Analysts are questioning Amazon’s strength as they see competition drive prices down. AWS has also caught the attention of President-elect Trump and not in a good way. Trump is calling the cloud provider a monopoly (which is not an accurate statement).
The future POTUS is also causing technology companies staffing issues as a small percentage of “new collar” workers are quitting as their CEOs embrace the Trump regime.
IBM is pushing Blockchain as they close out 2016. “Big blue” sees endless possibility with the bitcoin technology and they want everybody to know it.
Facebook is getting in the AI game and Morgan Freeman has something to say about it…?
Acquisitions
Looks like everyone is taking a break this week on M&A… no complaints from the peanut gallery.
Artificial Intelligence
- IBM Watson finding its way into real-world image interpretation
The ultimate goal is to improve value, based on efficiency of clinicians, how radiologists receive, prioritize and validate data, and how a report will have an effect on patient outcome, including cost and length of stay, Cury explained.
The first phase of the program involves concept, design and validation of data sets. “We are working with IBM Watson to define strategies and case studies for machine learning to explore,” Cury said. In the next phase, which Cury hopes to have underway by the end of 2017, radiologists will apply cognitive learning prospectively in their practice.
http://medcitynews.com/2016/12/ibm-watson-image-interpretation/
IBM is behind Google in this area and it is good to see them taking steps to address imagine analysis. - Microsoft Releases MARCO Data Set to Develop More Insightful AI Apps
The aim is to help get beyond today’s AIs, which can answer simple fact-based answers that digital assistants like Cortana and Siri can, to intelligent systems that are attuned to the nuances of how people pose questions in a conversational context and the answers they expect in return.
For example, virtual assistants today are adept at solving math problems and reciting facts and figures like the number of days leading up to major holidays or the height of major landmarks, like the Empire State Building in New York City (1,250 feet or 1,454 feet at the top of its spire).
- Artificial intelligence finds its way into business through sales
Even as companies like these try to help salespeople work smarter in various aspects of the sales process, the CRM industry took to artificial intelligence in a big way this year with companies as diverse as Salesforce, Oracle and Base coming out with CRM tools to not just record sales interactions, but drive more sales with built-in intelligence.
Also
We are also seeing intelligence being applied to customer service with the increasing use of bots to handle initial contact with customers. The idea is to have the bot deal with simple tasks, handing off more complex interactions and requests to human operators to handle. This week, Salesforce released LiveMessage, a tool for incorporating messaging apps in their Service Cloud platform, combining the use of bots and live customer service agents.
- Facebook is getting in on the AI game…
If you build a system where I can talk to Morgan Freeman all day, I will buy it.
Cloud
- IBM Launches New Features for Serverless Cloud Platform
IBM said it is expanding and tightening integrations with the growing ecosystem of applications surrounding OpenWhisk, which offers an open, non-proprietary engine. By building OpenWhisk with open standards from the ground up and rooting its code in active developer communities, such as Apache, the company aims to expand the range of capabilities developers can access. An open serverless platform also provides freedom to choose where apps can run, according to IBM.
OpenWhisk acts as an underlying force within apps running on Bluemix, binding together relevant events and triggers such as the uploading of an image or the clicking of a mouse. When triggered by such events, OpenWhisk automatically taps cloud services as needed such as cognitive intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and analytics. IBM said OpenWhisk is designed to help make traditional cloud infrastructure invisible, enabling developers to focus on writing code instead of configuring servers.
http://www.cio-today.com/article/index.php?story_id=1000037XT4SG
- Worrisome Signs for A Crucial Amazon Business
In 2014, the last time AWS had this many cuts, revenue growth slowed considerably, Graham notes. “In the two quarters following the six pricing reductions in the first quarter of 2014, AWS revenue growth decelerated from 69% year over year to 43% in the second and third quarter each.”
http://www.barrons.com/articles/worrisome-signs-for-a-crucial-amazon-business-1482187879
- After losing big backers, what’s next for OpenStack?
The rumors of OpenStack’s demise may have been a bit exaggerated. While HPE and Cisco both recently announced they are downsizing their respective OpenStack-based public cloud efforts, Red Hat remains fully committed.
