SourceCast: Episode 21: Getting Legal
SourceCast: Episode 20: Under Pressure
Supplier Report: 3/19/2016
I know this is going to come as a surprise to frequent readers… IBM bought another company. GASP! How could we have predicted such a move?
IBM purchased Optevia, a British CRM integration company that is based in the UK. Their focus has historically been government-based CRM configurations… so this is a very specific acquisition and I am curious to see how this asset will play globally.
Microsoft is trying to play nice and win friends, and that means the (formerly) mean kid on the block is giving away free cake SQL seats. HPE and Dell are looking to sell off a few unwanted assets (and by assets I mean whole companies).
Apple is taking business away from Amazon and giving it to Google. Microsoft and Amazon are teaming up to go after Oracle (on hosting and software). IBM’s Watson is under attack from one of its founders.
IBM
- Is the Latest Acquisition by IBM a Game Changer?
The addition of Optevia is likely to benefit IBM considering the fact that its current SaaS CRM products lack focus on public sector entities right now. Optevia, being a specialist in the field will provide IBM with much needed diversification and potential growth in its cloud portfolio.
http://www.businessfinancenews.com/28272-is-the-latest-acquisition-by-ibm-a-game-changer/
Related:
IBM buys CRM SaaS firm – no, not SalesforceIt’s an interesting purchase. Consulting giant Accenture last year bought Salesforce partners Tquila and Cloud Sherpas, also on G-Cloud. Salesforce, of course, is the fastest-growing and best known of the CRM-as-a-service lot.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/18/ibm_buys_microsoft_dynamics_crm_partner/
- IBM is battling hard to save Vodafone’s $1-billion outsourcing deal
“Even if IBM does retain most of the contract, the renewed deal will come at the cost of margins. They are being forced to fight on price as well,” said one of the sources. As of now, Vodafone hands out $190-200 million of annual business to IBM.
- IBM Board Paid Itself $4.9 Million
IBM’s board members are A.J.P. Belda, W.R. Brody, K.I. Chenault, M.L. Eskew, D.N. Farr, A. Gorsky, S.A. Jackson, A.N. Liveris, W.J. McNerney Jr., J.W. Owens, J.E. Spero, S. Taurel and P. Voser.
http://247wallst.com/technology-3/2016/03/11/ibm-board-paid-itself-4-9-million/
- Watch out Watson, Google’s DeepMind is getting smarter…
For AI researchers and Go aficionados, it is as big a moment as 1997, when Garry Kasparov lost a chess match to Deep Blue, a supercomputer built by IBM. It is much harder to program a computer to play Go than chess—the sheer number of options in every move makes the sort of “brute-force” approach adopted by IBM unfeasible. But DeepMind has managed it. After the match its program, called AlphaGo, was awarded the top professional rank by the Korean Baduk Association (“baduk” being the Korean word for Go.) And it has entered the world rankings in 4th place (see chart).
- IBM quietly built the world’s largest digital agency — here’s how it got there (good summary of all of their marketing moves)
Unlike the competition, iX isn’t trying to ‘bolt on digital’. IBM is not alone in recognizing the business requirements for digital transformation agencies. France-based advertising-agency holding group Publicis Groupe, for example, bought US-based digital-marketing consultancy Sapient for $3.7 billion in 2014, creating what it called the “largest and most advanced” platform focused exclusively on digital transformation.
- IBM server sales surge, closes in on leaders HPE, Dell
Strong growth for IBM’s Power systems and double-digit growth for its z System mainframes have seen IBM record 8.9% server revenue growth in Q4 of 2015, helping it close the gap slightly leaders HPE and Dell. IBM saw its market share rise from 13.7% in Q4, 2014 to 14.1% according to the latest figures from IDC. However, its growth spurt wasn’t enough to oust the incumbents from their top spots, with Dell also recording growth – at 5.3% – which enabled it to hold on to its 16.7% market share, while HPE declined 2.1% but still holds the lead with 24.9% market share, down from 26.8% a year ago.
