’s huge cyberattack is even worse than the city first thought

    On Wednesday during a budget meeting, Daphne Rackley, Atlanta’s Interim Chief Information Officer and head of Atlanta Information Management, disclosed new details about the extent of the damage. As Reuters reports, at least one third of the 424 software programs that the city runs remain offline or partially inoperable. Almost 30 percent of those programs are deemed “mission critical” by the city meaning that they control crucial city services like the court system and law enforcement. In the meeting, Rackley explained that the city initially believed only 20 percent of the city’s software programs to be affected by the attack, none of which affected critical systems.

    While reporting the updated numbers, Rackley estimated that $9.5 million would need to be added to the department’s $35 million budget to address the remaining damage. That amount is on top of the more than two million dollars in emergency procurements sought by Atlanta Information Management following the attack.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/06/atlanta-cyberattack-atlanta-information-management/

Software/SaaS

  • Gartner recognises SAP Ariba as Procure-to-Pay leader

    With more than 3.3mn connected companies in 190 countries transacting over $1.7trn in commerce on an annual basis, the Ariba Network is the world’s largest business-to-business trading platform.

    SAP Fieldglass’ cloud-based, open platform, which has a 99% customer retention rate, has been deployed in more than 180 countries and is used by organisations around the world to find, engage and manage all types of flexible resources.

    “We feel that our standing as a Leader in this Magic Quadrant reflects our value as an integrated end-to-end solution,” said Vish Baliga, Chief Technology Officer, SAP Fieldglass.

    https://www.supplychaindigital.com/procurement/gartner-recognises-sap-ariba-procure-pay-leader

  • Coupa: Valuation At A Dangerous Tipping Point

    Coupa also possesses few of the fundamental traits that typically accompany such a highly valued stock. The 37% y/y growth rate Coupa posted this quarter was, at least relative to other high-growth SaaS stocks, fairly middling. There are companies growing at 40-50%, like MongoDB (MDB), that are valued at only 8x forward revenues. And while investors may cheer on Coupa’s ability to generate free cash flow (which is, admittedly, a rarity in the SaaS sector and impressive at Coupa’s early stage), its FCF margin of 20% still can’t be considered best-in-breed, as other companies like Dropbox (DBX) have FCF margins closer to 30%.

    https://seekingalpha.com/article/4179374-coupa-valuation-dangerous-tipping-point

Datacenter/Hardware

  • IRS to Spend Nearly $300 Million on IT in Tax Overhaul

    The Internal Revenue Service plans to spend $291 million updating 140 computer systems to help it implement the new tax law, according to a previously undisclosed agency document.

    Those information-technology costs and other back-office operations will consume more than 90% of the money Congress is giving the IRS for implementation. The IRS is also bracing for a 17% increase in phone calls, planning to revise 450 forms and publications and organizing 40,000 hours of training, according to the document.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/irs-to-spend-nearly-300-million-on-it-in-tax-overhaul-1527871564?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

Other

  • Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

    Facebook’s hands-off stance changed around 2016. WhatsApp topped one billion monthly users, and it had eliminated its 99 cent fee. Facebook told investors it would stop increasing the number of ads in Facebook’s news feed, resulting in slower advertising-revenue growth. This put pressure on Facebook’s other properties—including WhatsApp—to make money.

    That August, WhatsApp announced it would start sharing phone numbers and other user data with Facebook, straying from its earlier promise to be built “around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible.”

    With Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg pushing to integrate it into the larger company, WhatsApp moved its offices in January 2017 from Mountain View, Calif., to Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters about 20 minutes away. Facebook tried to make it welcoming, decorating the Building 10 office in WhatsApp’s green color scheme.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-the-messy-expensive-split-between-facebook-and-whatsapps-founders-1528208641?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

Photo by Kyle Cottrell on Unsplash

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Supplier Report: 6/1/2018

Supplier Report: 6/1/2018

Amazon had good news this week as their AWS cloud hosting platform continues to dominate commercially and critically. The company took the top spot again in Gartner’s annual cloud quadrant report.

The company did have a bit of a PR problem this week with news that their Alexa home assistant accidentally recorded a couple’s private conversation and sent the recording to someone in their contact list.

The EU is putting the PR in GDPR (get it?) thanks to news that an Australian privacy group is filing GDPR privacy complaints based on Facebook and Google forcing users to adopt a “take it or leave it” approach regarding privacy options. There could be billions of dollars of fines (but I doubt that will happen… but it is the EU).

Acquisitions

No acquisition news this week…

Artificial Intelligence

  • Eric Schmidt says Elon Musk is ‘exactly wrong’ about AI

    “He doesn’t understand the benefits that this technology will provide to making every human being smarter,” Schmidt said. “The fact of the matter is that AI and machine learning are so fundamentally good for humanity.”

    He acknowledged that there are risks around how the technology might be misused, but he said they’re outweighed by the benefits: “The example I would offer is, would you not invent the telephone because of the possible misuse of the telephone by evil people? No, you would build the telephone and you would try to find a way to police the misuse of the telephone.”

