SalesForce Archives - Page 5 of 14

October 22, 2016October 21, 2016

Supplier Report: 10/22/2016

Big IT firms are clearly focused on the cloud, but as these companies grow out their infrastructure, we will focus on the differences between the cloud providers and try to find sweet spots.

SalesForce had some very sensitive M&A information leaked. Will Pega Systems and Tableau get bought or was this some kind of trick to drive up stock prices?

And are the days of the Chinese factory workers numbered?

Acquisitions

Wipro To Buy Salesforce Superstar Appirio for $500 Million

Business process services goliath Wipro says it will spend half a billion dollars to purchase cloud services powerhouse Appirio so it can improve its market share and position around Salesforce and Workday.

The $500 million all-cash acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, according to a statement. Wipro did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/300082500/wipro-to-buy-salesforce-superstar-appirio-for-500-million.htm
Salesforce.Com, Inc To Buy Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA) Shortly After Declining Twitter Inc Buyout

Tableau Software Inc. explored a potential sale in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter, as technology companies scramble for partners amid a wave of mergers in the industry.

The Seattle company was working on a potential sale as recently as this summer before the effort stalled, the people said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the document in a front-page article Wednesday that pushed up shares of Tableau as much as 7%, giving it a market value of nearly $4 billion.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/software-maker-tableau-explored-a-sale–wsj-20161020-00076
HP Enterprise services merger with CSC could ‘mean more churn’ for company’s federal contractors

“The combination of these two companies will create a new company with billions in global revenue, including a sizable U.S. federal government business,” it added. “However, the government sector of the new, yet unnamed company may be impacted by the cost take-outs planned by the merger and the distraction of yet another major company reorganization.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/10/20/report-hp-enterprise-services-merger-with-csc.html
Salesforce’s M&A Target List Had 14 Names, But Not Twitter Inc

Citing an internal presentation allegedly obtained from former Secretary of State and Salesforce Director Colin Powell the WSJ lists 14 companies, including Marketo, Adobe Systems, Hubspot, PegaSystems, Demandware, Tableau, and LinkedIn, as possible candidates.

According to the presentation, Box and Zendesk were mentioned as well, but their chief executives had less interest. The presentation, which was marked “draft and confidential” and titled “M&A Target Review,” is a 60-slide document which identified 14 possible acquisition targets.

http://www.valuewalk.com/2016/10/salesforces-list-14-names-not-twitter/

Artificial Intelligence

DeepMind’s differentiable neural computer helps you navigate the subway with its memory

DeepMind’s technique merges notions of memory with more traditional neural networks using a “controller.” The controller saves information by either storing it in a new location or overwriting a previously occupied location. Throughout this process, an association between the information is formed via the timeline of when new data was written in.

The controller uses that same chronology along with the actual content of what has been saved to retrieve information. The framework created is navigable and proves itself effective for drawing insights from graph data structures.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/13/__trashed-2/
Fighting Diabetes with Watson: Medtronic and IBM Health
No More Humans: Foxconn Deploys 40,000 Robots In China

Dai said currently Foxconn can produce 10,000 robots annually. In the future, those robots are all potential replacements for human labor. For the Kunshan factory alone, Foxconn has cut 60,000 employees.

Prior to this, labor costs in mainland China were lower than robots; therefore, Foxconn maintained nearly one million workers. However, with the increase of labor costs and the younger generation’s lack of interest in production line work, many companies have launched huge investments in automation.

https://www.chinatechnews.com/2016/10/13/24329-no-more-humans-foxconn-deploys-40000-robots-in-china
What I predicted in this post is starting to come true
IBM Watson Will Run On IBM and IBM Alone

You’ve got to give UBS analyst Steven Milunovich major props. During IBM’s earnings call on Monday, he asked whether IBM Watson, the company’s golden child, will run on rival Amazon Web Services—and he was promptly shot down. “No. Watson runs on our cloud, and our technology will run on IBM’s cloud,” IBM chief financial officer Martin Schroeter responded tersely.

http://fortune.com/2016/10/17/ibm-watson-belongs-to-ibm/

Cloud

Cloud Pricing and Performance Questions Add to IT Buyer Uncertainty

The RBC test results come as IT executives face confusion over exactly what constitutes “cloud” and how different providers account for it. “If you’re trying to figure out which vendor to go with for cloud services, claims about being number one in the market or having high cloud revenue should be ignored,” Gartner Vice President David Mitchell Smith told a group of CIOs gathered in Orlando for the researchers annual enterprise IT convention. “You can’t compare these things because there are no standards.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2016/10/18/cloud-pricing-and-performance-questions-add-to-it-buyer-uncertainty/
What’s better: Amazon’s Availability Zones vs. Microsoft Azure’s regions

AWS uses what are called Availability Zones (AZs) as the basis for its cloud. Each region in AWS is made up of at least two AZs. Microsoft, instead, just uses regions; it does not guarantee that each region will have multiple data centers. It’s a fundamental difference in the way these IaaS platforms are constructed. And it begs the question: Is one way better than the other?