https://datacenternews.asia/story/ibm-server-sales-surge-closes-leaders-hpe-dell/
Microsoft
- Microsoft offering free SQL Server licenses to help customers “break free from Oracle”
Microsoft has decided to offer free SQL Server licenses for its customers to help with migrating away from Oracle database software. It’s positioning this sale as an opportunity to “break free from Oracle”. This offer is only available to Software Assurance subscribers, which is an enterprise licensing agreement that Microsoft offers to large customers.
http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-offering-free-sql-server-licenses-to-help-customers-break-free-from-oracle
But what is the maintenance impact year-over-year? 🙂 - Microsoft loves open source? Only when it’s convenient
But while this has been going on, you’re not hearing about another part of Microsoft. Simultaneous with the Eclipse and SQL Server announcements, Microsoft announced it had successfully extracted patent licenses out of Wistron of Taiwan for its use of Android and out of Rakuten of Japan for use of Linux and Android. Though there’s been something of a lull in patent aggression lately, it has a long history and generates a significant revenue stream.
Yes, that’s right: With one face, Microsoft wants us to forgive and forget the “cancer” comments, the dirty tricks, and the standards fixing. Even as the body of SCO lays slightly warm following the Redmond-financed fight against Linux, Microsoft wants us to overlook more than a decade of hostility and accept it as a full-status community member because it showed up with code, cash, and compliments. But with the other face, Microsoft wants members of the Android and Linux communities where it claims membership to pay up crates of cash for patent licenses or face destructive litigation.
- What Is Sony’s Incentive To Play Nice With Microsoft For PS4-Xbox One Crossplay?
I know it is odd to have a gaming item on here, but since we are talking about Microsoft’s embrace of open source and the fact that Sony is kicking their butts in the console market, this is a public relations move…For Microsoft to suddenly say “hey guys, don’t worry, you can play all your favorite multiplatform games with your friends on PS4 if you buy an Xbox” helps Microsoft, who is behind, but not Sony, who is ahead. But of course Sony has to agree to this partnership for it to exist at all. If they don’t, Microsoft gets to say “Sony, why are you standing in the way of progress?” but I’m not sure Sony has an adequate reason to agree to this partnership outside of “being nice.” They’re in the lead by a mile, so why let Xbox One get a foothold to try and close the gap by opening up their 35 million PS4 owners as potential playmates for XB1 owners?
Dell | EMC
- Dell plans sale of non-core assets to reduce EMC buy debt
The document is bullish on the synergies that will flow from Dell and EMC merging. But it also points out that Dell will soon have US$59.1bn of debt, which will mean it won’t be flush with cash for the next little while. The document says Denali Holding Inc (DHI), the company that owns Dell, “… has an objective of reducing its indebtedness in the first 18-24 months after completion of the merger and achieving an investment grade credit rating for such indebtedness. The cash necessary to achieve that objective is expected to come from divestitures of non-core businesses of the DHI Group, including EMC, cash flows from operations of the DHI Group and cash generated by reductions in the working capital needed to operate the DHI Group.”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/15/dell_plans_sale_of_noncore_assets_to_reduce_emc_buy_debt/
- Dell Aims To Grab Share From Cisco, HPE, Juniper With Aggressive New Rebate
The Round Rock, Texas-based company introduced a 15 percent back-end rebate that effectively more than doubles similar existing rebates and encourages partners to take market share from Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks, according to Cheryl Cook, Dell’s vice president of global channels and alliances.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise | HP Inc
- Blackstone nears deal to buy HP Enterprise stake in India’s MphasiS
Financial details of the possible deal were not immediately known. Based on MphasiS’ stock price on Thursday, the HPE stake in the Bengaluru-headquartered company is valued at about US$940mil (RM3.8bil). The company’s total market value is about US$1.6bil (RM6.49bil).
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s flash storage strategy revealed
He says that early flash solution had a couple of issues. One, they were very expensive, and enterprises were not ready to replace disk in mainstream when flash was priced at par with disk. Another factor was that many of the flash solutions were not scalable and did not have the same reliability as the disk systems and there were big compromises to be made on data services.
