IBM Archives - Page 31 of 57

May 14, 2016May 14, 2016

Supplier Report: 5/14/2016

This week IBM continues to tout the multi-function applications of Watson in medical, cybersecurity, and international areas, while their dance partner Apple woos SAP (who also has a relationship with IBM)… so three way dance?

VMWare CEO Pat Gelsinger isn’t going anywhere if you were wondering, but many outlets did report he was on his way out. But Oracle is definitely (maybe) out as the database of choice at Salesforce who is rumored to be favoring an open source platform.

HP Inc announced a venture funding unit. While sister company HPE’s CEO Meg Whitman once famously stated “we can’t buy all the start-ups”, HP Inc is trying to get a piece of the action.

IBM

IBM’s Watson is going to cybersecurity school

Now IBM aims to accelerate the training process. This fall, it will begin working with students at universities including California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, Penn State, MIT, New York University and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County along with Canada’s universities of New Brunswick, Ottawa and Waterloo.

Over the course of a year, the program aims to feed up to 15,000 new documents into Watson every month, including threat intelligence reports, cybercrime strategies, threat databases and materials from IBM’s own X-Force research library. X-Force represents 20 years of security research, including details on 8 million spam and phishing attacks and more than 100,000 documented vulnerabilities.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3067961/security/ibms-watson-is-going-to-cybersecurity-school.html
IBM’s Watson aims to make hospital stays suck a whole lot less

Using feedback from parents and patients, Watson will help the hospital identify anxieties and provide on-demand reassurance and a more-personalized service to young patients, as well as reminding parents about follow-up appointments and aftercare. IBM envisions a variety of other potential applications including matching patients to clinical studies, monitoring admission patterns to help with bed planning and helping manage chronic illnesses through educational applications.

http://www.cnet.com/news/ibms-watson-aims-to-make-being-in-hospital-suck-a-whole-lot-less/
IBM Cloud signs new enterprise deals

IBM announced that Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex and Huggies, has adopted IBM Cloud and IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) Platform to create intelligent facilities management app that helps clients better monitor and manage restrooms remotely, lowering costs and improving consumer experiences.

Utilizing IBM Watson IoT Platform, facilities managers collect data and alerts from sensors integrated into restroom amenities, from soap dispensers to air fresheners, as well as non-amenities like entrance doors.

http://www.infotechlead.com/cloud/ibm-cloud-signs-new-enterprise-deals-39844
Why IBM Is Excited About the ‘Special Partnership’ Between Apple, SAP

Now that Apple has teamed up with SAP too, IBM’s consulting teams can work on an even broader range of mobile apps that link more closely to SAP’s widely used array of back-office systems, van Kralingen said.

She describes these relationships as more “strategically intense and more open” than previous alliances, and suggests we brace for more.

http://fortune.com/2016/05/06/why-ibm-is-excited-about-the-special-partnership-between-apple-sap/
IBM’s AI ‘Watson’ set to launch Korean version

“Watson is already learning Korean through TV programs, movies and newspapers,” an IBM employee said. “We will be available to move up the process with the help of SK C&C.”

IBM and SK C&C will develop a Korean application program interface (API) that will allow Watson to change natural language, data search, conversation and documents into Korean.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2016/05/325_204396.html
Groupon is calling IBM patent trolls

The lawsuit concerns IBM’s WebSphere Commerce platform, which Groupon said lets merchants send messages to customers with GPS-enabled devices based on their real-time locations and their use of social media.

Groupon said the platform infringes a December 2010 patent, and argued it deserves royalties based on the “billions of dollars” of revenue that IBM has received through its infringement.

“IBM, a relic of once-great 20th Century technology firms, has now resorted to usurping the intellectual property of companies born this millennium,” Groupon said in its lawsuit.

http://www.itnews.com.au/news/groupon-sues-ibm-over-alleged-patent-infringement-419300

Microsoft

Microsoft Acquires IoT Company Solair To Power Azure IoT Suite

Microsoft Corporation has acquired Solair, an Italian company specialized in Internet of Things (IoT) services for the enterprise in a number of industries, including manufacturing, retail, food, and transportation. Solair’s IoT customization and deployment solutions, built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, are engineered to help businesses in any industry utilize IoT to run more efficiently and profitably.

http://amigobulls.com/articles/microsoft-acquires-iot-company-solair-to-power-azure-iot-suite
Microsoft’s All-Time Revenue Just Topped $1 Trillion

“You might expect a company to announce a milestone like this and bask in this incredible accomplishment — but not Microsoft. It chose to stay silent as it faces increased public scrutiny for holding $108.3 billion in earnings offshore (an incredible 41% of its all time profit) and its history of tax dodging at home in Washington State.”