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/25/eric-schmidt-musk-exactly-wrong/
    Here’s why Elon Musk isn’t “exactly wrong” when it comes to A.I.

    This is not the first time that Schmidt has pushed back on people’s fears about A.I. and the inevitable rise of the machines. Google DeepMind researchers may disagree with their former boss, though. The AI research group suggested that bots may eventually learn to interfere with humans and suggested creating a “big red button” to turn off AI and prevent them from fighting back. So, while Musk may be “exactly wrong” about many things (particularly this week) despite what Schmidt says, even Google thinks he may not be “exactly wrong” about A.I.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40577884/heres-why-elon-musk-isnt-exactly-wrong-when-it-comes-to-a-i

  • How a Pentagon Contract Became an Identity Crisis for Google

    The polarized debate about Google and the military may leave out some nuances. Better analysis of drone imagery could reduce civilian casualties by improving operators’ ability to find and recognize terrorists. The Defense Department will hardly abandon its advance into artificial intelligence if Google bows out. And military experts say China and other developed countries are already investing heavily in A.I. for defense.

    But skilled technologists who chose Google for its embrace of benign and altruistic goals are appalled that their employer could eventually be associated with more efficient ways to kill.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/technology/google-project-maven-pentagon.html

Cloud

  • Gartner drops 8 IaaS vendors off Magic Quadrant in favor of broader market players

    Amazon Web Services once again came out on top of Gartner’s Infrastructure as a Service Magic Quadrant, cinching a spot in the top right of the leaders’ quadrant. Microsoft came in second, almost on par with Amazon in terms of “completeness of vision” but a little farther behind in “ability to execute,” while Google eked out of the visionary category and into the bottom of the leaders group for 2018.

    Alibaba Cloud, Oracle and IBM rounded out the niche players category, scaling back from positions in the visionaries category last year.

    https://www.ciodive.com/news/gartner-drops-8-iaas-vendors-off-magic-quadrant-in-favor-of-broader-market/524524/

  • IBM Exec: We Have Ways to Stand Out in the Cloud Wars

    IBM, Oracle (ORCL) and Alibaba (BABA) (tops in China) are now labeled as “Niche Players” rather than “Visionaries.” And eight other firms, including CenturyLink (CTL) , Rackspace and Dell EMC’s Virtustream unit, have been thrown out of Gartner’s report altogether.

    IBM did, however, get some praise for its ability to migrate mainframe clients to its cloud, as well as its large global footprint. In a talk with TheStreet, Jason McGee, the CTO of IBM’s Cloud Platform unit, argued Big Blue’s strong support for hybrid clouds is a competitive strength, as are unique offerings in fields such as security, blockchain solutions and AI/machine learning (Watson). He also noted IBM’s cloud partnerships with the likes of Red Hat (RHT) , New Relic (NEWR) and Box (BOX).

    https://www.thestreet.com/investing/ibm-exec-we-have-ways-to-stand-out-in-the-cloud-wars-14604579

Security

  • Google and Facebook are already accused of breaking GDPR laws

    Both companies are engaging in “forced consent” according to privacy group noyb.eu. Forced consent is a “take it or leave it approach” where a company requires that users opt into data terms it sets or blocks them from accessing their service entirely

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40577794/google-and-facebook-are-already-accused-of-breaking-gdpr-laws
    GDPR: Google and Facebook face up to $9.3B in fines on first day of new privacy law

    Google, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have been hit with privacy complaints within hours of GDPR taking effect Friday — complaints that could carry fines of up to $9.3 billion in total.

    https://www.cnet.com/news/gdpr-google-and-facebook-face-up-to-9-3-billion-in-fines-on-first-day-of-new-privacy-law/

  • Google Emerges as Early Winner From Europe’s New Data Privacy Law

    Since the law went into effect Friday, Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager, or DBM, a major tool ad buyers use to purchase targeted online ads, has been directing some advertisers’ money toward Google’s own marketplace where digital-ad inventory can be bought and sold, and away from some smaller such ad exchanges and other vendors. That shift has hurt some smaller firms, where Google says it can’t verify whether people who see ads have given consent.

    Google is applying a relatively strict interpretation of how and where the new law requires consent, both on its own platforms and those of other firms. The stringent interpretation helps Google avoid GDPR’s harsh penalties and pushes the company to buy more ad inventory from its own exchange, where it is sure to have user consent for targeted advertising.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/eus-strict-new-privacy-law-is-sending-more-ad-money-to-google-1527759001?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

  • Amazon Alexa-Powered Device Recorded and Shared User’s Conversation Without Permission

    Amazon said the Portland incident involved a series of such misunderstandings. It said the Echo woke “due to a word in background conversation sounding like ’Alexa.’ Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a ’send message’ request. At which point, Alexa said out loud ’To whom?’ At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customers contact list.” Amazon said Alexa then asked for confirmation and interpreted further background conversation as giving it.

