Supplier Report Archives - Page 47 of 51

November 1, 2014October 31, 2014

Supplier Report: 11/01/2014

Photo: Tim Parkinson, Flickr

IBM

Another week, another IBM partnership. IBM is shacking up with Twitter to help customers determine market trends for their business (ala Watson).
http://www.mrweb.com/drno/news19954.htm
This does make a lot of sense actually.
IBM also partnering with TenCent Cloud – they are based in China and the focus would be on small and medium sized business as well as the healthcare industry. Looks like TenCent will have IBM SaaS offerings:
http://www.sys-con.com/node/3220985
Note: TenCent provides internet to a billion people
A good summary of the partnerships IBM has made in the last 2 months (if you haven’t been reading this report).
http://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-ceo-ginni-rometty-does-have-a-vision-2014-10
After all the news last week about their buyback program, IBM is buying back another/additional $5B in stock:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/28/4272139/ibm-boosts-buyback-plan-by-5-billion.html?
How IBM is going after Amazon’s cloud (nice view of their current product mix):
http://www.informationweek.com/big-data/software-platforms/ibm-cloud-services-take-on-amazon-redshift/d/d-id/1317011
IBM offering 0% leasing on Power7+ and Power8 Iron (24 months):
http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh102714-story10.html

Oracle

Comparing Oracle, Adobe, and SalesForce (a little stock heavy, but still interesting):
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2624965-comparing-americas-3-largest-application-software-companies
Predicting Oracle’s future acquisitions:

Oracle announced the acquisition of TOA Technologies. TOA Technologies provides SaaS-based offerings focused on field service requests. Through the tools, companies cannot only monitor real-time field service requests but also schedule representatives and then use business analytics to monitor and view inventories and predict service windows. The solution helps them optimize their field service staff and operations. Oracle plans to integrate TOA’s offerings with their Service Cloud and Oracle ERP cloud solutions to help organizations deliver higher operational efficiency and improved customer satisfaction levels.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/2612245-oracles-future-cloud-acquisitions-some-predictions

Massive amount of coverage over HP’s Sprout 3D printer system (it is $1900)
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-29/hp-unveils-sprout-a-cheaper-faster-3-d-printing-system

I am very “meh” about the coverage on this product. While I see many applications for 3D printing, I think it is too soon for this product to be the boost that HP needs (especially when the company splits). Here is a little more on the technology:
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/571371/20141031/hp-sprout-keyboard-free-mouse-3d-desktop.htm
HP vs IBM – who has the better recovery plan? (Hint: For investors – it is IBM)
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/28/ibm-vs-hewlett-packard-which-company-has-the-bette.aspx
HP is looking to dump a Chinese networking company they own:
http://thevarguy.com/information-technology-merger-and-acquistion-news/102714/report-hp-looking-offload-china-networking-busines

Other

Former IBM CEO (Louis Gerstner) on how global markets and e-Commerce will impact the life insurance market (holds true for other business areas as well):
http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/10/29/ex-ibm-chief-insurers-must-adapt-or-face-the-conse
How Microsoft is beating IBM at enterprise business:

IBM’s software, service and hardware revenue is too dependent on UNIX, and because IBM’s proprietary OS is shrinking in market share, the market for middleware will likely shrink in response.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/2600605-how-microsoft-pushed-ibm-out-of-the-enterprise
Tableau gaining a name in data analysis market:
http://news.investors.com/investing-stock-spotlight/102714-723623-tableau-software-thrives-amid-booming-demand-for-software.htm
Michael Dell thinks Dell with thrive on their competitor’s “chaos”:

“I feel like Dell is doing the same thing as all of the other providers… except they entered the market fairly late,” said David Chou, CIO of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

I think that is all you need to say…
http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2014/10/31/michael-dell-sees-advantage-in-rivals-chaos-and-confusion/
SalesForce making an even bigger push into Healthcare industry:

Now Salesforce aims to bring in $1 billion in yearly revenues in coming years – about a fifth of its current annual sales – from health contracts, two people briefed on its plans told Reuters. The company expects to make such inroads despite entrenched competition and its own false starts in the sector, these sources said.