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/05/microsoft-struts-into-the-1-trillion-club/
Microsoft is way behind in mobile, and here’s how it’s catching up

But in mobile computing, the struggle is real, and Microsoft is an afterthought. Windows commands just 4 percent market share, way behind Google’s Android at 62 percent and Apple’s (AAPL) iOS at 28 percent, according to Net Market Share. Microsoft has grown its share slightly from 2.6 percent at the end of 2015.

Improving Microsoft’s image as a serious mobile player won’t be easy. In July, just over a year after acquiring Nokia’s handset business for $7.2 billion, marking a head-first dive head into mobile phones, Microsoft wrote off the entire purchase and announced 7,800 layoffs, mostly in the phone division.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/topstories/microsoft-is-way-behind-in-mobile-and-heres-how-its-catching-up/ar-BBsIXrj

Storage [EMC | Dell | Infinidat | NetApp]

INFINIDAT Reports 213% Year Over Year Sales Growth in Q1 2016

“Our quarterly sales growth continues at a triple-digit pace and is a direct result of our expansion across sales channels and around the globe,” said Moshe Yanai, INFINIDAT Founder and CEO. “This growth also includes repeat sales from our existing customer base, proving our ability to deliver on the promise of a high performance, scalable and reliable storage solution. With the InfiniBox storage array, companies are finding that they can reduce their total cost of ownership and better utilize their most important asset — their information — for a greater competitive advantage.”

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160510006068/en/INFINIDAT-Reports-213-Year-Year-Sales-Growth
Dell Technologies must trim fat on ‘obese’ channel – analyst

“Joe [Tucci, EMC’s CEO] has been very committed to the idea of a federation, whereas Michael was very careful not to mention a federation, but to talk about a ‘family’,” he said.

“So there is a bit of an issue there. I have never liked the idea of a federation. By making it a ‘family’ there is a risk of problems in bringing them all together. Each division has its own CEO and they will have to work more closely together than they ever had in the past. There was one remarkable absence at EMC World – Pat Gelsinger [VMware’s CEO]. A lot of the other [EMC Federation CEOs] were not there, but VMware is the cash engine for funding this deal. For Pat not to be there was a little telling.”

http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2457406/dell-technologies-must-trim-fat-on-obese-channel-analyst
The CEO of $25 billion VMware denies a report that he’s stepping down amid a huge leadership brain drain

“I categorically deny it. EMC categorically denies it. And Dell categorically denies it. So there’s absolutely no merit or substance to the rumor whatsoever. And my intention is to stay here and Michael’s intention is to stay here, as well,” Gelsinger said, referring to Dell CEO Michael Dell, at the Jefferies Technology Conference held Wednesday.

Also:

Gelsinger’s remarks clear a lot of air around his job, which has long been rumored to be next in line to be canned, following a series of leadership departures at VMware. Just over the past few months, the company’s COO, CTO, and CFO have all left, in addition to a bunch of VP-level star executives. With Dell soon expected to merge with EMC, which owns 81% of VMware, it seemed only reasonable that the company’s entire management would get overhauled.

http://www.businessinsider.com/vmware-ceo-pat-gelsinger-denies-rumors-of-him-stepping-down-2016-5

Hewlett Packard Enterprise | HP Inc

HP rolls out a new corporate venture unit

In a brief meeting at Disrupt NY yesterday, Bolwell gave us a few details about HP Tech Ventures’ plans. The idea is to focus primarily on seed and Series A deals that serve HP Inc. strategically. The team will focus on five areas, including: 3D printing and the broader ecosystem that supports it; immersive experiences, including both augmented reality and virtual reality; smart machines, including home and commercial robots; and the Internet of Things.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/hp-rolls-out-a-new-corporate-venture-unit/
Note: This connects to Episode 22 of the Podcast, and Whiteman’s comments about not being able to buy up all the start-ups.
The OpenText – HP Deal: You’re Asking the Wrong Question

It’s too early to answer all the questions we may have about the acquisition. For example, we don’t know TeamSite’s positioning against OpenText Web Experience Management (a.k.a. Vignette) and OpenText Web Site Management (a.k.a. RedDot). We will be finding that out in the coming weeks though.