    Amazon also recently said it was adding a fix for Alexa-powered devices after users reported the machines started laughing for no reason. The company also attributed that to the software misunderstanding what it heard.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-alexa-powered-device-recorded-and-shared-users-conversation-without-permission-1527203250?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

  • AT&T and Verizon both want to run massive ad-tracking networks to rival Facebook

    To sum that up, AT&T’s plan is to use the data it tracks and collects about customers on its networks — including location data and all the media they consume over those networks — to serve targeted ads for high prices against Time Warner content.

    This is obviously quite upsetting from a privacy standpoint, but it’s actually a familiar strategy for a major carrier. When Verizon bought AOL and Yahoo and combined them into the tragically-named Oath in 2017, the company was explicit the goal was to use Verizon’s network data to better target ads on Oath’s millions of pages of content across Yahoo and AOL’s various zombie brands. Oath CEO Tim Armstrong spent years buying tons of mid-level ad-tech companies, and Verizon inserts “super cookies” across its entire network to track every site you visit along with the location of your phone. (I wrote about the Oath ad tracking nightmare in the past, if you would like to giggle at companies with names like Adapt.tv and Vidible.)

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/30/17410942/att-verizon-facebook-ad-tracking

Software/SaaS

  • Don’t read this, Oracle… It’s the rise of the open-source data strategies

    While databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Apache Cassandra have long scored points with web developers, historically they didn’t compete on Oracle’s core database turf.

    But that was then, this is now. According to recent Gartner analysis, open-source databases now constitute 7.6 per cent ($2.6bn) of the global database market, worth $34bn. If that doesn’t seem like much, consider that over the past two years the open source DBMS market averaged 75 per cent growth, compared to a more tepid 7.7 per cent growth in the total market.

    Where is that growth coming from? In part, it reflects developers’ desires to run new applications with modern databases. Those decisions have been made much easier by AWS, in particular, which has taken many of the most popular open source databases and turned them into services, removing the complexity of managing them. As such, according to DB-Engines, which ranks database popularity across a number of factors, half of the world’s most popular databases are now open source.

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/31/rise_of_the_open_source_data_strategies/

Other

  • IBM’s Watson Health wing left looking poorly after ‘massive’ layoffs

    IBM has laid off approximately 50 and 70 per cent of staff this week in its Watson Health division, according to inside sources.

    The axe, we’re told, is largely falling on IBMers within companies the IT goliath has taken over in the past few years to augment Watson’s credentials in the health industry. These include medical data biz Truven, which was acquired in 2016 for $2.6bn, medical imaging firm Merge, bought in 2015 for $1bn, and healthcare management business Phytel, also snapped up in 2015.

    Yesterday and today, staff were let go at IBM’s offices in Dallas, Texas, as well as in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado, in the US, and elsewhere, it is claimed. A spokesperson for Big Blue was not available for comment.

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/25/ibms_watson_layoffs/

  • Microsoft surpasses Google’s Alphabet to become 3rd most valuable company

    At the end of trading, Microsoft’s market value was $760 billion, holding off Alphabet, whose market value was $746 billion. Only Apple and Amazon.com are worth more, at $922 billion and $788 billion, respectively. The ballooning valuations have fueled speculation as to which U.S. tech company will be the first to reach a $1 trillion-market cap. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/30/microsoft-surpasses-googles-alphabet-to-become-3rd-most-valuable-company/?utm_term=.e0c02267f019

Photo by Kelly Jean on Unsplash

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Supplier Report: 5/18/2018

Supplier Report: 5/18/2018

Net Neutrality may have a second chance thanks to the Senate and the CRA. While this is good news for consumers, it could take a while for the protections to be reinstated.

Oracle informed Australian authorities that Google might be inappropriately capturing and collecting data from the people down under.  Meanwhile the New York Times still thinks that Google’s data collection is less creepy than Facebook’s methods.

What is the next thing all the tech companies are going to fight over?  It could be access to lithium.

Acquisitions

  • Google acquires Cask Data to beef up its tools for building and running big data analytics

    In the latest development, Google has picked up Cask Data, a Palo Alto startup that specializes in building solutions to run big data analytics services based on Hadoop.

    The news comes less than a week after Google announced the acquisition of Velostrata, a startup from Israel that helps businesses migrate and run data, apps and other IT functions in the cloud and across hybrid environments.

    Financial terms are not being disclosed. Cask Data had raised around $40 million in funding to date, according to PitchBook, with a long list of big-name investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, AME Cloud Ventures, Battery Ventures, Cloudera, Data Collective, Ericsson and Ignition Venture Partners. PitchBook’s records indicate that Ignition sold its stake on April 25, which might have been when the deal closed. The most recent valuation noted in PitchBook was for $57 million, back in 2015.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/16/google-acquires-cask-data-to-beef-up-its-tools-for-building-and-running-big-data-analytics/

  • Giuliani says ‘the president denied’ AT&T-Time Warner deal approval

    “The president denied the merger,” Giuliani, a new member of President Trump’s legal team, said in an interview with HuffPost on Friday.

    Giuliani was seemingly trying to defend the president against any suggestion that Michael Cohen improperly influenced the administration after the revelation that Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal attorney, was paid large sums of money by AT&T and several other corporate clients. “Whatever lobbying was done didn’t reach the president,” Giuliani said, repeating a claim he made to CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday.