Also:

AZs come with some downsides though, Wray adds. If an AZ has an outage, many customers have designed their workloads fail over to another AZ in that same region. If all of the customers in the downed AZ transfer workloads to the healthy AZ, that could theoretically create a crowded AZ, which could impact performance.

http://www.networkworld.com/article/3133524/cloud-computing/what-s-better-amazon-s-availability-zones-vs-microsoft-azure-s-regions.html
Rival tech companies trade hostility for hugs

The cloud storage market is dominated by a few major firms: AWS, Microsoft, IBM and Google collectively control well more than half the worldwide cloud infrastructure services market, Synergy Research Group estimates. Analysts at Forrester predict that AWS will produce $12 billion this year, more than half of all the revenue the entire public cloud market is expected to generate.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/17/amazon-microsoft-and-other-tech-companies-teaming-up-for-cloud-storage.html
CIA CIO: Amazon Web Services is key to developing secure apps

In time, the migration to cloud storage is expected to decrease DHS’s reliance on in-house data centers. This shift is also augmented by a growth in effective security technology layered over those same vendor-built cloud systems, said Edwards, who specifically referenced Amazon Web Services’ increased ability to meet the agency’s high bar for defenses.

https://www.cyberscoop.com/cia-cio-amazon-web-services-key-developing-secure-apps/
The downside of the cloud: Netflix is down, so is Spotify and Twitter

Netflix and Twitter were amongst an array of websites and services taken down this morning by a DDoS attack. This list of sites and services also appears to have included SoundCloud, Disqus, PayPal, Spotify, and Reddit. Spotify reported issues to the public starting at 8AM Central time this morning, the 21st of October, 2016.

http://www.slashgear.com/netflix-is-down-so-is-spotify-and-twitter-21461133/

Datacenter

IBM and other giants to reform servers and make them faster

Servers current circuitry is not fast enough, and International Business Machines Corp. has promised to speed the data transfer in servers up to ten times. The group hopes more companies will be part of the team to improve servers speed. Standard microprocessors are getting faster, but their performance is usually delayed because they need to fetch data from nearby memory chips, graphic chips or other elements used to handle certain tasks.

http://www.pulseheadlines.com/ibm-giants-reform-servers-faster/52692/
Lenovo’s attack plan against Dell EMC? A partnership with Nimble Storage

The Chinese company, which has what it calls its “dual” headquarters in Morrisville and its server division in Research Triangle Park, just signed a deal with Nimble that allows it to sell Nimble’s all-flash array technology, as well as to use the firm’s predictive analytics capabilities.

Also:

And it’s a segment of the business that has seen major change, particularly as its relationship with longtime partner EMC severed completely when rival technology firm Dell acquired it. Since Dell announced the buy last year, Lenovo has been working to fill the gap. McRae says it’s been a systematic effort.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2016/10/17/lenovo-nimble-storage-partnership.html

Other

IBM Shares Fall Despite Higher-Than-Expected Sales

Revenue from those areas, which the company calls “strategic imperatives,” rose 16% to $8 billion in the third quarter. Cloud revenue jumped 44% compared with a 30% rise in the second quarter, it said. However, shares of IBM, which reported its 18th straight quarter of declining revenue, were down 3.1% at $150.60 in after-market trading.

http://fortune.com/2016/10/18/ibm-shares-fall-beat-estimates/
HP: We’ll Put Laid-Off Workers on Contract

In light of massive job cuts, HP Inc. has indicated to Business Insider that it may offer affected workers the opportunity to continue their roles as employees at contract agencies. The company stated, “HP has a strong record of success in placing employees in outsourced roles to mitigate the headcount number.” HP has a track record of shifting employees to positions as contract workers from before its 2015 split with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

http://www.investopedia.com/news/hp-well-put-laidoff-workers-contract-hpq/
HP Enterprise announces more layoffs as cloud business struggles

The layoffs in the Stackato may indicate HPE is further retreating from the ultra-competitive cloud market amidst tough competition from AWS and Microsoft. Last year, HPE pulled the plug on its Helion hybrid cloud offering. In August, Bill Hilf, HPE’s current cloud leader,announced he was leaving the company to “pursue other opportunities.”

http://www.ciodive.com/news/hp-enterprise-announces-more-layoffs-as-cloud-business-struggles/428563/
Microsoft employees love Satya Nadella a lot more than they did Steve Ballmer

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella looks especially good, by the report’s reckoning. At the close of 2013, the final days of former chief executive Steve Ballmer’s reign, Microsoft only gave a 51% rating for CEO approval. Nadella took the reigns in February 2014, and the CEO approval rating hit 88% by the end of 2015.

http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-employees-love-satya-nadella-2016-10
Broadcom, Harris Vet Bill Miller Joins NetApp as CIO

Bill Miller, former senior vice president and chief information officer at Broadcom, has joined NetApp in the same role of CIO and will be responsible for both the company’s information technology organization and ongoing transformation initiatives.

http://www.govconexecutive.com/2016/10/broadcom-harris-vet-bill-miller-joins-netapp-as-cio/

Photo: Rob Roy

October 15, 2016October 14, 2016

Large IT companies are running into some M&A trouble. Verizon wants a discount on their Yahoo acquisition, Saleforce is trying to block the Microsoft’s purchase of Linkedin, and Oracle is struggling to make their purchase of Netsuite a reality.

Cloud was a big topic this week – Google has officially rebranded their cloud offerings as “Google Cloud” due to customer confusion (good move), IBM CEO Ginni Rometty explains her company’s position on blockchain (and discusses if AI can replace her), and VMWare is available on AWS.

HP Inc is cutting 4,000 jobs but former EMC CEO Joe Tucci found one!

Acquisitions

Verizon wants $1 billion discount after Yahoo privacy concerns

“The key will be what was actually disclosed by Yahoo before signing,” Frank Aquila, legendary M&A lawyer and partner at Sullivan & Cromwell tells TechCrunch. “No one should be surprised that Verizon wants a significant reduction.”