http://www.orthospinenews.com/salesforce-to-make-big-push-into-healthcare-industry
Spanning has been purchased by EMC:
This company does a cloud backup service for SalesForce and the Google Apps products.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20141028006023/en/Spanning-Acquired-EMC-Corporation

October 25, 2014

Supplier Report: 10/25/2014

Photo: The Atlantic

IBM

IBM reports another bad quarter. They revised 2015 earnings down.
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/10/20/big-blues-big-drag-on-the-dow/
The pressure for IBM to split:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-20/ibm-ceo-under-pressure-to-revive-tech-giant-after-plunge
IBM’s transformation in the last three years is actually remarkable (good overview of their technology mix):
http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/24/ibm-earnings-reflect-just-how-difficult-transformation-really-is/
IBM’s employees say their fabled “roadmap” damaged the company:

Ginni Rometty, said strong steps were taken that are part of the broader strategy of which the road map number was a part. “We are executing on a clear strategy that is moving IBM to higher value, and we’ve taken significant actions to exit nonstrategic elements of the business.” A key part of that was the news that IBM will transfer its semiconductor manufacturing operations, staff and facilities to GlobalFoundries.

http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2014/10/24/ibm-workers-blame-roadmap/17823047/
Another week, another partnership: IBM announces partnership with Microsoft. Promising cloud interoperability:
http://www.cloudwedge.com/4891-ibm-and-microsoft-pledge-cloud-interoperability/
IBM’s share buyback problem (looks like that has finally caught up with them):
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2586775-ibm-dont-fall-for-the-illusion

Oracle

Oregon cuts ties with Oracle’s health exchange:

Oregon had planned to salvage some of the Oracle-built portal to enroll people in Medicaid, but officials have now decided to scrap that project as well and will use another state’s Medicaid enrollment system instead

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/oregon-wont-oracles-technology-medicaid-194227969.html
Oracle’s strategy to manage unstructured data:

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s new solution will manage both unstructured and structured data and integrate both owned and third-party metadata and provide business analytics platform. It also provides a data flows across various enterprise systems including ERP applications, data warehouses and Apache Hadoop.

http://www.usmarketsdaily.com/oracle-corporation-nyseorcl-new-solution-a-comprehensive-data-management-system-5419

The trend is continuing – HP is looking to sell of a part of their H3C subsidiary. Clearly this company is looking to become small and lean:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2014/10/26/2003602908
HP Sprout: 3D scanner and PC-esque device. Could have potential use in the medical field….
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2837500/hps-rumored-sprout-pc-sure-sounds-similar-to-this-oddball-printer-from-2011.html
Why Chromebooks are good news for HP and Samsung (sales are growing in markets outside of North America)

Chromebooks may be a temporary fad similar to the netbook, but the form-factor design and low-cost price tag draws considerable interest that may be a longer term trend,” according to Van Vactor. “Chromebooks may have more of a place in the market than originally anticipated, especially as more vendors jump on board and sales continue to grow.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12924618/1/why-soaring-chromebook-sales-are-great-news-for-google-acer-samsung-and-hp.html

Note: I can see this become the future of corporate computing – going back to the thin client mentality. Merge the growth of cloud computing and storage. A cheap, light, easily replaceable device that contains no local data could be the future.
HP offering OpenStack for Helion cloud platform:
http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/hp-releases-commercial-openstack/98474
WebOS is officially dead…
http://www.telecoms.com/296122/hp-to-end-webos-cloud-services-in-january/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hp-to-end-webos-cloud-services-in-january

Other

How SalesForce makes money (very basic overview for those not familiar with one of the largest cloud providers in the business):
http://vator.tv/news/2014-10-25-how-does-salesforce-make-money
Interesting perspective from SAP’s CEO on the growth of cloud and the impact on “traditional” IT companies:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-sap21-20141021-story.html
Why is SalesForce so expensive (here is a public discussion about negotiating with a supplier and driving price down vs. incurring cost for productive boosts):
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/feature/2376730/why-is-salesforce-so-expensive
Should the CEO be the chairman too?
http://fortune.com/2014/10/21/chairman-ceo/

Article Count: 672

October 18, 2014October 19, 2014

Supplier Report: 10/19/2014

Asteroids picture

IBM

Looks like IBM is really focusing on creating strategic partnerships: first with Apple and now with SAP.