My goal here wasn’t to tell HP customers that this acquisition will put them in an ideal position. The goal was to compare the real life alternatives and determine whether this acquisition was a step in the right direction.

Judging from what we know about OpenText today, I’d argue it was.

http://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/the-opentext-hp-deal-youre-asking-the-wrong-question/
HP Inc’s five pillar vision
Uh… I only count 4.
http://www.dqindia.com/hp-incs-five-pillar-vision/
Assessing HP Inc. After The Split

HPQ now faces hard times, with bad macro circumstances, overall marginality and revenues decrease. Right now, the company plans to reduce its costs by making significant job cuts in order to show somewhat bottom line growth. However, such measures are not about long-term strategy. If revenues of major segments continue to decrease, then the company would need something to change the way we see it today. This can be done by bringing in something new (distinguishing product item, or even product line). Otherwise, there’s a cause for concern.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3973627-assessing-hp-inc-split

Oracle

More information on the Google/Oracle Java lawsuit

At issue is Google’s use of 37 so-called application program interfaces, or APIs, from Java in its Android mobile operating system. APIs are snippets of code that enable an app, website or program to work with other bits of software.

When building Android, Google used Java APIs because programmers were familiar with the programming language, and many programs used it. Oracle says Google should have licensed the APIs from Java’s creator, Sun Microsystems Inc., which Oracle later acquired. Google says it acted under a doctrine allowing “fair use” of small amounts of copyright material.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/oracle-and-google-head-back-to-court-1462616948
Why Salesforce.com, Inc.’s Plan to Ditch Oracle Corporation is Brilliant

Another advantage of PostgreSQL is a more seamless ability to distribute the technology across data centers than ORCL. This is increasingly important since the European Union is forcing U.S. companies to keep customer data in the country where that data was collected. CRM understands timely compliance with these standards could mean more business with European customers.

That’d be real nice for CRM. In its last three fiscal years, revenue from Europe has remained stagnant as a percentage of revenue, languishing between 17% and 18% of total sales.

But perhaps the most visible reason for Salesforce to make the shift from ORCL is the fact that the two companies are direct competitors, with Oracle aggressively branching out into the same sort of sales pipeline software offerings that made CRM famous.

http://investorplace.com/2016/05/salesforce-crm-oracle-orcl/
Also:
Salesforce, inc. (CRM) AWS Deal Might Turn Out Into A Kind Of Merger Deal
For those expecting Oracle to buy Salesforce… maybe not:

He further mentioned that over this year, we could further expect other part of Salesforce’s infrastructure to be moved to AWS too. He stated that the IoT cloud would utilize Amazon’s Aurora database, and it is the perfect fit for IoT. The reason he mentioned was that this database has the flexibility of AWS’ offering, which has the ability to scale up and down according to the uncontrolled exponential growth.

He expects that in the future, Salesforce might also shift its data centers towards certain geographies to AWS. This would be a win-win situation for both, would mean cost savings for the former while would be a marquee win for the latter.

http://www.thecountrycaller.com/32328-salesforce-inc-nyse-crm-aws-deal-might-turn-out-into-a-kind-of-merger-deal-piper-jaffray/

Other

Top 2016 Cybersecurity Reports Out From AT&T, Cisco, Dell, Google, IBM, McAfee, Symantec And Verizon

The IBM Security division produces their annual X-Force Cyber Security Intelligence Index Report based on operational data collected from thousands of devices monitored in over 100 countries. The report looks at the global cyber threatscape and which industries face the greatest risk. The 2016 report provides many valuable insights — including the fact that 60% of all attacks suffered by IBM customers were carried out by ‘insiders’.

