Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash
Having done this blog for the last 7 years, I tend to notice patterns with the technology press.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, articles mentioning artificial intelligence technology and automation have completely dropped off. Unfortunately, this makes sense as the global workforce is scared, and any talk of job-eliminating technology will add to our collective anxiety.
Only 25% of all Americans have the ability to work remotely. As shops close down and reduce their output, many are questioning how long some businesses can survive. It is getting to the point where certain IT firms (like Saleforce) are pledging not to make “substantial job eliminations” for the next 90 days – which is so classy considering Saleforce is a company that could operate almost entirely online and still produce products and sales with limited impact.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is quietly upping their game with more Azure capacity, pushing their Team’s software, and still making acquisitions.
Acquisitions/Investments
- Microsoft acquires 5G specialist Affirmed Networks
With its focus on 5G and edge computing, Affirmed looks like the ideal acquisition target for a large cloud provider looking to get deeper into the telco business. According to Crunchbase, Affirmed raised a total of $155 million before this acquisition, and the company’s more than 100 enterprise customers include the likes of AT&T, Orange, Vodafone, Telus, Turkcell and STC.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/26/microsoft-acquires-5g-specialist-affirmed-networks/
- Deloitte acquires Microsoft, IBM partner Bistech
Bistech will join Deloitte’s data analytics team in Brisbane, with Bistech co-owners Shane Morgan, Justin Hoareau and Brad Culbert in leadership roles. All 17 consultants will also join Deloitte.
“We’re incredibly excited and pleased to be joining Deloitte’s Analytics & Cognitive team, which shares the same people values and customer focus we’ve built over the last 19 years in business,” Bistech founder Shane Morgan said in a statement.
Founded in 2000, Bistech provides data analytics, data science, data management and financial performance management services in the form of consulting, technical implementation, support and training.
https://www.crn.com.au/news/deloitte-acquires-microsoft-ibm-partner-bistech-539759
Cloud
- Microsoft reveals 775 percent Azure surge, quotas on some resources and ‘significant new capacity’ coming ASAP
“We are expediting the addition of significant new capacity that will be available in the weeks ahead,” the post continues. “Concurrently, we monitor support requests and, if needed, encourage customers to consider alternative regions or alternative resource types, depending on their timeline and requirements. If the implementation of these efforts to alleviate demand is not sufficient, customers may experience intermittent deployment related issues. When this does happen, impacted customers will be informed via Azure Service Health.”
The post seems very much designed to reassure customers that Microsoft is not going to run out of cloud anytime soon, but also reveals “a few temporary restrictions designed to balance the best possible experience for all of our customers.”
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/29/microsoft_reveals_775_percent_azure_usage_surge_in_coronavirus_lockdown_zones/
Microsoft needs to invest heavily in its own infrastructure now if it wants to keep up with the popularity of its remote work tools, analyst warnsA survey of chief information officers, human resources professionals and others this week suggested Microsoft could weather the crisis because of its cloud and collaboration software products including Skype for Business and the Microsoft Teams chat app.
The survey, conducted by RBC Capital Markets, suggested companies are likely to accelerate moves from on-premises computing resources into the public and private cloud – benefiting cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services – and increase budgets for Microsoft collaboration products.
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-coronavirus-crisis-new-customers-2020-3
Security/Privacy
- Google’s security measures failed to find Android malware in Play Store
The malware, named “Tekya”, imitated the user’s actions in order to click ads and banners from agencies suh as AdMob, AppLovin’, Facebook and Unity. The affected apps included utility apps such as cooking apps and calculators, and apps aimed at kids, such as puzzles and racing games.
Tekya was able to go undetected for so long because it hid in Android’s native code — code that’s designed to run only on Android processors. As such, the malware avoided detection by Google Play Protect, the system designed to keep Android safe. The malware was removed by Google in early March, after Check Point disclosed its findings to the company.
Considering the Play Store is home to more than two million apps, 56 being affected in this way represents a very small sample. However, it does demonstrate that Google’s security efforts aren’t fool-proof.
https://www.engadget.com/2020-03-24-google-security-android-malware-play-store.html
- What Is the Most Secure Video Conferencing Software?
While Zoom offers end-to-end encrypted chat—meaning only the participants in the exchange have access to the contents of the messages—its video calls are not encrypted in the same way by default. Hosts, however, can enable end-to-end encryption in video calls too, according to the company.
The app has a troubled record when it comes to security and privacy. Thanks to a creepy feature, hosts can track whether you are paying attention to the meeting, and the company’s privacy policy allows it to collect all sorts of personal data.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7qwgx/what-is-the-most-secure-video-conferencing-software
So they are not even going to mention Cisco’s Webex?
Software/SaaS
- Slack working on Microsoft Teams “calling features” integrations via Public APIs, what does that mean?
There is no simple open signalling standard/API for another system to directly call a Microsoft Teams user.
Microsoft enables 1:1 calling between Skype for Business (Server and Online) and Microsoft Teams, so in theory, Slack could route calls via the own run Skype for Business Server infrastructure or emulate a Skype for Business Federation. This would allow 1:1 voice, video and chat if all the right codecs and signalling were supported. In Microsoft language, this is called “federation”.
Microsoft is also rolling out Teams to Skype consumer connectivity, again 1:1, user to user, so Slack could emulate this to do peer to peer calling, video and chat.
Note these are direct private chat, not team chat in a multi-person team workspace in either product.
Other
- Apple’s Siri voice assistant now provides coronavirus advice
When you first ask Siri about the virus, the voice assistant will ask whether you are experiencing related symptoms, which include a fever, dry cough, or shortness of breath. People with extreme or life-threatening illnesses are advised to call 911, while anyone who’s not sure is informed of the diseases symptoms and told to self-isolate if they appear. Links to telehealth apps on the App Store are provided for anyone who can’t currently reach a healthcare provider.
- Salesforce’s Benioff pledges no ‘significant’ layoffs for 90 days
It sounds like Benioff’s second tweet, which also asked employees to consider paying their own hourly workers like housekeepers and dog walkers throughout the layoff period, whether they were working or not, was designed to give the CEO some wiggle room for at least some layoffs.
Salesforce has almost 50,000 employees worldwide. Even if the company were to lay off just 1% of employees it would equal 500 people without jobs, though it’s not clear if that would count as “significant.” Perhaps more likely, the company might make some cuts to staff for performance or HR-related reasons, but not broad cuts, and thus make both of its CEO’s claims essentially true.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/26/salesforces-benioff-pledges-no-significant-layoffs-for-90s-days/