    But then Giuliani went further, telling HuffPost’s S.V. Date that “he did drain the swamp… The president denied the merger. They didn’t get the result they wanted.”

    http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/11/media/rudy-giuliani-trump-att-time-warner/index.html

  • Xerox pulls out of its Fujifilm merger plans

    The printer and copier giant changed its plans after it reached a settlement with two of its largest activist shareholders, Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, reports the Wall Street Journal. The shareholders felt the merger severely undervalued Xerox. Under the settlement with the activist shareholders, new members were appointed to Xerox’s board, which then voted to sever the Fujifilm merger, which was announced in January. For its part, Fujifilm has announced it is considering legal actions against Xerox.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40571872/xerox-pulls-out-of-its-fujifilm-merger-plans

  • PayPal confirms that it is buying payments startup iZettle for $2.2B in an all-cash deal

    The company has confirmed that it is buying iZettle — the Stockholm-based payments provider commonly referred to as the “Square of Europe” — for $2.2 billion in an all-cash deal.

    The deal — which is expected to close in Q3 2018 — will see iZettle’s co-founder and CEO Jacob de Geer stay on to lead iZettle. He will report to PayPal’s COO Bill Ready. Others in iZettle’s exec team will also stay on to run the business, which will become a “center of excellence” for in-store and offline payments in Europe, PayPal said.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/17/paypal-confirms-that-it-is-buying-payments-startup-izettle-for-2-2b-in-an-all-cash-deal/

Artificial Intelligence

  • AI will spell the end of capitalism

    It is the very pervasiveness of AI that will spell the end of market dominance. The market may reasonably if unequally function if industry creates employment opportunities for most people. But when industry only produces joblessness, as robots take over more and more, there is no good alternative but for the state to step in. As AI invades economic and social life, all private law-related issues will soon become public ones. More and more, regulation of private companies will become a necessity to maintain some semblance of stability in societies roiled by constant innovation.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/05/03/end-of-capitalism

Cloud

  • The War Over Amazon And A Huge Pentagon Cloud Services Contract Is Just Heating Up

    Amazon currently owns 44.2% of the cloud market. Its next closest competitor is Microsoft’s Azure at 7.1%. Google holds just 2.3% of the space, according to 2016 revenue stats from Gartner.

    If it’s the sole winner of the Pentagon’s contract, then its piece of the pie stands to get a lot bigger. Smaller companies have lobbied to get the government to choose several providers rather than one, but it won’t budge on the decision.

    “I never heard of something like a single cloud and I would challenge anyone to point at a significant commercial customer who has one cloud,” Oracle Chief Executive Sara Catz said to a group of journalists in mid-April.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40569405/the-war-over-amazon-and-a-huge-pentagon-cloud-services-contract-is-just-heating-up

Security

  • Senate votes to reinstate net neutrality — but it has a long way to go

    In a 52–47 vote today, senators voted to overturn the Federal Communication Commission’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which took net neutrality rules off the books. They were able to do so using the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, which allows Congress to reverse recent decisions by government agencies. Republican control of Congress means that such a measure wouldn’t normally even make it up for a vote; but the CRA allows senators to force a vote by obtaining 30 signatures.

    All 49 Democrats voted in favor, as well as Republican Senators Susan Collins, of Maine; John Kennedy, of Louisiana; and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/16/17357592/net-neutrality-senate-vote-cra-reinstate-fcc-rules

  • Google caught using $580 million worth of Australians’ phone data to spy on them by monitoring their movements

    Claims Google is using up to $580 million worth of user’s phone plan data in Australia to track customer’s movements are being looked into by the ACCC.

    Experts from technology corporation Oracle believe Google is taking an estimated one gigabyte of mobile data each month from Android phone accounts.

    It is believed the information keeps an eye on user’s whereabouts, and relays the details back to advertisers.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5723709/Google-caught-using-580-million-worth-Australians-phone-data-spy.html

  • Google’s File on Me Was Huge. Here’s Why It Wasn’t as Creepy as My Facebook Data.

    What I found was that my Google data archive was much larger than my Facebook file — about 12 times larger, in fact — but it was also packed with fewer unpleasant surprises.

    Most of what I saw in my Google file was information I already knew I had put in there, like my photos, documents and Google emails, while my Facebook data contained a list of 500 advertisers with my contact information and a permanent record of friends I thought I had “deleted” years ago, among other shockers.

    Whenever I was perturbed by parts of my Google data, like a record of the Android apps I had opened over the past several years, I was relieved to find out I could delete the data. In contrast, when I downloaded my Facebook data, I found that a lot of what I saw could not be purged.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/technology/personaltech/google-personal-data-facebook.html

Datacenter/Hardware

  • Apple invests $10 million in a greener method of aluminum production

    Today Apple says it’s partnering with the aluminum producer Alcoa and the smelting tech company Rio Tinto to develop a new way of producing aluminum that releases oxygen, not carbon dioxide. The three companies, along with the governments of Canada and Quebec are investing a combined $144 million in the R&D, which is being done near Alcoa’s headquarters in Pittsburg. Apple’s share is $10.1 million (U.S.). The governments are investing about $47 million (U.S.).