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/06/report-verizon-wants-1-billion-discount-after-yahoo-privacy-concerns/
It looks like Marc Benioff does have reason to worry about the LinkedIn-Microsoft deal

Salesforce has been complaining to the European Commission about Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn. It is worried that Microsoft will block access to LinkedIn’s vast store of professional data and it wants the EU to either block the acquisition (unlikely) or put conditions on the deal (unlikely but more plausible).

http://www.businessinsider.com/benioff-has-reason-to-be-worried-about-the-linkedinmicrosoft-deal-2016-10
Salesforce CEO Benioff’s decision to walk away from Twitter is the right one

Investors breathed a sigh of relief but were probably also thinking, “told you so.” After the initial reports of Benioff’s interest in Twitter last month, the deal was panned by almost everyone, from Wall Street analysts to the media to Salesforces’s biggest investors. Salesforce stock is up 6% on the news.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/salesforce-ceo-benioffs-decision-to-walk-away-from-twitter-is-the-right-one-2016-10-14
Oracle Wins Injunction, Extends Final Tender Offer for Netsuite

Meanwhile, Oracle recently extended the expiration date of its tender offer for NetSuite acquisition to Nov 4. The company stated that this is the final extension and “In the event that a majority of NetSuite’s unaffiliated shareholders do not tender sufficient shares to reach the minimum tender condition, Oracle will respect the will of NetSuite’s unaffiliated shareholders and terminate its proposed acquisition.”

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/oracle-wins-injunction-extends-final-tender-offer-for-netsuite-cm693204

Artificial Intelligence

Could Watson Replace Ginni Rometty? What She’s Not Saying About AI, Jobs & Disruption

IBM has bet it’s future on AI, cloud computing and data/information/knowledge management. All three areas are about reducing costs and improving productivity by decreasing human labor.Cloud computing, for example, could easily be described as the technology delivery model that kills software developers, applications support professionals and data center managers. There’s a straight line from the number of jobs IBM eliminates and its stock price. If Watsonbecomes a friendly assistant that charges for its pedantic services, IBM will fail. But if Watson enables large-scale labor replacement, IBM’s stock will rise.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveandriole/2016/10/10/could-watson-replace-ginni-rometty-what-shes-not-saying-about-ai-jobs-disruption/2/#60361b211579
Artificial intelligence positioned to be a game-changer (follow link for the video)

One of the technologies just hatched is called Gabriel. It uses Google Glass to gather data about your surroundings and advises you how to react. It’s like an angel on your shoulder whispering advice or instructions. In this case trying to direct us how to win a game of ping pong but the possibilities go beyond bragging rights.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-artificial-intelligence-charlie-rose-robot-sofia/

Cloud

IBM wins $62 million contract to run private cloud pilot at Army’s Redstone Arsenal

IBM won the work as a task order under the Army’s Private Cloud II indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract. The $62 million award includes one base year and four option years, during which the company will build, then own and operate a data center on Army property at Redstone Arsenal, near Huntsville, Alabama.

http://federalnewsradio.com/army/2016/10/ibm-wins-62-million-contract-run-private-cloud-pilot-armys-redstone-arsenal/
VMware and AWS Announce New Hybrid Cloud Service, “VMware Cloud on AWS”

Amazon and VMWare today announced a strategic alliance to build and deliver a seamlessly integrated hybrid offering that will give customers the full software-defined data center (SDDC) experience from the leader in the private cloud, running on the world’s most popular, trusted, and robust public cloud. VMware Cloud™ on AWS will enable customers to run applications across VMware vSphere®-based private, public, and hybrid cloud environments. Delivered, sold, and supported by VMware as an on-demand, elastically scalable service, VMware Cloud on AWS will allow VMware customers to use their existing VMware software and tools to leverage AWS’s global footprint and breadth of services, including storage, databases, analytics, and more

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161013006574/en/VMware-AWS-Announce-Hybrid-Cloud-Service-%E2%80%9CVMware
IBM CEO Rometty’s position on blockchain

Good to hear IBM’s direct stance on the platform and what their vision is
IBM’s Cleversafe storage platform is becoming a cloud service

Cleversafe’s innovation in object storage was to combine encryption with erasure coding and geographic dispersal of data. SecureSlice encrypts unstructured data, stores the key with the data, and then breaks up that data and puts it on several different storage nodes. In IBM Cloud Object Storage, those nodes can be in data centers spread across an entire continent.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3130792/ibms-cleversafe-storage-platform-is-becoming-a-cloud-service.html
Google’s Diane Greene providing a status on Google’s cloud platform:
IBM says its new Cloud Object Storage allows easily moving and splitting data

The service is built on technology dubbed SecureSlice, which combines encryption, erasure coding and geographic dispersal of data. Erasure coding is a form of data protection. IBM acquired the SecureSlice technology when it bought Cleversafe last year for $1.3 billion. The technology automatically encrypts each segment of data before it’s erasure-coded and dispersed, and the data can only be reassembled where it was originally received.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/ibm-says-new-cloud-object-storage-allows-easily-moving-splitting-data/
Amazon cloud boss Andy Jassy fires back at Oracle’s Larry Ellison, says stats were ‘made up’

Instead, Jassy pointed to what analysts are saying about AWS. For example, Gartner said in its Magic Quadrant report last year that AWS is 10-times bigger than its next 14 competitors combined, while putting it at the top of the list against this year.

Deutsche Bank also wrote in a recent note, “Oracle talked up its ‘next-gen’ infrastructure as a cheaper rival to AWS, but we don’t believe it will be competitive anytime soon.

http://www.ctpost.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Amazon-cloud-boss-Andy-Jassy-fires-back-at-9970490.php

Datacenter

IBM, Google, others to unveil new open interface to take on Intel

The new standard, called Open Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (OpenCAPI), is an open forum to provide a high bandwidth, low latency open interface design specification.

The open interface will help corporate and cloud data centers to speed up big data, machine learning, analytics and other emerging workloads.

The consortium plans to make the OpenCAPI specification available to the public before the end of the year and expects servers and related products based on the new standard in the second half of 2017, it said in a statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-technology-consortium-idUSKCN12E0C5
Dell shows off new logo…

This looks like something Silicon Valley would do to make fun of an IT company.