Takeaway: The healthcare industry was the one most frequently attacked, speeding straight past financial services and manufacturing

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevemorgan/2016/05/09/top-2016-cybersecurity-reports-out-from-att-cisco-dell-google-ibm-mcafee-symantec-and-verizon/#25c0dbdd3edb
For the First Time, India’s Very Own Operating System Indus Beats Apple, Microsoft
What exact defines “beats”

According to data from Counterpoint Research with ET, Indus OS had a 5.6% share of the total smartphone market during January-March. This is more than double of Apple’s iOS which was at no. 5 with 2.5% share.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/news-tsf/TOP-operating-system-indus-more-popular-than-apple-microsoft-in-india-5319066-NOR.html
Salesforce just bought a startup for ‘tens of millions’ of dollars, adding to its buying spree

According to Dow Jones Business News, Salesforce just acquired a data-automation startup called Implisit Insights for “tens of millions” of dollars, citing people familiar with the matter. Implisit, based in Israel, has raised $3.3 million in funding so far, according to CrunchBase.

Implisit Insights is a software maker that helps sales people make faster and better decisions based on the data stored in its customer database. It could predict the best possible deals and identify those most at risk of losing, while providing recommended actions to improve the sales process, according to its website.

http://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-buys-implisit-insights-2016-5
Google Has Raked In $21 Billion In Android Profit, Oracle Says

Google has earned $21 billion in profit from more than 3 billion activations of Android-based smartphones, Oracle‘s (ORCL) lawyer said in opening arguments in the second trial pitting the database maker against the Internet search giant.

http://www.investors.com/news/technology/google-has-raked-in-21b-in-android-profit-says-oracle/
Will Teradata Reverse Its Fortune with New CEO?

Teradata aims to transform itself by means of a new CEO, the sale of its TMA business, and increased strategic initiatives in the cloud and IoT space. For the time being, the market is viewing the company’s fiscal 1Q16 results and Victor Lund’s appointment as new CEO positively.

http://marketrealist.com/2016/05/will-teradata-reverse-fortune-new-ceo/

May 9, 2016May 7, 2016

SourceCast: Episode 25: Are we all mushrooms?

May 7, 2016May 7, 2016

Supplier Report: 5/7/2016

Oracle picks up another company while their lawsuits with HPE and Google pick up steam. Meanwhile, IBM opens up their new quantum platform to the masses (I am still waiting for my login).

Teradata ditches their CEO after announcing a $46M loss in the marketing space as EMC CEO Joe Tucci says goodbye at EMC World.

IBM

IBM Launches Quantum Computing As Free Cloud Service

In IBM’s vision, online access will pave the way for future developments and spark interest for the new technology. Depending on how well versed people are in quantum technology and their overall technology background, IBM will determine how much access people receive to the processor, according to the manager of IBM’s experimental quantum computing group, Jerry Chow. He explained for The New York Times that the online quantum computing simulator is meant to be educational, but it could also “be the beginnings of a larger framework.”

http://www.itechpost.com/articles/17852/20160505/ibm-launches-quantum-computing-free-cloud-service.htm

Note: This is a true 360 degree video, click in the video to change the camera view
IBM’s iPhone app will help 20 million Americans keep their sight

Why might the app make a difference? “The process for managing patient information today is still very much a manual process for many cataract surgeons,” explained Chang. “With this app, surgeons will now have the ability to access each patient’s surgical information in one place, receive intuitive feedback for IOL selection, and help improve future procedures while driving greater efficiencies in managing patient flow; an incredible benefit for practices.”

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3067292/apple-ios/ibms-iphone-app-will-help-20-million-americans-keep-their-sight.html
IBM To Downsize Rochester Campus

The tech company from Armonk, New York will be selling off upwards of one million square-feet of its Rochester campus. However, no personnel changes are expected to occur, according to a statement by Tory Johnson, the senior location executive for IBM’s Rochester site.

http://tcbmag.com/News/Recent-News/2016/May/IBM-To-Downsize-Rochester-Campus

Oracle

Oracle Buys Utility-Focused Cloud Firm Opower for $532 Million

That rapid growth made Opower an attractive acquisition target for Oracle, which itself has a large business division targeting the utilities sector. By adding Opower to its existing energy industry portfolio, Oracle said it will become “the largest provider of mission-critical cloud services” to a sector valued at $2.3 trillion.

http://www.cio-today.com/article/index.php?story_id=010000BLD85W
More:
Can Oracle buy its way into the cloud?