    Alcoa and Rio Tinto believe the new method will be done and packaged in 2024. At that point the two will begin licensing the tech to other aluminum producers, and, presumably, Alcoa will begin using it on a wide scale itself.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40570988/apple-invests-10-million-in-a-greener-method-of-aluminum-production

  • What Do Tesla, Apple and SoftBank Have in Common? They’re All Hot for Lithium

    Both lithium and cobalt, which is also used in these batteries, face potential shortages in the years ahead as electric-vehicle use increases.

    That concern is driving a number of companies like technology firms and car makers reliant on lithium and cobalt to strike deals now, even if it means joining with suppliers that haven’t started producing yet.

    Tesla reached a three-year supply agreement with lithium firm Kidman Resources Ltd. , which begins when the Australian company begins producing battery-grade material, Kidman said Thursday. The firm isn’t expected to begin producing lithium compounds before 2021.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-lithium-and-cobalt-producers-are-the-hot-new-acquisition-target-1526558400?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

Other

  • Why Apple, Microsoft Are Focusing on Services

    At the moment, Apple leads the pack in providing a complete ecosystem of hardware, software, and services. But if you have been watching Microsoft over the last four years, you know that it’s doing the same, with services like Office 365 and more recently, Microsoft 365.

    A dedicated, sand-boxed store in which only approved apps are allowed gives Microsoft more control over security and brings it new revenue streams. But PC partners don’t love it, pushing some to alternative OSes like Google’s Chrome OS.

    Still, while there is money to be made in hardware, PC sales continue to shrink and a focus on services is critical to the long-term survival of companies like Apple, Microsoft, and others.

    https://www.pcmag.com/commentary/361058/why-apple-microsoft-are-focusing-on-services

  • Tim Cook told Trump China tariffs were the wrong move

    “I talked about trade and the importance of trade, and how I felt that two countries trading together make the pie larger,” Cook said, adding that while there are existing problems with U.S./China trade policies, Trump’s approach is not the right way forward. “I felt that tariffs were not the right approach there, and I showed him some more analytical kinds of things to demonstrate why.”

    The tariffs are largely regarded as one key element in a looming trade war between the two superpowers. Apple, for its part, could easily get caught in the crossfire, as the company relies on China as a key to its international sales.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/15/tim-cook-told-trump-china-tariffs-were-the-wrong-move/

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

Posted on

Supplier Report: 5/4/2018

Boston

Amazon announced job expansions in the cities of Boston and Vancouver. This expansion is fueled by the company’s explosive cloud growth (and the riches gained from the ever-increasing Amazon Prime subscription fees). AWS and Prime profits are also covering Amazon’s losses in the retail space, which makes it much harder for their competition.

Fans of WhatsApp should pay attention to the data Facebook is collecting from the app, but alternatives like Signal are running into issues in their attempts to protect user data.

T-Mobile and Sprint finally made the move to merge. Assuming they get government approval, they will be in a better position to claim 5G bandwidth.  Cisco, Oracle, and IBM also made acquisition announcements this week.

Acquisitions

  • T-Mobile and Sprint said to be close to a $26 billion merger

    The two companies have been rumored to merge since 2014, when Sprint attempted to buy T-Mobile. Talks resumed again last year, before ending last November when T-Mobile and Sprint couldn’t find mutual ground. Earlier in April, though, The Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies were once again back at the negotiating table for the third time in four years, and if CNBC’s sources are correct, it seems that this time, the merger might finally be happening.

    The difference this time is said to be a change of heart in Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank (which owns Sprint), with factors like the lower corporate tax rate, costs of 5G deployment, and increased competition from cable providers helping tip the scales toward a merger, although it’s still possible that things could fall apart again.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/27/17293246/tmobile-sprint-merger-26-billion-telecom-deal-cell-carriers

    Sprint and T-Mobile have announced that they will merge

    The combined company will be based in Bellevue Washington and will be called T-Mobile. Current T-Mobile CEO John Legere will run the combined company, while T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert will become the new company’s COO and President. T-Mobile’s majority owner Deutsche Telekom will hold a 42 percent stake in the company, while Sprint majority owner SoftBank will hold 27 percent, with public stakeholders holding the rest. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will sit on the combined company’s board.

    The companies say that by combining, they’ll be able to lower prices and take advantage of “greater economies of scale”. The two companies have trailed their larger rivals, AT&T and Verizon, and the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile will help give them a boost as they begin to deploy their next-generation 5G network across the country. The combined company will have nearly 100 million customers.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/29/17298904/sprint-and-t-mobile-merger

  • Cisco is acquiring business intelligence startup Accompany for $270M

    Founder and CEO Amy Chang has compared the product to a digital chief of staff or personal assistant, giving executives the context they need before conversations and meetings. Cisco plans to incorporate Accompany technology into its collaboration products, for example by introducing company and individual profiles into Webex meetings.