Other

Joe Tucci Named Chairman of Bridge Growth Partners

Bridge Growth Partners, LLC, a sector-focused, growth-oriented private equity firm, today announced that Joseph M. Tucci, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EMC Corporation and former Chairman of VMWare, has been named Chairman of the firm. Tucci has served on the firm’s Investment Committee and Advisory Board since Bridge Growth Partners was established in late 2013.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161011005926/en/Joe-Tucci-Named-Chairman-Bridge-Growth-Partners
Hewlett Packard Enterprise will have approximately $9 billion in net cash at the end of FY17

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is expected to host analyst meeting event on October 18, and according to Mr. Hosseini, the management will surely divulge information regarding the high level of cash in the company’s balance sheet. Furthermore, the analyst expects insight regarding growth initiatives and the strategy used by the company in order to promote secular growth trends in key areas of business.

http://www.thecountrycaller.com/22995-hewlett-packard-enterprise-co-hpe-liquidity-situation-continues-to-improve/
HP Inc will cut up to 4,000 jobs by 2019

The world’s second-largest PC supplier has struggled in a dwindling market, and hopes the cutbacks will save the company between $200 to $300 million annually by 2020.

However, HP will also incur an estimated $350 million to $500 million in restructuring costs.

The announcement comes during a global decline in PC sales, dropping 5.7% in the third quarter compared to last year according to a report by Gartner. This represents the longest period of decline in the history of the PC industry.

http://www.itpro.co.uk/strategy/27410/hp-will-cut-up-to-4000-jobs-by-2019

Photo: Tao Wen

October 8, 2016August 3, 2023

Supplier Report: 10/8/2016

Nobody wants to buy Twitter, but that isn’t stopping SalesForce, Google, and Microsoft with moving forward with their long term plans.

Internet of Things is trending this week as Microsoft is quietly shutting down their fitness band division, but will they buy FitBit (and what would they do with all of that data)? IBM is dropping $200M on a new IoT HQ in Germany.

There were also a few interesting team-ups this week: VMWare and Amazon on some potential VMWare options on AWS and IBM and AT&T deepening their relationship via cloud services.

Acquisitions

Plat.One acquisition marks start of $2B IoT investment plan for SAP

SAP has bought IoT software developer Plat.One, marking the start of a plan to invest US$2 billion in the internet of things over the next five years.

Some of those billions will be spent on the creation of IoT development labs around the world, SAP said Wednesday. It already has plans for such labs in Berlin, Johannesburg, Munich, Palo Alto, Shanghai and São Leopoldo in Brazil.

The company is also rolling out a series of “jump-start” and “accelerator” IoT software packages for particular industries, to help them monitor and control equipment.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3124442/internet-of-things/platone-acquisition-marks-start-of-2b-iot-investment-plan-for-sap.html#tk.rss_all
Salesforce snaps up Krux for $700M on eve of Dreamforce

On the eve of Dreamforce, his company’s annual developers shindig, Salesforce agreed on Monday to acquire Krux, a marketing-data start-up, for $700 million in stock and cash. Krux, which already has a partnership with Salesforce, is expected to bolster Salesforce’s ability to better identify and serve its cloud-software customers.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/10/03/salesforce-snaps-up-krux-700m-eve-dreamforce/91490708/
Salesforce Investors Could Derail a Potential Deal for Twitter

During a CNBC interview on Wednesday with Jim Cramer, Benioff neither confirmed nor denied Salesforce’s interest in Twitter, but didn’t exactly sound as if a deal is certain. “We have to look at everything, we’re going to pass on most things,” he said. Salesforce, which was down over 7% at one point, pared its losses a little following Benioff’s remarks.

The fact that Twitter is already often used as a marketing and customer service vehicle by many companies — including, presumably, many Salesforce clients — probably isn’t lost on Benioff. Salesforce likely sees value in integrating Twitter with its Marketing Cloud (online marketing automation) and Service Cloud (customer service and enterprise collaboration) software. It also could leverage data on Twitter activity to give clients a better understanding of their customers, as well as engage with them more effectively.

https://www.thestreet.com/story/13843028/1/salesforce-investors-could-derail-a-potential-deal-for-twitter.html
Salesforce Should Leave This Bird in the Bush

A Wall Street Journal report late Tuesday makes clear that Salesforce is still very interested. CEO Marc Benioff has reportedly been talking up Twitter behind closed doors—going so far as to describe the troubled microblogging service an “unpolished gem” at one gathering. Salesforce shares fell another 5% as a result. In all, the prospect of buying Twitter has erased nearly $5 billion in Salesforce’s market value.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/salesforce-should-leave-this-bird-in-the-bush-1475696224
Should Microsoft Buy Fitbit?

Fitbit isn’t for sale, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be bought. There wasn’t a “For Sale” sign hanging on Skype, Yammer, and more recently LinkedIn when Microsoft cracked open its huge pocketbook to snap up niche leaders. This makes Fitbit a logical target for a company with a history of multi-billion dollar purchases and a market leader that is attainable. Fitbit’s present enterprise value of $2.5 billion would be a light bite for Microsoft, even with a reasonable premium on top of that.

http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/06/should-microsoft-buy-fitbit.aspx
Oracle Threatens to End NetSuite Deal

On Friday, Oracle announced that it extended the expiration data of its tender offer for NetSuite to Nov. 4, having already extended the date to Oct. 6 last month “to facilitate the completion of outstanding antitrust reviews.” In September, Oracle received the final antitrust clearance needed, from the U.S. Department of Justice.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/oracle-to-call-off-netsuite-deal-unless-shareholder-support-increases-1475849434

Artificial Intelligence

Majesco, IBM Partner on Cloud, AI for Insurers

The joint offering is the first under IBM’s recently announced Industry Platforms division. IBM and Majesco’s offering will provide insurers with a way to launch predictive-analytics driven products and services quickly, the companies say.