It stands to reason that traditional enterprise vendors — Oracle, Microsoft, IBM and SAP — would have at least a shot at that new business. But it’s no slam dunk, largely because of customers’ past experiences with those vendors, Rymer said.

“It’s no secret that a lot of people don’t like dealing with Oracle, and there are similar relationship horror stories about all the big enterprise vendors,” he said. “A lot of folks say, ‘We don’t want the same kind of relationship we have with them now.'”

AWS, Azure and Google all promise something more flexible, and for some customers the trade-off is worthwhile even if it means more work.

“The big enterprise vendors understand enterprises,” Rymer said. “I think they have a chance, but we’ll see how that tension plays out.”

http://www.cio.com/article/3064658/can-oracle-buy-its-way-into-the-cloud.html
Alphabet Inc To Face Off Against Oracle Corporation Next Week In $8.8 Billion Lawsuit

The case between these two tech giants previously went on trial in 2012, but the jury made no progress. If the new jury, in the trial that is scheduled to begin on Monday, rules in favor of Oracle concerning the fair-use copyright, then it will consider the damages.

After the initial trial, William Alsup, a United States District Judge, gave the verdict that the material in the issue in case at hand is not supposed to be subject to copyright. However, a federal appeals court reversed this ruling, arguing that the structure of any programming language can be protected.

http://www.vanguardtribune.com/2016/05/06/alphabet-inc-nasdaqgoogl-face-off-oracle-corporation-nyseorcl-next-week-8-8-billion-lawsuit/122886/
HP Fires Back at Oracle Copyright Suit

HPE’s lawyers at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher pointed to Oracle’s litigation targeting Terix in a court filing Friday asking U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California to dismiss the case against HPE. “Oracle seeks to hold [HPE] responsible for Terix’s conduct based on vague allegations of conspiracy and control,” wrote Gibson Dunn partner Blaine Evanson. “While Oracle recounts what Terix did to infringe Oracle’s copyrights, it fails to plausibly allege facts demonstrating how HPE knew that Terix was infringing, what steps HPE took to encourage Terix to infringe, or that HPE had the ability to control Terix.”

http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202756534913/HP-Fires-Back-at-Oracle-Copyright-Suit?slreturn=20160406110805
Oracle Needs More Time

If you ask me to name one company that’s going to be hit the worst during the massive shift towards cloud computing, I would say “Oracle” (NYSE:ORCL) in a heartbeat. Their entire business line was once dependent on companies managing their own infrastructure; as part of that model, Oracle made billions selling them hardware and software designed specifically for their needs.

Today, as significant portions of the enterprise segment look towards TCO (total cost of operation) reduction and global accessibility in the form of what cloud computing offers, Oracle stands in an ever-widening gap. Even their core databases business – of which they are still king – are increasingly under attack from the likes of Microsoft and Amazon. This is something I’ve already spoken about in Oracle’s Rite Of Passage Has Come.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3971084-oracle-needs-time

Storage (EMC | Dell | Infinidat | NetApp )

EMC World 2016: Joe Tucci bows out as EMC looks to the future

“If you look at the magnitude of data processed and the need for this to be interpreted in real-time, the outcome is a new style of computing,” he added. “We have to change not only very rapidly but very dramatically and on a personal note, it’s been an incredible journey.

“I thank our partners and customers as this will be the last time I stand here at EMC World as EMC Corporation CEO and Chairman.”

http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/599096/emc-world-2016-joe-tucci-bows-emc-looks-future/
EMC & Dell execs outline integration plan to create Dell Technologies

The final hurdles the team face are the Chinese regulators, the one remaining body to have not signed off on the merger to date. While Chinese regulators have proven to be a difficulty for other organizations in the past, Read and Elias claim it should be a relatively simple process for the team. Read highlighted the fact that all other regulatory bodies had signed off on the deal 100% with no condition attached, it was a good sign when considering the Chinese regulatory process.

http://www.businesscloudnews.com/2016/05/06/emc-dell-execs-outline-integration-plan-to-create-dell-technologies-2/
Michael Dell roasts HP at EMC World