IBM creates a cloud service for “internet of things”:
I keep reading “this could happen” or “when this occurs”, interesting idea, but sounds like more of a press release than some concrete at the moment:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2376409/ibm-announces-internet-of-things-cloud-services
Facebook’s market cap exceed IBMs:
http://qz.com/283216/facebook-is-now-bigger-than-ibm/
Check out Oracle point #2 – looks like IBM is starting a partnership with SAP using HANA technology:
http://www.efinancehub.com/sachimo/for-hewlett-packard-company-nysehpq-a-lonely-journey-in-cloud-computing/1214830.htmlMore IBM focused article (looks like HANA will be available via SoftLayer):
http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/press-releases/298316/ibm-sap-partner-accelerate-enterprise-cloud-adoption
Expected IBM Q3 earnings: beats estimates by $3.99 per share…
System Z sales were up 6%, growth markets down 9%, cloud is up 70% for the year:

Dragging down IBM’s revenue for the quarter were its services business, down 3 percent year-to-year, and its systems and technology group, which took a 17 percent beating. Consensus for revenue had been for IBM to make $24.7 billion, $1 billion more than it realized.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2013/10/16/ibm-q3-revenues-slid/

Oracle

SAP CEO Bill McDermott is calling out Oracle’s DB technology saying their new HANA format will eventually beat disk based databases:
http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/death-of-oracle-corporation-orcls-innovation-by-saps-ceo-bill-mcdermott-331883/
This made me curious to what a HANA database was:

SAP HANA, short for “High-Performance Analytic Appliance” is an in-memory, column-oriented, relational database management system developed and marketed by SAP SE.[1][2] HANA’s architecture is designed to handle both high transaction rates and complex query processing on the same platform.[3]In addition to the database engine, HANA includes an embedded web server and version control repository that can be used for application development. HANA applications can be created using server-side JavaScript and HTML.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_HANA
Oracle technology a keystone in home automation and security applications:
http://wallstreetpr.com/oracle-corporation-nyseorcl-helps-securitas-direct-manage-maximum-of-100-million-verisure-alarm-signals-a-day-34279
On that note, looks like Oracle is focusing on the “internet of things”:

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) hired former Snapchat and Google engineering executive Peter Magnusson to run a refashioned offering that helps its corporate customers handle more tech tasks in the cloud.

http://www.wallstreetscope.com/why-making-dramatic-moves-homeaway-nasdaqaway-oracle-corporation-nyseorcl-allied-motion-technologies-inc-nasdaqamot-national-instruments-corporation-nasdaqnati-applied-materials-nas/2532053/

What was HP doing wrong?
Standard wrap – too much focus on hardware and printers, not enough on cloud, and they need to doing more acquisitions and investment (btw – does it seem like R&I doesn’t exist anymore – it is just go off an buy a small start up. Although IBM is very clear about their research expenditures and investments). http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2014/10/17/heres-what-hewlett-packard-company-is-doing-wrong.aspx
EMC merger talks are officially dead:
https://www.pehub.com/2014/10/tech-firms-hp-emc-call-off-merger-talks-reuters/
Like planetary bodies crashing apart and clumping back together, these split-offs might start a new dawn of mergers:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-15/spinoffs-could-set-stage-for-next-merger-wave
Interesting Rumor: Will Lenovo purchase the hardware focused HP company?
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1206&MainCatID=12&id=20141012000128

Other

EMC is purchasing a small cloud company called Cloudscaling Group Inc. It is expected to be for less than $50M
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-13/emc-acquiring-cloud-computing-startup-cloudscaling.html
Expect a trend of large, older tech firms to break up:
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2014/10/16/all-tech-giants-doomed-to-break-up-like-ebay-and.html

Article count: 983

NOTE: I am taking career information off of this report and spinning it out as its own things on the blog. Also, I am working on a similar report to this for the healthcare industry. Reach out if you are interested in that report (still working out the bugs in those feeds).