IBM will open up an API for Watson, its cognitive computing platform, which insurers can use to analyze, price and understand business risks better. Watson can also help insurers deploy automated advisory interfaces.

http://www.insurancenetworking.com/news/distribution-channels/majesco-ibm-partner-on-cloud-ai-for-insurers-37589-1.html
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Plans Cognitive Hospital Rooms powered by IBM Watson Internet of Things

The in-room speakers will be connected to the IBM Watson IoT Platform that taps IBM Watson cognitive computing and natural language capabilities, as well as provides the ability to easily access hospital data that is relevant and important for patients and the types of questions they typically may have about their hospital stay.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thomas-jefferson-university-hospitals-plans-cognitive-hospital-rooms-powered-by-ibm-watson-internet-of-things-300338924.html

Cloud

IBM, AT&T broaden partnership through cloud-networking arrangement

IBM to utilize AT&T FlexWare, a solution tailored for setting up and managing virtual network functions. AT&T’s value from the partnership is intended to derive from access to IBM’s sales and marketing teams along with the ability to run applications on IBM infrastructure (cloud, cognitive, analytics, security).

http://seekingalpha.com/news/3212756-ibm-t-broaden-partnership-cloud-networking-arrangement
Why the cloud is bad news for Cisco, Dell, and HP

Yes, private cloud is almost certainly a transition phase for enterprise computing, wherein risk-averse CIOs tiptoe toward true public cloud computing. Commenting on this point, analyst Curt Monash declares it is now “widely understood” that “due to economies of scale, only a few companies should operate their own datacenters.”

Yet many still do, believing that certain workloads are simply inimical to public cloud infrastructure. As such, HPE, Dell EMC, and Cisco each took a sizable chunk of the private cloud server market:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3127171/hardware/why-the-cloud-is-bad-news-for-cisco-dell-and-hp.html
Microsoft Azure cuts prices on its virtual machines

General-purpose Dv2 VMs, which offer a CPU that Microsoft says is about 35 percent faster than that found in the basic D series, are now 15 percent less expensive. The basic A1 and A2 VMs — members of the A series, which can be deployed on a variety of hardware types and processors — are now up to 50 percent cheaper.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/microsoft-azure-cuts-prices-virtual-machines-amazon-gives-away/
IBM says IoT investments are about to pay off

IBM will invest $200 million in a new headquarters in Munich for its IoT business, the company announced Monday — the latest investment in IoT by the computer giant.

http://www.ciodive.com/news/ibm-says-iot-investments-are-about-to-pay-off/427512/
Why blockchain is big business for IBM in Research Triangle Park

And it’s particularly relevant in the banking and financial markets where 15 percent of banks intend to implement commercial blockchain solutions in 2017. According to an IBM study, about 65 percent of banks expect to have blockchain solutions in production in the next three years.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest from our banking customers, more than we can keep up with,” she says.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2016/10/05/why-blockchain-is-big-business-for-ibm-in-research.html
Frenemies? VMware And Amazon To Team On Cloud

Details are sketchy, but sources close to both companies confirmed to Fortune the gist of the announcement will be made in San Francisco next Thursday by Amazon Web Services Chief Executive Andy Jassy. It’s likely that his VMware counterpart, Pat Gelsinger, will also be on hand. Neither company could be immediately reached for comment on this story.

http://www.crn.com/news/cloud/300082332/frenemies-vmware-and-amazon-to-team-on-cloud.htm

Datacenter

The Job Cuts Begin: Dell Confirms Layoffs

“Most cuts are overlap, none strategic and/or not part of the new Dell EMC program. To me very normal and a must once the two firms begin to integrate, gel, morph and then execute as a new technology powerhouse with a focused team that [has] the ‘right’ skill sets to address this new world,” Shepard wrote.

http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/300082351/the-job-cuts-begin-dell-confirms-layoffs.htm
Why Red Hat, Inc. Gained 11% in September

The open-source software specialist saw second-quarter earnings rise 17% year over year, based on 17% stronger sales. Both of these figures were above Wall Street’s consensus estimates. Application development tools led the way with 33% higher sales, and Red Hat customers’ adoption of long-term support subscriptions is pacing ahead of the basic revenue growth.

http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/07/why-red-hat-inc-gained-11-in-september.aspx

Software/SaaS

Oracle Will Keep Posting Growth in the SaaS Space

As we discussed earlier in this series, Microsoft (MSFT) emerged as the leader of overall enterprise SaaS (software-as-a-service) space, and Salesforce (CRM) continues to rule the CRM (customer relationship management) space. It was the Oracle’s dominance in ERP (enterprise resource planning), the segment that grew the most in the SaaS space, that led it to register the highest growth in the SaaS space in 2Q16.

http://marketrealist.com/2016/10/oracle-will-continue-post-growth-saas-space/

Other

IBM Brand Value Collapses 19%

The failure of IBM’s turnaround continues to smother the business. IBM’s shares are off 17% in the past two years, against a 9% improvement in the S&P 500. IBM’s revenue in 2011 was $106.9 billion. In 2015, the figure fell to $81.7 billion.

http://247wallst.com/technology-3/2016/10/05/ibm-brand-value-collapses-19/
SAS CEO Dr Jim Goodnight on the power of big data, literacy and philanthropy

“We spend 25 per cent of our revenues on R and D every year, which is more than any other major software company,” says Goodnight, who was a statistics professor at the North Caroline State University when he started working on software for agriculture.

http://www.cio.co.nz/article/607926/sas-ceo-dr-jim-goodnight-on-the-power-of-big-data-literacy-and-philanthropy/
Coupa up 87% in software IPO

But they’re still not profitable. For the six months ending in July, Coupa lost $24.3 million, which compares to a loss of $25.1 million in the same period last year. Yet revenue is growing, up to $53.2 million from $31.6 million in the same time frames.