“Our competitors like HP are shrinking their way to success,” he said. “Wait, you can’t shrink your way to success. That is not even a real thing! But they’re doing it. They are getting smaller. They are separating their edge from their core with far less revenue, less innovation in R&D, less software, a smaller supply chain, losing share in each of their businesses to Dell, even right now during this period.

http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2456674/michael-dell-roasts-hp-at-emc-world
Tucci and Dell on Partner Strategy

Other

Google handed patients’ files without permission: Up to 1.6million records – including names and medical history – passed on in NHS deal with web giant

Trust managers approached Google to develop the app and then handed over the patient files after signing an ‘information-sharing agreement’ last year. Neither the trust nor Google needed to ask patients’ permission beforehand because the NHS is obliged to pass on some anonymous medical information if it is intended for research purposes to improve care.

Also:

Under the arrangement, Google’s DeepMind has access to the details of all patients who have stayed overnight at Barnet, Chase Farm or Royal Free Hospitals or attended A&E over the past five years. It is not clear exactly how many patients this covers. The company will also be given information on a monthly basis relating to all inpatients and those attending casualty until 2017.

Although patients can theoretically opt out of their information being passed on in such a way, they would firstly need to be aware such arrangements exist. They would then need to contact the hospital’s data protection officer in writing to make a specific request.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3571433/Google-s-artificial-intelligence-access-private-medical-records-1-6million-NHS-patients-five-years-agreed-data-sharing-deal.html?ito=social-facebook
Canonical founder: “OpenStack no lifeline for legacy tech suppliers”

“What do customers want? They don’t want to get locked in to someone’s database as a service they happen to have dumped on OpenStack,” he said.“They want database as a service and they want it on every public cloud and on private cloud. They’re not going to get it just on OpenStack.”

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450295156/Canonical-founder-OpenStack-no-lifeline-for-legacy-tech-suppliers
Here’s why Apple’s partnership with SAP is amazingly strategic and smart

SAP is going to develop a bunch of custom business applications for iOS devices, iPads and iPhones, as well as release tools so that SAP’s 2.5-million member global developers can write their own custom iOS apps using Apple’s new programming language, Swift.

In return, Apple gets access to SAP’s enormous worldwide salesforce to help it sell devices to SAP’s roughly 310,000 worldwide customers, most of whom are large enterprise businesses with thousands of employees.

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-apple-sap-partnership-is-smart-2016-5
Teradata names new CEO

On a day when Teradata reported a net loss of $46 million in the first quarter of 2016 — a loss of 36 cents per diluted share — the data warehousing and analytics company also announced that its board of directors has elected one of its own, Victor Lund, as the company’s president and chief executive.

The first quarter’s net loss contrasts with its net income of $22 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2015. Lund succeeds Mike Koehler who has stepped down as Teradata’s president, CEO and board director, effective immediately, the Miami Twp. company said.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/teradata-names-new-ceo/nrHZL/
Review: HPE’s machine learning cloud overpromises, underdelivers
Feels like something I mentioned on Episode 22.

Overall, Haven OnDemand services are comparable to the Watson services in Bluemix — that is, mostly applications of machine learning, which you can call from your own applications and apply to your own data. There’s clearly some experience behind the text and search services from HPE IDOL and KeyView, but many of the other services show rough edges.

For example, I was disappointed by the prediction service’s limitation to binary classification problems. In its defense, however, it is still in a preview stage, and it attempts to automate the entire binary classification process, including parts that other services leave up to the analyst. Similarly, I was disappointed to discover that the image recognition service has only been trained against a database of corporate logos — and doesn’t even have the excuse of being in preview.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3063099/artificial-intelligence/review-hpes-machine-learning-cloud-overpromises-underdelivers.html

Photo: Ashes Sitoula

April 30, 2016April 29, 2016

Supplier Report: 4/30/2016

In supplier news, the press likes to make groupings of four (like Gartner’s magic quadrants). This week, the press calls EMC, IBM, Oracle, and HPE the 4 horsemen of the legacy IT apocalypse (clever title, but the article fails to make any new observations). We also learn who the 4 major players are in the cloud space (there should be absolutely no surprises to readers of this blog)

When we look past these blocks of 4, we learn about blockchains, using DNA as a storage vehicle, and why healthcare is a major target for cybercrime.