- Where Hewlett Packard Enterprise Is Going With Security
Building in security from the ground up is also directly aligned with HPE’s x86 server business. The ability to secure from the infrastructure up to the application and the data layer is seen by Barsamian as being a key differentiator for HPE’s security business. She added that in the software-defined data center of the future, x86 sits not just under compute, but as the basis of software-defined storage and networking as well.
http://www.eweek.com/security/where-hewlett-packard-enterprise-is-going-with-security.html
- Letter: Does HP move foreshadow future?
I didn’t believe the newspaper stories until I received a legal letter confirming that the financial obligations of grandfathered Hewlett-Packard retirement plans were dumped entirely onto the new HP Inc. personal computer and printer business instead of it being shared equally with the newly split off Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co. software and services business.
The good news is that these grandfathered plans appear to be fully funded.
The bad news is that a Wall Street reporter recently claimed that HP Inc. is financially “in a freefall.”
Oracle
- Microsoft attacks Oracle with SQL Server 2016 ‘free’ licences
Microsoft is attempting to lure companies to SQL Server 2016 by offering ‘free licences,’ but there is a catch, as customers need to be part of Microsoft’s Software Assurance licencing scheme.This initiative is directed at those organisations which are running applications or workloads on non-Microsoft commercial relational database management systems and offers free SQL Server licences and help to migrate applications. When we look at the web page where the company has detailed the launch, we are able to see what it is planning to do with the free licences.
http://theusbport.com/microsoft-attacks-oracle-sql-server-2016-free-licences/6189
- Oracle Earnings: Can Rising Cloud Make Up For Legacy Fall?
“The stock is down 1.1% since (fiscal 2016’s second-quarter) earnings, outperforming the S&P 500, down 4.0%, given the general rotation out of growth stocks into more value names like Oracle,” wrote Nomura analyst Frederick Grieb in a research note Thursday. “While metrics for cloud revenue growth have been solid, investors remain concerned by what the potential cost will be to the legacy business, as well as the potential impact to margins during the transition.”
- Oracle Corporation: Cloud Growth a Stark Warning for Its Rivals
The highlight of the entire earnings call was the remarkable growth in the cloud business. Revenue from cloud solutions, which includes both software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS), grew by 57% year-over-year (YoY) to $583 million. Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, commenting on the revenue growth from cloud services stated: “This dramatic revenue increase drove our non-GAAP SaaS and PaaS gross margins up to 51% in Q3 as compared with 43% in Q2. Our cloud business is now in a hyper-growth phase.”
http://www.businessfinancenews.com/28233-oracle-corporation-cloud-growth-a-stark-warning-for-its-rivals/
Related:
Larry Ellison explains why Microsoft and Amazon are going for Oracle’s throatMicrosoft Cloud and Enterprise Corporate VP Takeshi Numoto tells Business Insider that its offer has generated a lot of excitement among Oracle customers: “The level of frustration I’ve seen in their customers has been very high.”
Meanwhile, at the very moment Ellison was downplaying Amazon, the company had issued a press release announcing that, during the beta phase alone, it had already moved 1,000 databases to AWS.
http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-ellison-on-microsoft-amazon-offers-2016-3
- Oracle says Oregon is obstructing its pursuit of information
Oracle claims that Senior Vice President Ken Glueck and Brian Shipley, Gov. Kate Brown’s then-chief of staff, reached a deal late last year to settle all litigation. Oracle would drop its suits and give the state $25 million worth of products and services. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has said only she has the authority to settle the lawsuits, not the governor.
Other
- Former Executive on IBM’s Watson to Start Own A.I. Firm
But for Mr. Pratt, leaving to start Noodle meant being able to build a new analytics and A.I. business from the ground up. The company will be based in San Francisco and Bangalore, relying on teams around the world to handle workloads.
- Check Out Amazon’s New Secret Weapon for Winning the Cloud Computing Wars
AWS vice president Adam Selipsky told The Wall Street Journal that “many hundreds” of companies have used an earlier version of the new tool to migrate more than 1,000 databases. “You can clearly see that we’re now getting into the meat of enterprise adoption of the cloud,” he told The Journal.