CEO Rob Bernshteyn tells us they are more focused on their margins than profitability right now. “For every dollar we burned, we created well over a dollar in recurring revenue,” he told TechCrunch. He says he’s looking to “build this business for the long-term.”

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/06/coupa-up-87-in-software-ipo/?ncid=rss

September 24, 2016September 24, 2016

Supplier Report: 9/24/2016

This week is Oracle World which means Larry Ellison is talking epic piles of trash against his competitors (IBM and Amazon). While Larry drops his truth bombs from his throne of garbage, Microsoft, SalesForce, and IBM take further steps in advancing AI.

In between sound-bytes, Oracle did manage to pick up a security automation company named Palerra. Google and Amazon both purchased companies to help develop and improve chatbots and even Apple grabbed a machine learning company named Tuplejump.

Blockchain was hot news this week as IBM secured paying customers in Japan to deploy their version of blockchain technology. As companies look to leverage blockchain for their own use, many early adopters are calling foul due to Accenture’s attempts to introduce the ability to edit transaction tables.

Acquisitions

Apple acquires another machine learning company: Tuplejump

We’re hearing that Apple was particularly interested in “FiloDB”, an opensource project that Tuplejump was building to efficiently apply machine learning concepts and analytics to massive amounts of complex data right as it streamed in. According to its github page, FiloDB was primarily headed up by Evan Chan; Chan’s LinkedIn page says he’s been with Tuplejump since August of 2015.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/22/apple-acquires-another-machine-learning-company-tuplejump/?ncid=rss
Oracle buys Palerra to boost its security stack

Palerra’s business currently focuses on providing security automation for enterprise apps, covering not just data in the apps but as that data “moves across services and it offers several layers of protection across infrastructure and software services,” as we wrote about them last year. Given how many apps today integrate and exchange data by way of APIs, that makes for a significant business.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/18/oracle-buys-palerra-to-boost-its-security-stack/?ncid=rss
Google’s new acquisition makes building chatbots easier

Google took a shot at Facebook’s chatbot-building services on Monday with its acquisition of API.ai, a company that helps developers build and improve conversational interfaces for their services.

API.ai has more than 60,000 developers using its platform to create conversational user interfaces for apps like Slack, Facebook Messenger and Kik. Its tools make it easier for programs to parse human language and translate it into action. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

http://www.cio.com/article/3121952/googles-new-acquisition-makes-building-chatbots-easier.html
Amazon wants a piece of the chatbot action too…

It looks like Google, which yesterday acquired API.ai, a company that helps developers build conversational interfaces, isn’t the only major tech company hoovering up chat bot talent. TechCrunch understands that Angel.ai (formerly known as GoButler) has, at least partially, been acqui-hired by Amazon.

The e-commerce giant confirmed that Angel.ai co-founder and CEO Navid Hadzaad has joined the company. “I can confirm that Navid started at Amazon, and that his first day was yesterday. We don’t have anything further to share at this time,” an Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/20/angel-ai-a-company-that-builds-chat-bots-acqui-hired-by-amazon/?ncid=rss
Cisco and IBM Both Evaluate the Security Company Imperva

An analyst note penned by Mitch Steves of RBC Capital Markets says a purchase by Cisco would align with its stated strategy to boost their security portfolio. He said that Cisco’s portfolio is “maximized in terms of attacks from the outside.” Imperva’s technology would be a “next step” in boosting its portfolio with hybrid cloud security, writes Steves.

Imperva’s flagship product is its SecureSphere Data Security Suite, which can protect on-premises data as well as data in private, public, and hybrid clouds.

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/cisco-ibm-evaluate-security-company-imperva/2016/09/
Twitter shares spike on rumors of acquisition by Google, Microsoft, Salesforce or Verizon

Twitter’s board of directors wants to sell, and a formal bid may come “shortly,” said CNBC, citing unnamed “people close to the situation.” But CNBC also said “no sale is imminent,” without accounting for the discrepancy.

Negotiations are picking up steam and could be concluded by year-end, CNBC quoted one source as saying. The would-be buyers are said to be as interested in Twitter’s data as they are in its status as a media company.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/twitter-shares-spike-rumors-acquisition-google-microsoft-salesforce-verizon/

Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft Enlists AI, Cloud in Battle Against Cancer

Microsoft is exploring multiple approaches, including a cloud-based tool called the Bio Model Analyzer, which creates a model of healthy cells and compares it against cells that grow cancerous, evaluating the interactions in the genes and proteins, offering researchers a window into how cancer spreads. The technology could help detect cancer earlier and may help doctors design effective treatments, cope with rare cancers and determine when and if a cancer will become resistant to a given treatment.

Another cloud-based system called Literome trawls through millions of research papers, enabling oncologists to spend more time easing their patients’ suffering and less time combing through thick volumes of medical research. “To build Literome, [Microsoft researcher Hoifung] Poon and his colleagues used machine learning to develop natural language processing tools that require only a small amount of available knowledge to create a sophisticated model for finding those different descriptions of similar knowledge,” wrote Linn.

http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/microsoft-enlists-ai-cloud-in-battle-against-cancer.html
Salesforce thinks AI will help it beat Microsoft and Oracle

At next month’s Dreamforce, Salesforce’s mammoth annual customer conference that takes over downtown San Francisco, the company will introduce technology called Einstein, which it’s describing as the “world’s first comprehensive AI for CRM.”

On the company’s second-quarter conference call in August, Benioff called it “AI for everyone.”

