Tis the season to reflect and embrace friends and close relations. IBM is no different, celebrating a long-time relationship (AT&T) and a relatively new one (Apple).
While IBM shows the strengths of their partnerships, EMC and Dell are struggling in their new family unit. Funding continues to be an issue as Dell looks to sell Perot systems and IPO SecureWorks now that VMWare is definitely out of the VirtuStream deal.
It is a cold time of year, and Oracle is feeling the chill. Oracle’s cloud business is growing, but their core business is flat and declining (slightly). Last year Oracle rallied during the holidays, but analysts are not expecting another Christmas miracle.
IBM
- Why IBM is betting on cognitive computing to win big on IoT
“Right now, 90% of all the data at the edge is not being used. Imagine what is possible when you unleash all the capabilities. We are only scratching what we can reach with the IoT.”
As a result, IBM is investing in cognitive systems that learn at scale, reason with purpose and interact with humans naturally.
- AT&T, IBM expand cloud, networking and hosting partnership
AT&T’s managed application and managed hosting services will be integrated into the IBM Cloud portfolio. IBM will buy equipment and floor space access in AT&T data centres supporting the business.
- IBM Spearheads Open Ledger Project, Which Uses Blockchain Technology
While the Open Ledger Project will be the along the lines of the best-known blockchain technology supporting bitcoins, it would be developed as a solution for businesses. The idea here is to create tools that cater to businesses, which further can use the distributed ledger technology according to customized needs. In order to provide for the customized needs and maintain business privacy at the same time, the project will work on the technology with the aim to limit the participants within that particular network.
- Apple and IBM Partnership Reach First Milestone Of 100 Apps
The apps created by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) alliance was meant to be beyond the mobilizing task from a PC. Lopez believes that a mobile device along with the apps could transform the working culture of the people. He said that such alliance support creation of apps, which were better than the earlier PC-centric one. That was primarily because the new apps enable the users to use a lot of available functions of the device such as location, messaging, voice, and camera. On top of these, it was portable.
- Box Inc, International Business Machines Corp Amplify Their Partnership
The highlight, however, was the launch of two new integrated products –- the IBM Case Manager and IBM Datacap. The Case Manager unites content and processes to provide 360-degree view of the content and optimal case outcomes. It aids decision makers by gathering data and its analysis, and provides better business results. IBM Datacap is a software that extracts information from document images to be used in ECM and other systems. Previously, IBM launched Content Navigator and the IBM StoredIQ.
EMC/Dell
- Michael Dell will IPO SecureWorks trying to raise cash for his $67 billion EMC deal
In 2011, Dell bought a company called SecureWorks for $612 million and now it’s officially spinning it off in an IPO.
Dell hasn’t revealed in the SEC paperwork how much it hopes to earn from the IPO. Sources told the Wall Street Journal in October that Dell was hoping to raise $1 billion and would start its roadshow in December.
Dell CEO Michael Dell (and his family trust) essentially own SecureWorks himself, gaining it when he took Dell private in 2013. He controls 71%, the paperwork says. It didn’t reveal whether he would be selling any of his stake as part of this IPO. Sources told the WSJ that he wasn’t planning on it.
- Dell is looking to IPO SecureWorks because…
VMware (VMW) Cancels Virtustream Joint Venture with EMCAlong with their earnings release this October, VMware and EMC had announced plans to spin out Virtustream following the acquisition. The new company was expected to be owned jointly by EMC and VMWare with each having a 50% stake.
However, this news added to investors’ concerns as Virtustream was still not profitable. A 50% stake would have required VMware to invest a huge amount for the development of hybrid-cloud solutions of Virtustream, which would weigh on VMware’s financials.
All these concerns had together resulted in dwindling investor confidence in VMware, as can be seen from the fall in share prices. In the last three-month period, the company lost nearly 30% of its market cap in contrast to the S&P 500 index’s gain of over 2%.
- Will Dell look to raise cash for EMC by selling Perot Systems?
Dell is reportedly looking to sell its professional services arm Perot Systems to help fund its takeover of EMC. Since the deal between Dell and EMC was announced, VMWare’s shares have dropped 27%. It provides IT services to government agencies and health care providers, including handling media claims, and was founded by billionaire businessman Ross Perot. The company is in the process to search for potential buyers, some of which include Indian Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), French IT outsourcing firm Atos, Genpact-a former General Electric company, and Canadian IT company CGI. However, the negotiations came to a close when both parties could not settle on a price.
http://theindianrepublic.com/will-dell-look-to-raise-cash-for-emc-by-selling-perot-30588.html
HP Inc/Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise increases hybrid Cloud and IoT play
“From a channel perspective, this will be geared towards large enterprises or mid-market customers that are typically sitting between what to run themselves and what to put on the Cloud. We have a lot of channel partners that operate within that space and they can offer it as a next generation solution for the datacentre or offer it as a managed service themselves.”
The solution will be available from June next year and Hewlett Packard Enterprise has already started enabling channel partners in terms of technical and sales training to take it to market.
- HPE grows enterprise data center hardware business and extends lead over Dell and Cisco
It appeared to be a good quarter for HPE, especially. According to Synergy’s report, HPE grew its lead over Dell and Cisco, the second and third place enterprise data center infrastructure vendors, respectively. It also grew its market share to 24 percent. Not bad for a company that was in the midst of splitting itself into two.
The enterprise side accounts for more than half of the data center infrastructure market. In comparison, the service provider market is small. But in the service provider space, the leading hardware vendors are having a much tighter race, led by – in descending order – Cisco, HPE and Dell.
Oracle
- Oracle: A Chimera Or The Real Deal
Is Oracle likely at some point in the foreseeable future to return to some reasonable level of growth-organic or inorganic perhaps defined as high single digits?
I really don’t think that that is possible. Oracle essentially sells two major product families – databases and enterprise applications. Neither of these have a particularly high growth rate; indeed the growth rate for database seats is probably zero these days. Oracle already has a commanding market share in the database market. It is approaching a monopoly in some categories. And while relational databases will be around for a long, long time, at the margin specialized data stores such as those built around Hadoop and other technologies are starting to limit the market potential for relational technology.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3763596-oracle-a-chimera-or-the-real-deal
- Oracle Corporation: After Such An Outlook, Where Can It Go?
While cloud revenues impressed the stockholders, guidance for the upcoming quarters was disappointing. Oracle expects 3Q EPS within $0.60–0.63 as compared to a consensus of $0.65. For 3Q, SaaS and PaaS revenue is expected to grow in the range of 49–53% YoY in constant currency terms. IaaS revenue growth is calculated to fall within 3–7%YoY.
http://www.businessfinancenews.com/26847-oracle-corporation-after-such-an-outlook-where-can-it-go/