Last week, Microsoft said the next version of its own database program would include a similar tool. But Amazon’s head start and experience should continue to pay off, according to Hottovy.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13495642/1/amazon-adds-to-appeal-of-its-cloud-computing-platform.html
- Apple Signs On With Google, Cuts Spending With AWS
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, which last November hired VMware co-founder and former CEO Diane Greene to lead its cloud business, is said to be aggressively forming partnerships and swinging deals to bring in large enterprise customers. Last month, Google signed up Spotify, which runs part of its streaming music service on AWS, as a cloud customer.
- Tableau Acquires HyPer in a Quest to Enhance Database Computing
Tableau Software has announced the acquisition of HyPer, which is a high-performance database system. HyPer was initially developed as a research project in Technical University of Munich (TUM). Tableau plans to start a research and development center in Munich with the help of key personnel, and expand its research work on high-performance computing. The idea is to integrate HyPer’s technology into Tableau’s products. This will help its customers with faster transaction processing, and in improving the analytics results generated by its own software.
http://www.martechadvisor.com/news/tableau-acquires-hyper-in-a-quest-to-enhance-database-computing/
Supplier Report: 3/12/2016
This week we dive deeper into IBM’s staff reductions and look at how the street is reacting to the cuts. IBM is also helping Hilton cut jobs (potentially) in the future with a Watson powered concierge.
HPE CEO Meg Whitman is saying quite a few things in the press this week… such as Dell is “doubling down on old technology” and why “Entitled Millennials” save HPE money.
EMC better watch their backs… upstart competitor Infinidat is growing quickly and moving into their back yard.
IBM
- Follow Up: IBM Job Cuts Affect 14,000 Workers, Analyst Firm Estimates
To arrive at the headcount job cut estimate, Bernstein took IBM’s historical cost to cut one employee — $70,000 — and evaluated it based on a $1 billion gain that IBM has realized in conjunction with a settlement with the Japanese Tax Authority. The settlement was reported in the company’s 10-K report, filed February 23. Bernstein noted that IBM’s guidance for 2016 already includes the $1 billion Japanese Tax Authority settlement. Divide $1 billion by 70,000 and you get a little more than 14,000 employees to be cut.
http://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/ibm-job-cuts-affect-14000-workers-analyst-firm-estimates/d/d-id/1324633
What the IBM Layoffs Look LikeMany of those commentors are not buying the “workforce rebalancing” spin, or at least, think only a small number of the layoffs are motivated by the need to adjust the company’s skill sets. Instead, they believe the majority of the layoffs are a matter of “workforce relocating,” specifically, out of the U.S. to India, Brazil, Costa Rica, and other countries with cheaper labor costs.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/tech-careers/is-this-months-ibm-layoff-for-rebalancing-or-is-it-really-for-offshoring
Laid-off IBM Employees Urged by Marc Benioff to Join SalesforceCloud-based Customer Relationship Management solutions provider Salesforce is urging laid-off IBM employees to join their team. Marc Benioff has sent in invitation from his Twitter account reading, “Salesforce opens its hands to help @IBM and any laid off workers send us your cv.”
http://www.thehostingnews.com/laid-off-ibm-employees-urged-by-marc-benioff-to-join-salesforce.html
- Seeking Alpha: All Is Lost At IBM
As a reminder, Seeking Alpha has demonstrated an anti-IBM bias since I started reporting on this blog…IBM bulls may note that the company is pruning deadwood, and that it’s avoiding higher payouts for pensions that are already hurting the balance sheet. But good technology companies don’t treat people as disposable parts.
- KPMG Announces Agreement With IBM Watson To Help Deliver Cognitive-powered Insights
“KPMG’s use of IBM Watson technology will help advance our team’s ability to analyze and act on the core financial and operational data so central to the health of organizations and the capital markets. In addition to the unprecedented possibilities for enhancing quality, the potential for cognitive and related technologies to help us pursue new business offerings is extraordinary.”