Salesforce executives on Thursday gave a group of reporters an early look at Einstein in preparation for the unveiling. The general idea, as the name implies, is that sales tools are getting a whole lot smarter.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/19/salesforce-thinks-ai-will-help-it-beat-microsoft-and-oracle.html
More:

Powered by advanced machine learning, deep learning, predictive analytics, natural language processing and smart data discovery, Einstein’s breakthrough innovations allow models to be automatically customized for every single customer. These models learn, self-tune and get smarter with every interaction and additional piece of data. Einstein will automatically discover relevant insights, predict future behavior, proactively recommend best next actions and even automate tasks. Now every Salesforce user will be able to leverage AI capabilities to deliver more personalized and predictive customer experiences.

https://mspoweruser.com/salesforce-announces-einstein-ai-platform-take-microsoft-others/
Microsoft surpasses IBM Watson, achieves lowest error rate for speech recognition

WER, in case you are unaware of it, is a commonly used metric of the performance of voice based systems, including speech recognition or machine translation. Until now, the IBM Watson had the lowest WER of 6.9, although IBM had at a recent interspeech conference claimed achieving 6.6 percent error rate. However, Microsoft’s new systems are even better.

https://thetechportal.com/2016/09/18/microsoft-surpasses-ibm-watson-voice/
IBM Watson is just ‘an advertisement’ for AI while Amazon Aurora is ‘not very good’ – Oracle’s Mark Hurd was on fire today

Nothing we haven’t heard before, perhaps, but then things got really weird, as someone brought up AI. Hurd said artificial intelligence is “nothing more than pattern matching” and called IBM Watson an “advertisement”.

“I look through a bunch of videos and say ‘Those two images are the same, or those two pieces of text are the same, or those two numbers are the same’. The real trick to this isn’t where you see it with advertisements like Watson, but the ability to get it into my day-to-day work,” said Hurd, alluding to yesterday’s keynote, when Ellison used a chatbot to order some business cards and make a crack about no longer being CEO, as the bot spotted his “change of title”.

http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2471270/ibm-watson-is-just-an-advertisement-for-ai-while-amazon-aurora-is-not-very-good-oracles-mark-hurd-was-on-fire-today

Cloud

IBM inks blockchain deal with Japan’s largest bank

Together with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), IBM will design, manage, and establish contracts that potentially could be deployed among business partners.

The two companies plan to tap blockchain technologies to automate business transactions between both organisations.

The first pilot project, which started in May this year, was built on Linux Foundation’s open source blockchain platform, Hyperledger Project, and deployed for contract management on the IBM cloud.

http://www.cbronline.com/news/verticals/finance/ibm-inks-blockchain-deal-with-japans-largest-bank-5008538
IBM Set to Launch One of the Largest Blockchain Implementations to Date

The implementation, which will help its financing unit resolve disputes with customers and partners, could send a signal to a market where enormous amounts of money have been invested in blockchain companies and their technology. The move also will make IBM one of the largest organizations to date to shift beyond limited tests of the emerging technology to real-world business transactions.

The system is expected to free some of the $100 million in capital tied up at any given time in transaction disputes in the IBM Global Financing unit, said Jerry Cuomo, vice president of blockchain technologies. Blockchain is touted as a way to make many markets and functions more efficient by removing the middleman.

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2016/07/29/ibm-set-to-launch-one-of-the-largest-blockchain-implementations-to-date/
Microsoft sees ‘staggering’ potential for blockchain technology as it releases new ‘Bletchley’ template

Microsoft has released version 1 of Bletchley template for Azure, which lets users create a distributed-ledger, or blockchain, network with minimal knowledge of Azure or Ethereum, a crowd-funded, cloud-based public software project. The new release of Bletchley cuts the three-week process of setting up an Ethereum network to “eight questions and 5-8 minutes,” said Marley Gray, principal program manager of Azure blockchain engineering, in a blog post.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/microsoft-sees-staggering-potential-blockchain-technology-releases-new-bletchley-template/
Why Accenture broke the blockchain with IBM’s help

Accenture just released its most articulate blockchain paper to date, called “Editing the Uneditable Blockchain: Why Distributed Ledger Technology Must Adapt to an Imperfect World” apparently based on the primary work in Redactable Blockchain, or Rewriting History in Bitcoin and Friends.”

Since 2009, there have been 157.2 million bitcoin transactions. None of those transactions were removed, redacted or rewritten. They were and continue to be immutable.

Does removing the immutability of blockchains address human error? During our MIT CIO Symposium discussion, “How Blockchain Will Transform the Digital Economy,” my colleague Anders Brownworth of Circle suggested private or permissionless blockchains were equivalent to an intranet — cosmetic and functionless. I agree.

http://www.cio.com/article/3122807/financial-it/why-accenture-broke-the-blockchain-with-ibms-help.html
Oracle Continues Its All-Out Push Into the Cloud, but Amazon and Others Aren’t Standing Still

This is nothing new for Oracle; the company pretty much did the same thing during last year’s OpenWorld conference. As its July quarter earnings report demonstrates, the company wants investors, customers and partners focused squarely on its strong cloud app and services growth, and not on its slumping on-premise hardware and software sales.

https://www.thestreet.com/story/13744646/1/oracle-continues-its-all-out-push-into-the-cloud-but-amazon-and-others-aren-t-standing-still.html
Larry Ellison: ‘Amazon’s lead is over’

Meanwhile, Oracle’s IaaS business is growing so far but not nearly at the rate of its SaaS and PaaS business. SaaS and PaaS revenue was up 82 percent in the first quarter compared to a year ago (in constant currency), totaling $815 million. IaaS, by comparison, grew 10 percent to $171 million.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/larry-ellison-amazons-lead-is-over/

Datacenter

Falling flash prices are a boon to enterprise storage buyers

That was the big trend in the second quarter of this year, according to IDC. Enterprise storage systems factory revenue was US$8.8 billion, flat compared with last year’s second quarter, but the total capacity that vendors shipped increased 12.9 percent.