    Cisco says it will pay $270 million in cash and stock in the deal.

    The company probably didn’t have to search too hard to find Accompany, since Chang (who previously served as the head of product for Google’s ad measurement and reporting) has been on Cisco’s board of directors since October 2016. As part of the transaction, she’s resigning from the board, effective immediately.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/01/cisco-acquires-accompany/

  • Oracle Acquires Vocado

    Oracle today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Vocado, which provides a leading student-centric, cloud-based financial aid solution for higher education institutions.

    Vocado works with thousands of financial aid sources to optimize funding for any type of higher education learning model. The solution helps students identify eligibility and obtain financing so they can achieve their academic goals. Vocado integrates its financial aid solution with both cloud and on-premise Student Information Systems (SIS).

    https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oracle-buys-vocado-300639496.html

  • IBM acquires New Jersey fintech Armanta

    In a blog post, IBM said, “Over the past two years, Armanta and IBM have worked together to deliver financial risk solutions to clients globally. The combination of IBM’s and Armanta’s technology and expertise has allowed IBM to deliver new offerings that have already been adopted in the market. Armanta’s technology has not only enhanced our existing solutions, but also allowed IBM to rapidly develop new offerings for clients.”

    The acquisition will help IBM clients integrate their risk management practices with other front and back-office funtions, while establishing a common set of data analytics and reports for consistency, according to the blog post.

    https://www.wraltechwire.com/2018/05/03/ibm-acquires-new-jersey-fintech-armanta/

Artificial Intelligence

  • Google’s Sergey Brin warns of the threat from AI in today’s ‘technology renaissance’

    But, he says, AI poses a number of problems too, “from the fears of sci-fi style sentience to the more near-term questions such as validating the performance of self-driving cars.” Brin says Alphabet is giving “serious thought” to a number of these issues, including how AI will affect employment; the challenges of making unbiased and transparent algorithms; and the fears that this technology will be used to “manipulate people.” (This is most likely a reference to recent discussions of AI-generated fake news.)

    Notably, though, Brin does not mention one controversial use of AI that is particularly relevant to Alphabet: military applications. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Google was helping the Pentagon deploy machine learning tools to analyze video surveillance footage from drones. The company has said the tech is for “non-offensive uses only,” but thousands of Google employees have demanded that the company withdraw from the project.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/28/17295064/google-ai-threat-sergey-brin-founders-letter-technology-renaissance

Cloud

  • Amazon’s Profit Swells to $1.6 Billion, Lifted by Its Cloud Business

    The company reported that its net income for the first quarter, which ended March 31, was $1.63 billion, or $3.27 per share, compared with net income of $724 million, or $1.48 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue jumped 43 percent to $51 billion, up from $35.7 billion a year earlier.

    Also:

    Revenue from A.W.S., meanwhile, rose 49 percent to $5.44 billion from the same period a year earlier.

    That increase is larger that what the A.W.S. business was seeing just a few quarters ago. It is unusual to see revenue growth increase significantly at Amazon’s size and in a hypercompetitive market, and it seems to have prompted Mr. Bezos to single out the business in his statement.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/technology/amazon-prime-profit.html

  • Cramer: Don’t let the bears fool you—Microsoft and Intel just proved the cloud is here to stay

    https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/27/cramer-microsoft-and-intel-proved-the-cloud-is-here-to-stay.html
    Did anyone say that the cloud wasn’t the technology of the future? I have to admit that I have a hard time watching Jim Cramer after this public beat down:

Security

  • Google accused of using GDPR to impose unfair terms on publishers

    One objection they have is that Google is apparently intending to switch its status from that of a data processor of publishers’ data — i.e. the data Google receives from publishers and collects from their sites — to a data controller which they claim will enable it to “make unilateral decisions about how a publisher’s data is used”.

    Though for other Google services, such as its web analytics product, the company has faced the opposite accusation: i.e. that it’s claiming it’s merely a data processor — yet giving itself expansive rights to use the data that’s gathered, rather like a data controller…

    The publishers also say Google wants them to obtain valid legal consent from users to the processing of their data on its behalf — yet isn’t providing them with information about its intended uses of people’s data, which they would need to know in order to obtain valid consent under GDPR.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/01/google-accused-of-using-gdpr-to-impose-unfair-terms-on-publishers/

  • Amazon Bends the Knee to Autocrats, Threatens to Cut Off Signal for Using Anti-Censorship Technique

    Amazon officially announced it’s increased focus on stamping out domain fronting on Friday. The statement followed closely behind a similar move by Google. On Monday, Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike posted a communication from Amazon’s team informing the privacy-focused company that it must discontinue any sort of domain fronting practices if it wants to continue using Amazon Web Services. Marlinspike lamented the crackdown, saying that Signal is being censored in Egypt, Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. The technique has allowed Signal to circumvent those blocks and continue to provide service to citizens of those countries, according to Marlinspike, but for now, it will have to comply with Amazon’s demands.

    https://gizmodo.com/amazon-bends-the-knee-to-autocrats-threatens-to-cut-of-1825697153
    Stop Using WhatsApp If You Care About Your Privacy

    Facebook already harvests some data from WhatsApp. Without Koum at the helm, it’s possible that could increase—a move that wouldn’t be out of character for the social network, considering that the company’s entire business model hinges on targeted advertising around personal data.