IBM

Big Blue’s big blockchain bet

So Friday’s announcement is that IBM has chosen “the good builds,” run a battery of tests, certified that the framework is secure, and is now widely distributing its version of the code to developers.

The company also announced Friday that it was graduating its own cloud-based blockchain services from experimental to beta. In other words, IBM is offering to securely run a company’s blockchain network within its own ecosystem so developers can focus on creating applications for the tech.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/29/ibm-announces-blockchain-services.html
Don’t Worry About IBM’s Mainframe Sales Collapse

While sales of mainframe systems represent a relatively small portion of IBM’s total sales, once related hardware, software, and services are included, the mainframe accounts for a major part of IBM’s profits. Back in 2012, an analyst from Bernstein Research estimated that the mainframe ultimately accounted for a quarter of IBM’s revenue and nearly half of its profits. IBM’s business has changed since then, with the company undergoing a transformation, but the mainframe remains a key part of IBM.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/27/dont-worry-about-ibms-mainframe-sales-collapse.aspx

Microsoft

Why Microsoft is buying 10 million strands of DNA

“Today, the vast majority of digital data is stored on media that has a finite shelf life and periodically needs to be re-encoded. DNA is a promising storage media, as it has a known shelf life of several thousand years, offers a permanent storage format and can be read for continuously decreasing costs,” Emily M. Leproust, CEO of Twist Bioscience, said in a press release. “Our silicon-based DNA synthesis platform offers unmatched scale and product quality that vastly accelerates the ability to write DNA at a cost enabling data storage. We are thrilled to work with Microsoft, and University of Washington researchers, to address the growing challenge of digital data storage.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-microsoft-is-buying-10-million-strands-of-dna/
Microsoft and Google Set to End All Legal Proceedings Against Each Other

This formal announcement came just two days after the European Union levied a formal antitrust complaint against Android, but according to the statement given to Recode both companies said that their deal about this collaboration was still in progress. But this isn’t the first time Microsoft and Google have entered a collaboration agreement to end these legal complaints against each other. The two companies ended a legal battle over Android patents last year.

http://wccftech.com/microsoft-google-legal-proceedings/

Oracle

Oracle Buys Textura

Textura’s cloud services process $3.4 billion in payments for over 6,000 projects each month, helping keep projects on time and under budget while reducing risk for developers, contractors and subcontractors. Textura offers its cloud services in a consumption model preferred by the engineering and construction industry whereby the companies involved pay based on project activity. Further, usage of Textura’s cloud services creates a network effect that benefits all participants as more than 85,000 general and subcontractors are connected to the platform.

http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/158589/
More:

In 2014, Textura and Allin became the target of famous short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research. (Citron and Left will forever be known as for taking down Valeant, though he’s had plenty of other targets, like Mobileye.)

In Left’s classic style, Citron issued a scathing report on Textura filled with words like “fraud” and “fraudulent.” Left took issue with things like how the company was reporting revenue and how it was predicting its profit trajectory.

Citron also called out Allin for not disclosing a previous CEO role he had at a company called Patron Systems a decade ago. Patron’s business at the time was based around a proposed deal to buy security company Trustwave, but the purchase never happened, Allin resigned, and Patron went bankrupt a few years later, reports Crain’s Chicago Business editor John Pletz.

http://www.businessinsider.com/oracle-buys-textura-founder-gains-58-million-2016-4

Hewlett Packard Enterprise | HP Inc

Hewlett Packard Enterprise: Wanna walk the plank voluntarily? You got it

Around a quarter of the 780 ITO staff earmarked for redundancy were supposed to leave at the end of this month but company insiders told us not all of those plans were followed through.

One told us, “A fair few people about have been ‘spared’ from the current redundancies. Lots of messing them about though, [some were] told they were going [in April] and then told last week that actually they weren’t.”

The earliest termination date is 31 July (last day at work would be 29 July) but staff that volunteer to leave need to have everything signed and sealed by mid-May.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/27/hpe_voluntary_redundancy_track_opened

Storage [EMC |Dell |Infinidat]

EMC Faces Growing Competition from Flash Storage Providers

EMC’s Information Infrastructure segment’s revenues fell by 6% YoY to $3.8 billion whereas revenues from RSA and Information Storage fell by 8.1% and 5.9% YoY, respectively. Revenues from EMC’s Enterprise Content division also fell by 2.9% YoY.