Much of the credit goes to the falling price of a gigabit of flash storage, IDC analyst Liz Conner said. It’s amplified by the growing popularity of flash, which enterprises are adopting for both speed and space-saving. Technology advancements help: Where enterprises last year were ordering SSDs (solid-state drives) with up to 3TB, now they can buy in bulk with units as big as 15TB.

http://www.cio.com/article/3121328/falling-flash-prices-are-a-boon-to-enterprise-storage-buyers.html
EMC: King of storage needs to shore up defenses

EMC (18.1 per cent) lost -5.5 per cent points of revenue share in the year, HPE (17.6 per cent) gained 8.8 per cent, Dell (11.5 per cent) a relative monster increase of 13.8 per cent, IBM (6.8 per cent) lost -15.6 per cent (recently-appointed storage boss Ed Walsh has a mountain to climb) with NetApp (6.7 per cent) losing -3.2 per cent. The market amounted to $8.83 BN, with ‘Others’ taking 30.3 per cent of that and ODM direct 9 per cent.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/19/weakness_appears_in_emcs_storage_dominance/
As Dell and HPE revamp, Lenovo sets sights on enterprise cloud servers

Lenovo wants a bigger chunk of that market and is working toward offering custom-built converged servers targeted at specific tasks. The company is also looking for a larger opportunity with custom hardware for large-scale customers.

http://www.cio.com/article/3120742/as-dell-and-hpe-revamp-lenovo-sets-sights-on-enterprise-cloud-servers.html
I called this out on SourceCast Episode 38
IBM focuses on a hybrid-cloud future with latest hardware and software

In support of its emphasis on the hybrid approach, IBM cited its own recent survey of 1,000 respondents, who said 45 percent of workloads will remain on the premises despite cloud growth.

IBM also announced new or strengthened relationships with partners Canonical, Hortonworks, Mirantis, NGINX and Red Hat. In particular, IBM and Red Hat together said they plan to deliver offerings built on open-source products including Red Hat’s enterprise Linux, its virtualization and its enterprise Linux High Availability.

Research firm Gartner last month put IBM in the lower-left corner of its most recent Infrastructure-as-a-Service magic quadrant, well behind market-leader Amazon Web Services and behind Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/ibm-focuses-hybrid-cloud-future-latest-hardware-software/

Software/SaaS/IaaS

Microsoft is shutting down Skype’s HQ in London as part of large-scale terminations

Surprisingly, the Financial Times also reported an insider working in the Skype HQ stating that the move was not a surprise. Many in the office anticipated the same and had been leaving the company since the past few years. The layoffs so far have been attributed to the Microsoft’s struggling smartphones business.

http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/microsoft-is-shutting-down-skypes-hq-in-london-as-part-of-large-scale-terminations-335844.html
Cisco and Salesforce join forces for sales, service and IoT solutions

The two companies will tie up on both Salesforce and Cisco products to offer enhanced capabilities in Salesforce’s Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, Salesforce IoT Cloud and Cisco’s Unified Contact Center Enterprise.

Helping organisations collaborate better, Cisco and Salesforce’s first announcement will see Cisco Spark and WebEx integrated into Salesforce’s Sales Cloud and Service Cloud via the Salesforce Lightning Framework. It will help colleagues communicate better via chat, video, and voice without leaving Salesforce.

http://www.cloudpro.co.uk/sales-crm/6327/cisco-and-salesforce-join-forces-for-sales-service-and-iot-solutions

Other

Employees, not outsiders, are responsible for most cyber threats, IBM says

Sixty percent of all attacks in 2015 were made by insiders – employees, contractors, consultants and third-party vendors – with malicious intent or inadvertent actors. Inadvertent actors are initiated or instigated by trustworthy people within an organization.

Two-thirds of these attacks were fueled by malicious intent and the rest were the result of inadvertent actions.

http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/employees-not-outsiders-are-responsible-most-cyber-threats-ibm-says
Silicon Valley layoffs beat any dot.com bust records

An additional 62,917 jobs were lost in June 2016 from Silicon Valley alone. And then there were veiled threats from Apple, Google, Amazon and more that use Ireland as a tax haven.

Tech recruitment company Challenger commented, “Companies that do not adapt to changing trends will be left behind. Nobody knows this better than technology firms, where the very nature of the business means constantly evolving and shifting resources. We are seeing this play out with Cisco, just as it has played out with Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and several other tech giants in recent months.”

http://www.itwire.com/recruitment/74825-silicon-valley-layoffs-beat-any-dot-com-bust-records.html
HP printers block third party print cartridges

HP printers are no longer recognising unofficial and cheaper printer ink cartridges after a firmware update, according to third party Dutch printer ink vendor 123inkt.

HP admits that as a result of the update, settings had been changed so HP printers would only communicate with cartridges with HP chips.

http://www.channelbiz.co.uk/2016/09/19/hp-printers-block-third-party-print-cartridges/
Translation: HPI doesn’t make any money on the printers so they are doing everything they can to make you buy their ink.
Oracle Receives Favorable Ruling, Awarded $100 Million

The United States District Court for the District of Nevada not only granted Oracle’s motion for a permanent injunction but also ordered Rimini and its CEO to pay more than $100 million in punitive charges.

The favorable ruling is quite a breather after Oracle’s recent litigation setbacks against Alphabet Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/oracle-receives-favorable-ruling-awarded-100-million-cm683847

Photo: Peter Lobozzo

September 20, 2016September 20, 2016

Tag: SalesForce

Supplier Report: 10/22/2016

Supplier Report: 10/15/2016

Supplier Report: 10/8/2016

Supplier Report: 9/24/2016

SourceCast: Episode 41: Know thy Enemy