    If you care enough about your privacy to delete Facebook (or even change the way you use the social network) you may want to ditch WhatsApp as well. If you need a new, more secure messaging app try Signal, or even iMessage for communicating between Apple devices.

    https://lifehacker.com/stop-using-whatsapp-if-you-care-about-your-privacy-1825719172

Software/SaaS

Datacenter/Hardware

  • Foxconn Just Got Permission to Start Draining Lake Michigan to Make LCD Screens

    Environmental experts have criticized the diversion. Though, as the DNR points out, it amounts to less than a 1 percent increase in the total surface water withdrawals from Lake Michigan, it would result in a loss of 2.7 million gallons per day, mostly due to evaporation (the rest of the water will be treated and then returned to the lake basin). Environmentalists are also concerned that the decision will set a new precedent allowing the fresh water to be used for predominantly commercial purposes, instead of as drinking water.

    https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wj73x9/foxconn-just-got-permission-to-start-draining-lake-michigan-to-make-lcd-screens

  • Best & Worst Laptop Brands 2018

    Lenovo takes first place again this year, on the strength of the company’s fantastic product lineup. From the beautiful ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which was the only product to get a perfect, 5-star review in the past year, to the versatile Yoga 920, Lenovo’s laptops earned the most Editors’ Choice awards of any brand. And a full 53 percent of the company’s laptops scored 4 or higher. However, Lenovo’s tech support scores declined from last year, and stiff competition from HP and Dell made this a nail-bitingly close race.

    https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings

Other

  • Amazon Is Losing Billions From Its Retail Business and Rivals Should Be Scared

    The remaining segments are basically Prime, ads, and retail. The company does not separate out the segments from the services income on its 10-Q, but we know the general Prime numbers; 100 million prime members. This next step is an estimate. At that level, Prime brings in $10 billion in sales a year, or roughly $2.5 billion a quarter.

    Using this estimate, the overall business, without AWS and Prime, lost about $2 billion last quarter. Although advertising is included here, too, this loss is almost all from the retail side of the business.

    https://www.thestreet.com/opinion/amazon-is-losing-money-from-retail-operations-14571703

  • Amazon Expands Tech Hub in Boston

    Amazon will create 2,000 jobs in Boston in the fields of machine learning, speech science, cloud computing, and robotics engineering as it gets ready to expand its Tech Hub in the city, one of over a dozen such hubs nationwide.

    Amazon said it has invested over $400 million in the Commonwealth since 2011, from customer fulfillment infrastructure to research facilities. It’s interesting to note that on its Boston job site, Amazon calls it the “Athens of America.”

    https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2018/05/01/amazon-expands-tech-hub-in-boston/

  • Amazon to add 3,000 tech jobs in Vancouver, Canada

    Amazon said the additional jobs will be in e-commerce technology, cloud computing and machine learning. Currently, the company’s Vancouver workers produce new products and services for the company’s international retail business and Amazon Web Services.

    “Amazon’s decision to bring another 3,000 jobs to Vancouver is great news for our city’s booming innovation economy,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said. “We are home to the fastest growing, most resilient and greenest economy in Canada and Amazon’s major expansion in our city means more long-term jobs for people who want to live, work and build a future in Vancouver.”

    https://www.upi.com/Amazon-to-add-3000-tech-jobs-in-Vancouver-Canada/6691525136115/

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Posted on

Supplier Report: 4/13/2018

Supply Report - 4/13 - this dog knows something

The Department of Defense’s huge cloud contract is still up for grabs and Amazon’s competitors are raising a stink about Amazon’s glaring advantage.  The government RFP requires their hosting service to be able to handle data designated as top secret. At the moment, AWS is the only cloud hosting service to be certified to host information at that level.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg survived over 600 questions from Congress during a 2-day session. Almost every news outlet summarized the effort as boring, but agreed that Zuckerberg likely resolved the company’s issues with the government.  He also made $3B while taking those questions.

IBM released a new “skinny mainframe” this week and Oracle helped to send a rival company’s CEO to jail (he did kind of deserve it).

Acquisitions

  • HPE acquires leading Microsoft Azure partner to bolster cloud play

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise has unveiled plans to acquire RedPixie, a cloud consultancy and application developer specialising in Microsoft Azure.

    Terms of the deal – of which financial details were not disclosed – will see the tech giant merge the partner into its Pointnext division, in a bid to expand capabilities across hybrid cloud.

    Headquartered in the UK, RedPixie specialises in cloud advisory services, as well as application development and migration offerings specific to moving workloads to the public cloud.

    https://www.reseller.co.nz/article/635989/hpe-acquires-leading-microsoft-azure-partner-bolster-cloud-play/

  • KPMG Acquires Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integrator Adoxio

    KPMG in Canada is acquiring Adoxio Business Solutions, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 integrator and gold-level partner. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close this month.