October 11, 2014

Supplier Report: 10/12/2014

IBM

Light news cycle for IBM this week in light of the HP split. Most of the news this week is PR fluff about Watson.

IBM building a Watson facility in NYC
http://www.bidnessetc.com/27063-ibms-watson-facility-opens-in-new-york-city/
Samsung is going after IBM and Apple:
Note: They are seeing a 60% drop in profits for Q3 2014
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2551995-samsung-cio-wages-war-against-apple-ibm-and-blackberry-in-enterprise-mobility
IBM scores a canadian government contract to provide data centers…

IBM Canada has won a multi-year contract to provide and manage one of the new data centres the federal government needs as it consolidates IT infrastructure under its Shared Services program.

http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/breaking-new-ibm-wins-federal-data-centre-contract/98060

Oracle

Has the easy money already been made at Oracle?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2553795-has-the-easy-money-already-been-made-in-oracle
Update on the Google vs. Oracle copyright case:
http://www.stockwisedaily.com/google-inc-googl-wants-copyright-case-with-oracle-corporation-orcl-decided-by-u-s-supreme-court/236821/
Many high tech developers believe that if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling by the appeals court, it will have a big impact on software innovation
Oracle’s $13B buyback:

Between the shift in the C-suite and the company’s disappointing financial results for the quarter, most analysts paid little attention to Oracle’s announcement that it had authorized a stock repurchase plan under which it could spend as much as $13 billion on its shares

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/08/will-oracle-corporations-13-billion-buyback-plan-p.aspx

You know the big story this week is going to be the HP split since they announced it last Sunday night (and missed my news cycle).

Why the HP split could be the biggest news story of the year:

Roughly one-third of HP’s total assets consisted of Goodwill alone during its most recent quarterly report. It’s a company that has simply become too large, too complex, and too reliant on unsustainable growth strategies to go without the kind of drastic overhaul we saw this week.

https://time.com/money/3490785/hewlett-packard-hp-split/
More on the split:

Another expected change announced by HP is in the current chairmanship. Dion Wiesler, the existing Head of PC and printer department, will take over as CEO. Meg Whitman will step down to nonexecutive chairmanship.

http://stocks.org/company/the-hewlett-packard-nysehpq-and-hp-saga/26457/
Like I was telling some of you this week, this HP split has me thinking the EMC merger is still alive:

EMC Corp., the $58 billion data-storage company, is speculated to be among targets Whitman is eyeing. None of Hewlett-Packard’s past deal disappointments — from Autonomy Corp. to Palm Inc. — approached that size. While talks with EMC are said to have stalled because of disagreements over price and other issues, Whitman made remarks this week that led some analysts to think a transaction is still in the works.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-08/hp-s-deal-flops-are-whitman-s-cautionary-tale-real-m-and-a
More on the EMC and post-split HP merger thoughts:
http://www.bidnessetc.com/26895-emc-and-hp-could-merge/
And here is an article on why a merger would be a bad idea:
http://www.eweek.com/servers/why-its-still-not-a-great-idea-for-hp-and-emc-to-merge.html

Other

An account planning guide to buying salesforce (but it can be used for any supplier – I want you to read this one, good stuff)
http://customerthink.com/12-steps-to-account-planning-in-2015/
Infographic of SalesForce users (interesting demographic info):
https://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/mintigo-infographic-rgb1.jpg
Did anybody know that Symantec was also splitting?

The Symantec divide will split its security and storage divisions from one another, as declining PC sales in the age of mobile are causing demand for its Norton antivirus software to lag.

http://investorplace.com/2014/10/symantec-symc-stock-split-hpq-ebay/

Career

When work-life balance doesn’t work, try work-life integration (this is my general approach):
http://mashable.com/2014/10/04/work-life-integration/
Defeat hard tasks with a concentration circuit:
http://calnewport.com/blog/2014/10/08/deep-habits-conquer-hard-tasks-with-concentration-circuits/

Article Count: 1487

October 5, 2014October 11, 2014

Supplier Report: 10/5/2014

IBM

Very quiet week for IBM this week all things considered (slow news cycle in light of Oracle World). IBM is ending support of Lotus 1-2-3 after 30 years.