- Hilton Hotels Teams Up With IBM For New Robot Concierge Connie
Named after the hotel chain’s founder, Conrad Hilton, Connie is a 2.5-foot-tall Aldebaran Nao robot equipped with IBM Watson and WayBlazer intelligence. As a result, it is capable of answering dozens of routine questions that are usually asked to front desk officers like where to dine, arrangement of tours and which transportation to use.
Storage: Dell | EMC | Infinidat
- Dell closes in on Perot sale to NTT – report
The deal has yet to be finalized nor have the two companies settled on a firm price, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. A $3.52 billion buyout would be 30 percent less than the $5 billion price tag Dell is said to have placed on the Perot business.
- EMC competitor to quadruple headquarters size in big move to Waltham
Infinidat, a provider of enterprise data storage technology that aims to be a competitor to EMC, is quadrupling its U.S. headquarters size in a move from Needham to Waltham. The six-year-old venture-backed company announced Tuesday that it’s moving into a 23,000-square-foot headquarters in Waltham in June, from its original 5,900-square-foot space in Needham.
- Infinidat opens multiple offices after sales quadruple
Infinidat today announced it has opened new EMEA offices in London, Stockholm, Hague and Pretoria in South Africa, as well as five locations in Asia-Pac and Toronto, Canada. It is also in the process of moving to a new US HQ in Massachusetts which is treble the size of its current HQ.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise | HP Inc
- ‘They’re doubling down on old technology’ – Whitman takes dig at Dell-EMC
“We have taken very different strategies in this environment – there’s no question,” she said. “And so we decided to get smaller while they got bigger. We decided to lean into new technology while they’re doubling down on old technology in a cost-takeout play. They levered up while we de-levered. And we are super-focused on being fast and nimble for our customers. So both strategies may work. I happen to like our hand better than the Dell-EMC hand.”
http://www.channelnomics.eu/channelnomics-eu/news/2449969/theyre-doubling-down-on-old-technology-whitman-takes-dig-at-dell-emc
Dell/EMC Merger: Position Defense and Why HP Is UpsetMuch of what Whitman says lacks anything solid behind it, making it clear that she’s got the political promise thing down. But, at some point, it might be nice to see one of the “amazing innovations” supposedly coming out of the company. Dell won’t be able to adequately defend against the HP FUD until the deal is settled. Until it has more than one marginally good quarter under its belt, it might be wise to hold back a bit on the rocks.
- Why HPE Beats HP Inc.
But, there is another factor, perhaps more important. HPE has retained the growing business segments of the old HPQ, while HP Inc. has retained the declining business segments, as discussed in a previous piece here.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2016/03/04/why-hpe-beats-hp-inc/#46a81e8f2ae7
- Why Meg Whitman Relies On ‘Entitled’ 22-Year-Olds For Advice
Whitman says “entitled is too strong a word” to define new graduates, but even that isn’t so bad. In fact, the impatience of today’s youth is useful at a $50 billion sales corporation like Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “They refuse to work on things that do not matter,” she says. She receives emails frequently from young hires complaining that a project they are working on isn’t going anywhere. That’s surprising, but it’s also useful. “You would be surprised how many projects we’ve killed because a 22-year-old says, ‘That’s stupid,’ ” Whitman told the audience. “It’s a little annoying honestly.”
Microsoft
- Satya Nadella’s Bold Plan To Future-Proof Microsoft: Embrace Apple iOS, Android And Now Linux
Nadella’s strategy is to get Microsoft apps and services out there, anywhere, even if it means cozying up to rivals like Apple and Android or, now, the open-source Linux OS. Nadella has little choice. Personal computing is increasingly moving to mobile devices, where Windows badly trails iOS and Android. Businesses, meanwhile, have embraced Linux. The operating system itself is free, so users need only pay for service and maintenance costs.
- Microsoft releases SQL database software for rival Linux system
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadellais trying to boost Microsoft’s sales of databases, which help companies store and analyze data. Its goal is to take customers from top vendor Oracle, whose share of the market was twice that of Microsoft’s in 2014, according to IDC. Adding a Linux database also lets Microsoft target the most complicated, high-performance systems, and helps the company sell more to existing customers that use more than one operating system, Nadella said.