    Adoxio has 80 employees across Canada and in the United States, including offices in Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Regina and Redmond, Washington. The company serves roughly 300 customers worldwide, including Dynamics 365 clientele within multiple vertical markets — particularly public sector, regulatory, manufacturing, retail and energy.

    https://www.channele2e.com/investors/exits/kpmg-acquires-microsoft-dynamics-365-integrator-adoxio/

Artificial Intelligence

  • Artificial Intelligence Becoming Top Corporate Spending Priority

    “We expect market share will continue to shift among leading vendors given the infancy of the AI/machine learning market,” Huberty said.

    Chief information officers surveyed by Morgan Stanley on average expect their information technology spending to rise 5.8% this year.

    “This is the most bullish CIOs have ever been in overall IT budget growth in the past 10 years,” Huberty said.

    Cloud computing and security are the top priorities, followed by digital transformation initiatives, she said. AI and machine learning initiatives ranked sixth in the latest survey, up from No. 20 a year ago.

    https://www.investors.com/news/technology/artificial-intelligence-ai-spending/

Cloud

  • Don’t count on Amazon winning the $10 billion Defense Department deal — it’s still wide open

    U.S. Navy Commander Patrick Evans, a Department of Defense spokesperson, reiterated that the Pentagon’s process is “transparent” and will remain “a full and open competition.”

    “No companies were pre-selected. We have no favorites, and we want the best solution for the department,” Evans told CNBC.

    Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White also addressed speculation Thursday that Amazon was in the lead to take the lucrative defense contract.

    “The secretary has been very clear that we need to be good stewards of the American people’s money,” White said. “So, nothing is taken for granted and nothing is presumed. We will get a full, open and transparent competition, and this is the first of many competitions with respect to the cloud.”

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/06/aws-not-close-to-winning-jedi-government-cloud-deal.html

  • Amazon’s Rivals Fear They Will Lose Out on Pentagon’s Cloud-Computing Contract

    One of the greatest advantages Amazon has is the Pentagon’s insistence that bidders provide a cloud that can handle unclassified, secret and top-secret data. Only Amazon so far has received government approvals to house its most highly classified data in the cloud, though representatives from other companies said they are making progress toward earning the same certification.

    Mr. Van Name said the Pentagon believes a number of companies, including Amazon, are qualified to produce what the Defense Department is demanding in the contract. The department also says companies could form a joint venture to meet the qualifications to win the award.

    Pentagon officials plan to offer the contract as a two-year base award, followed by options of five and three years, respectively, Mr. Van Name said. The department hopes to award the contract by the end of September.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-rivals-fear-they-will-lose-out-on-pentagons-cloud-computing-contract-1523534400?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

Security

  • Zuckerberg’s boring testimony is a big win for Facebook

    By the conclusion of the five hours of questioning, the senators themselves were admitting they hadn’t watched the day’s full testimony. Viewers at home had likely returned to their lives. Even the press corps’ eyes were glazing over. But Zuckerberg was prepared for the marathon. He maintained pace through the finish line. And he made it clear why marathons aren’t TV spectator sports.

    The question is no longer what revelations would come from Mr. Zuckerberg going to Washington. Tomorrow’s testimony is likely to go similarly. It’s whether Facebook can coherently execute on the data privacy promises it made leading up to today. This will be a “never-ending battle” as Zuckerberg said, dragging out over many years. And again, that’s in Facebook’s interest. Because in the meantime, everyone’s going back to scrolling their feeds.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/10/zzzuckerberg/

Datacenter/Hardware

  • IBM announces launch of ‘skinny’ mainframe

    The IBM z14 Model ZR1, launched today, is a cloud-ready system with a 19-inch server rack that can easily fit into any standard cloud centre or private cloud environment, a shift from the traditional, bulky pieces of hardware that can barely fit anywhere and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    IBM says the new z14 offers 10 per cent more capacity and approximately 8 terabytes of memory, twice the amount compared to its predecessor, the z13 mainframe.

    https://www.computerdealernews.com/news/ibm-announces-skinny-mainframe/59330

Other

  • The CEO of one of Oracle’s rivals has been sentenced to 2 years of prison — and Oracle is ‘pleased’

    “Oracle is pleased that the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio accepted the guilty pleas of James Olding and Bernd Appleby, the principals of Terix, for their roles in misappropriating Oracle’s intellectual property and sentenced them both to prison for their criminal acts,” says Oracle spokesperson Deborah Hellinger.

    “Oracle takes violations of its intellectual property rights very seriously and, as demonstrated by Oracle’s lawsuits against Terix, Rimini Street and other IP violators, Oracle will not hesitate to go after those who do so. Oracle appreciates the fine work of the law enforcement officials whose efforts led to the criminal penalties assessed against Terix’s principals,” she said.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/bernd-appleby-ceo-of-oracle-rival-tetrix-computer-sentenced-to-24-months-in-prison-2018-4

Photo by Jennifer Regnier on Unsplash