Some are still holding on to the promise of OpenStack and its open source tools for managing public and private clouds. A few large organizations, outside the traditional IT space, are standing by the platform as well. Retail behemoth Walmart is still banking on OpenStack as the foundation for its private cloud efforts, Fortune reports.
http://www.ciodive.com/news/after-losing-big-backers-whats-next-for-openstack/432694/
- Trump says Amazon is a monopoly — this chart shows he’s wrong
The chart shows e-commerce penetration is less than 5% in two of the largest retail segments (“Grocery, Food & Beverage” and “Health and Personal Care”) and less than 15% in other segments like clothing, electronics, and home furnishings.
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-amazon-monopoly-false-2016-12
Datacenter
- Partners that push all product lines will shine for Dell EMC
“Tier levels align with key business models of partners, enabling flexibility where needed to meet customer needs,” said Byrne, when launching a preview of the program in October.
“Benefits will include generous rebates for channel partners who drive new business, attach services, sell the full portfolio and offer the portfolio exclusively.”
http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/611896/partners-push-both-product-lines-will-shine-dell-emc/
If you buy Dell or EMC products, it might be a good time to re-evaluate your re-sellers in 2017.
Software/SaaS
- IBM blockchain in healthcare rallies for patients
Are healthcare executives complacent and comfortable with the how patient care is delivered? It’s possible. However, there may be another answer. Healthcare executives predicted transformational innovation to occur for blockchain in 2017. The IBM Institute for Business Value blockchain survey identified nine areas where transformation and disruption are likely to emerge:
- Medical device data integration (cited as an area of “some disruption” by 65 percent of the respondents).
- Asset management (60 percent).
- Medical and health records (42 percent).
- Clinical trial records (40 percent).
- Adverse event safety monitoring (39 percent).
- Medication and treatment adherence (36 percent).
- Regulatory compliance (34 percent).
- Billing and claims management (33 percent).
- Contract management (32 percent).
http://www.cio.com/article/3151429/innovation/ibm-blockchain-in-healthcare-rallies-for-patients.html
Other
- Oracle’s Q2 was uninspired says Wedbush
“Oracle’s 2Q results and guidance weren’t inspiring, and dollar strengthening is pushing out the timeline for EPS stabilization. The company continues to execute inconsistently relative to guidance, even when adjusted for currency, giving investors ample reason to question its bullishness on its cloud transition,” Wedbush said.
http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/columns/proactive-broker-wrap/26762/oracles-q2-was-uninspired-says-wedbush-26762.html
Larry Ellison’s Net Worth Drops $1.9 Billion In A Day As Oracle Misses Revenue EstimatesThe revenue shortfall, though seemingly insignificant, resulted in a sell-off of Oracle stock. When the market closed at 4 P.M. EST on Friday, shares were down more than 4% versus Thursday’s closing price.
That translated into a $1.9 billion drop in net worth for Larry Ellison, the company’s largest individual shareholder. He is worth an estimated $48.4 billion as of late Friday, according to FORBES’ real-time rankings of the planet’s wealthiest people. Ellison is still the world’s sixth richest individual, trailing such figures as Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Spain’s Amancio Ortega.
- Microsoft scores nearly $1bn non-compete contract with US military
The deal will give the US military “access rights to Microsoft’s proprietary (closed-source) code” when it is “required to support the Department of Defense’s mission.” The bulk of the work will be done in the US, but multiple overseas locales will also be handled by Microsofties.
For its money the US is getting Blue Badge Cardholder support, meaning it gets first dibs on Microsoft code libraries, and technical support from actual Redmond employees instead of having to go through third-party suppliers – who typically wear orange badges when visiting the temple of St Bill.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/21/microsoft_scores_big_contract_us_military/
- Red Hat CFO resigns, stock slides
Calderoni will be leaving Jan. 20. In a letter dated Dec. 20 to CEO Jim Whitehurst, Calderoni said, “As we discussed, I have been given the opportunity to serve as the CEO of another company,” he writes. “Being a CEO has been a personal goal of mine for some time now.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2016/12/21/red-hat-cfo-frank-calderoni-resigns.html
- New Trend: Quitting because of Trump
I wrote my own article on this topic at my other blog, it summarizes the whole situation.
http://daily.joeylombardi.com/2016/12/new-trend-quitting-because-of-trump/
Photo: John-Mark Kuznietsov