- Microsoft Corporation Backs Out From Slack Acquisition
It is widely believed by many that $8 billion was not enough for the acquisition. With increasing revenues, the app has gained great popularity among enterprise users and it is expected to add several new features that will put it in direct competition with Skype. Hence, it is speculated that even if Microsoft would have offered $8 billion, Slack would not have immediately agreed on the acquisition.
http://www.businessfinancenews.com/28101-microsoft-corporation-backs-out-from-slack-acquisition/
Other
- HPE, Dell and IBM losing ground to ODMs
But none of the top players could match the expansion rate of Gartner’s ‘Others’ category, a collection of unspecified players sitting outside the top five. This includes Quanta and Wistron, two Taiwanese ODMs that have found success selling their boxes into hyperscale datacentres from the likes of Facebook, Google and Microsoft. Those outside the top five saw revenues beef up 18.9 per cent to $4.75bn (£3.35bn) and shipments swell 16 per cent to 1.26 million in Q4.
http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2450283/hpe-dell-and-ibm-losing-ground-to-odms
- Better Buy: IBM vs. Oracle
With two wins against IBM’s lone victory, Oracle takes the cake. But it’s a tarnished crown, and both tech giants have a lot to prove right now. The big caveat here is that IBM took the growth title which could point to future victories in other areas, too. But my Tarot cards are in for repairs today, so I can’t tell for sure how all of that will work out over the next few years.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/fool/article/Better-Buy-IBM-vs-Oracle-6881787.php
- Microsoft, Salesforce Among Winners as ’3rd Platform’ Replaces IT, Says CLSA
3rd Platform technologies (mobile, cloud, analytics, social business) are growing 13% while 2nd Platform (client-server and first-generation internet technologies) is declining 5%. The gap between them is increasing by a factor of 7x […] The 1st Platform was hardware-centric (you were a DEC or an IBM shop) and the machines dictated IT choices. The 2nd Platform was focused on software (companies would characterize themselves as SAP or Oracle shops). The 3rd Platform is services-centric – Platform as a Service. The megaplatforms where apps will run are at the center of the wave – this includes Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Salesforce, Amazon, IBM and SAP are seven – but there will be consolidation around a smaller number of leaders.
Photo: Andrew Amistad
Supplier Report: 2/27/2016
IBM is making friends again. During their InterConnect conference, they announced a new partnership with VMWare, introducing their products on IBM’s cloud services. They also renewed their partnership with Apple, helping the company make progress towards enterprise customers.
Dell is making progress on their acquisition of EMC. The FTC finally approved the merger and the banks lending Dell the money are shopping around portions of the loans (which is seen as a good sign).
HP Inc had a very bad week. PC sales are down over 10% (blaming Windows 10), the stock is down, and they announced an additional 1800 job eliminations.
IBM
- IBM makes major strategic alliance with VMware
VMware and IBM have had a reseller agreement in place until now, with today’s announcement being the first strategic partnership between the two technology firms. It marries together the infrastructure management capabilities of VMware’s products with IBM’s real estate to create a hybrid cloud infrastructure solution that should benefit both companies.
http://www.computerdealernews.com/news/ibm-makes-major-strategic-alliance-with-vmware/46665
VMware undermines its own public cloud with IBM arrangementIt’s easy to see how this is good for IBM, since it brings the large base of VMware shops to IBM’s cloud. But it’s not totally ideal for VMware. With this agreement VMware makes it easy for its customers to use IBM’s cloud rather than its own. However, the arrangement continues to rely on VMware products under the hood so VMware still has a role to play.
http://www.fiercecio.com/story/vmware-undermines-its-own-public-cloud-ibm-arrangement/2016-02-22
- IBM poised to gobble Resilient Systems, says report
The vendor, which helps firms respond to cyber attacks, touched down in Europe a year ago when it went by the name CO3 Systems, and counts Nebulas and NTT Com Security among its UK partners.