Revenues for EMC were impacted due to sluggish demand for traditional data storage products. As shown in the above chart, VMware’s (VMW) revenues rose by 4.8% YoY to $1,583 billion in 1Q16. EMC’s Pivotal segment reported revenues of $83 million, a massive increase of 56% YoY.

http://marketrealist.com/2016/04/emc-faces-growing-competition-flash-storage-providers/
Exclusive: VMware Cloud Chief Exits

Fathers’s exit is not a huge surprise given that the company’s cloud efforts have been in flux for more than a year. That picture got even fuzzier in October when Dell and VMware parent company EMC disclosed their planned $67 billion merger. There was significant overlap in the three companies’ cloud strategies that muddied the waters further.

http://fortune.com/2016/04/27/exclusive-vmware-cloud-chief-exits/
Leading Cloud Provider Triple C Selects INFINIDAT to Expand Operations and Speed Customer Transitions to the Cloud

“INFINIDAT’s storage solutions enable us to achieve significant financial savings, along with increased capacity to address dramatically expanding storage volumes and customers’ availability requirements,” said Erez Rozenbaum, director of cloud engineering at Triple C. “The major challenge for cloud-based storage is how to handle data at scale. With InfiniBox, we can meet the highest SLA business objectives set by the company for both private and public cloud services.”

http://www.cso.com.au/mediareleases/27190/leading-cloud-provider-triple-c-selects-infinidat/

Other

Former Aprimo to be Sold

The buyer is an affiliate of Marlin Equity Partners. Teradata has been negotiating the sale of the unit since late last year as it shifts emphasis. You can view the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by clicking here.

Aprimo was founded in Indianapolis by Bill Godfrey.

Teradata acquired Aprimo in 2011 for $525 million. At the time, Teradata touted the move for the cloud-based company as a “milestone” event and it led to the launch of its new applications business unit that has been managed in Indy.

In 2013, it transitioned from the name Aprimo to Teradata Applications.

Teradata says either party can terminate the purchase agreement if the acquisition is not complete by October 22.

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/31823283/former-aprimo-to-be-sold-for-90-million
AWS, Google, Microsoft and IBM pull away from pack in race for cloud market share

“This is a market that is so big and is growing so rapidly that companies can be growing by 10-30% per year and might feel good about themselves and yet they’d still be losing market share,” said John Dinsdale, Chief Analyst at Synergy Research Group. “The big question for them is whether or not they are building a sustainable and profitable business. This can be done by focusing on specific regions or specific services, but the bulk of the market demands huge scale, a broad footprint, very deep pockets and a long-term corporate focus.”

http://www.businesscloudnews.com/2016/04/29/aws-google-microsoft-and-ibm-pull-away-from-pack-in-race-for-cloud-market-share/
Why cybercriminals attack healthcare more than any other industry

[Health records] typically contain credit card data, email addresses, social security numbers, employment information and medical history records – much of which will remain valid for years, if not decades. Cyberthieves are using that data to launch spear-phishing attacks, commit fraud and steal medical identities.

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/04/26/why-cybercriminals-attack-healthcare-more-than-any-other-industry/
EMC, IBM, HP Enterprise, and Oracle: Four Horses Of The Legacy Tech Apocalypse

The cloud computing “wars” are “entering a new phase,” and it will hurt traditional IT vendors such as SAP, Oracle and IBM, according to a report published in April by JP Morgan analysts Mark Murphy, Doug Anmuth, Sterling Auty, Rod Hall, and Philip Cusick.

Their survey of more than 207 chief information officers at companies with an annual budget of at least $600 million found that Microsoft will remain the dominant IT vendor ahead of Amazon, IBM and others. JP Morgan believes that Microsoft will be the only vendor not to lose market share as the so-called public cloud grows at a 20% annual rate through 2021.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2016/04/25/emc-ibm-hp-enterprise-and-oracle-four-horses-of-the-legacy-tech-apocalypse/#7556fe4a542d