Citing two sources with knowledge of the deal, the report said IBM is buying the Massachusetts-based outfit, with one of the two sources putting the acquisition price at more than $100m.
http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2448320/ibm-poised-to-gobble-resilient-systems-says-report
- Through Machine Learning, IBM Braintrust Sees Better Days Ahead
John Kelly, IBM’s senior vice president of cognitive solutions and research said most of that $2 trillion will come from eliminating waste in supply chain, research and development, and other processes across industries.
And, in healthcare, a market that’s becoming a big priority for IBM as evidenced by a $4 billion string of acquisitions, there is a lot of waste from missed diagnoses, lack of drug efficacy, and staffing. “We think $200 billion of that is addressable by cognitive solutions,” Kelly said.
- IBM: It’s Not All Gloom
Big Blues’ “blues” are well documented recently. Questions about the CEO being overpaid and the company’s ability to produce miracles are all too common. While we agree that IBM and technology companies in general have to answer the “what next” question emphatically, the stock isn’t without its own set of positives.
- Will Watson Health Cloud Pay off for International Business Machines Corp.?
By 2020 healthcare analytics will be a $21 billion market. And IBM will dominate this market due to Watson. The opportunity of Watson, however, spans beyond healthcare analytics and into Big Data as a whole.
While this is a much more crowded market, it is growing at an annualized rate of 26.5% through 2018, at which point it will be valued at $41.5 billion. Combined, this is a massive market opportunity that can add to IBM’s data, cloud and engagement businesses. Last year, these businesses accounted for 35% of total revenue according to Morgan Stanley, and grew 17% compared to 2014.
http://investorplace.com/2016/02/ibm-stock-watson-health-cloud/
- IBM Cements Security Standing With Redoubled Check Point Alliance
By combining forces, IBM and Check Point aim to thwart what the United Nations estimates is the $445 billion cybercrime underworld. Check Point’s and IBM Security’s researchers will be free to cross company borders to discuss threat data. And several Check Point applications will be folded into IBM technology, Check Point’s vice president of security services, Avi Rembaum, told IBD. The alliance redoubles an 18-year relationship between IBM and Check Point.
- H.I.G. Capital Acquires Portfolio of Compensation Assets from IBM
Todd Ofenloch, Managing Director at H.I.G., added, “We believe as a standalone, focused business with the resources to grow and expand the product offering, Salary.com is capable of furthering its leading market position and compelling potential customers to select its solutions over competitive offerings or continuing to utilize in-house options.”
Microsoft
- Here’s What Steve Ballmer Thinks About Microsoft and Satya Nadella
Ballmer did tell BI that he spoke to the company’s CFO Amy Hood each quarter and acknowledged meeting with Nadella four or five times a year “to brainstorm something or just as a shareholder, we’ll sit down and chat.” But, he was clear to point out, because he’s not a board member or an employee, the company cannot share any information with him that is not shared with other shareholders.
- Microsoft Buys Xamarin To Help Developers Create Cross-Platform Apps
Microsoft has acquired Xamarin, a cross-platform mobile app development platform provider, which will help developers create apps will easily work across iOS, Android and Windows mobile operating systems. This is part of Microsoft’s efforts to woo developers into making apps for the Windows 10 Mobile platform. Here’s what you need to know.
Through the Xamarin platform, developers can develop, test and deliver mobile apps to any device. Xamarin had already works with the Visual Studio development environment and this acquisition will provide even more integration. With Xamarin now a part of the Microsoft family, Visual Studio developers can use a singe shared C# codebase to build native apps on iOS, Android and Windows. This would be welcome news for developers that are interested in building cross-platform native apps.
Dell | EMC
- Dell-EMC Merger Gets FTC Approval, Remains On Track To Close
IT behemoth Dell and data storage giant EMC announced this week that the waiting period for U.S. antitrust regulations regarding the proposed Dell-EMC merger had expired. In addition to the U.S. FTC, both parties are on course to get the required EU approval at the end of the month. Moreover, Chinese authorities are also likely to approve the merger despite the possible impact it might have on Huawei, the current market leader in the data storage space in China. With this regulatory hurdle crossed, Dell can now proceed with the merger pending approval from EMC EMC +1.97% shareholders.
- Banks backing Dell’s EMC deal hit reset button
The banks underwriting the deal, including Credit Suisse, are in the process of selling the most senior portion of loans — about $7 billion — to other banks and are several weeks behind schedule. But there’s enough interest that the bank group is increasing the offering to as much as $9 billion.
http://nypost.com/2016/02/26/banks-backing-dells-emc-deal-hit-reset-button/
Oracle
- Oracle Corporation Boosts Cloud Credentials With Ravello Systems Acquisition
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is the latest entity to complete a tech-sector acquisition as it announced the purchase of Ravello Systems, a company specializing in operating enterprise workload in public cloud setups. Although the acquisition fee remains officially undisclosed so far, VentureBeat reports the deal could be worth $500 million.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise | HP Inc
- HP Sales Down on Weak Printer, PC Revenue
The Palo Alto, Calif., company said earnings from continuing operations declined 16% in the first fiscal quarter ended in January, while revenue fell 12% from the year-earlier period. Total printing revenue declined 17%, with revenue from ink and other supplies down 14% and hardware unit sales off 20%. HP’s PC revenue declined 13% in the first quarter.
http://ww2.cfo.com/technology/2016/02/hp-sales-weak-printer-pc-revenue/
HP Inc blames Windows 10 for drop in PC sales“I still believe [Windows 10 is] a tremendous operating system,” Weisler told investors on conference call this week, transcribed by Seeking Alpha. However, he added: “We have not yet seen the anticipated Windows 10 stimulation of demand that we would have hoped for, and we’re carefully monitoring any sort of price developments that could further weaken demand.”
And Wiesler’s claims are supported by a Gartner report last month that found a lack of Windows 10 uptake at the end of 2015 contributed to a year-on-year drop of 8.3 per cent in the PC market.
- HP wants to “reinvent computing” with a phone called Elite x3
One feature in particular has the company especially excited – Windows Continuum. This technology allows the smartphone operating system to turn into a desktop operating system (on a larger display) once the smartphone is plugged in to a larger display.
http://www.slashgear.com/hp-wants-to-reinvent-computing-with-a-phone-called-elite-x3-21427943/
TechCrunch doesn’t seem to think it will be successful…
HP Announces Yet Another Mobile Product That Will FailAn industry report published earlier last week pegs Windows Phone with only a 1.1% worldwide marketshare in the fourth quarter of 2015. That’s down from 2.2% from 2014 levels. Worse yet, Microsoft’s Windows Phone shipments dropped 57% in the most recent quarter over the previous year. The company only sold 4.5 million Lumia devices compared to 10.5 million from the same time last year.
Essentially, HP built and announced its first modern smartphone on a platform that most indicators say is dying.
http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/21/hp-announces-yet-another-mobile-product-that-will-fail
- HP Inc to cut another 1800 jobs this year
“This move is basically HP Inc embracing the tough pricing environment and shifting their focus to building their portfolio,” says Shannon Cross, an analyst for Cross Research.
http://www.crn.com.au/News/415634,hp-inc-to-cut-another-1800-jobs-this-year.aspx
Other
- Verizon and Splunk are teaming up to deliver threat protection
Verizon has enhanced its flagship Managed Security Services platform by integrating analytics from Splunk Enterprise Security solutions. The combination of Verizon’s platform and Splunk software facilitates the ingestion of data for enrichment with Verizon’s massive amount of threat context data that can be analyzed and correlated to provide more actionable security intelligence to enterprises. Verizon’s ability to manage risks is further enhanced by the visibility gained from owning and operating one of the largest global IP networks. Processing more than one million security events daily places Verizon into the unique position of being able to deliver exceptional insights into how cybercriminals attack and breach organizations.
- Data analytics provider Splunk’s revenue forecast beats estimates
Splunk, whose customers include Tesco Plc and the U.S. Department of State, forecast revenue of about $880 million for the year ending January 2017, well above the average analyst estimate of $650.8 million.
Photo: Мартин Тасев