Tag: Teradata

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Supplier Report: 4/8/2017

Google is investing in a new subsea cable that connects Singapore to Australia that should greatly improve international bandwidth to those countries and within the countries (especially Australia). But Google shouldn’t celebrate too hard, their Deepmind AI was recently defeated by an open AI solution playing old Atari games.

Analytic companies Tableau and Teradata announced changes to their software models. Tableau is shifting to a subscription model for their BI tools and Teradata was forced to admit their products are falling behind and need a refresh.

IBM is teaming up with Walmart to track food supply chains using blockchain’s general ledger system… once again trying to convince companies that blockchain has commercial applications outside of bitcoin.

Acquisitions

  • Oracle and Accenture? A non-starter and here’s why

    To give you a flavor of what this means, in its latest filing, Accenture recorded operating income of 13.7%. For its part, Oracle reported operating income of 32%. As you can readily see, there is no comparison between the two companies, despite the fact Accenture has been acquiring and developing its own software for solutions outside the ‘mainstream’ of solutions that Oracle sells.

    If a deal was on the table then Oracle would have some very difficult explaining to do about how margins would work given that it is under enough pressure over ambitious cloud based growth numbers. In short, it doesn’t make sense to distract Oracle management with profit table juggling when the company is already focused on other things.

    http://diginomica.com/2017/04/03/oracle-accenture-non-starter/
    Oracle rejects Accenture buyout speculation

    An ORCL spokesperson initially declined comment on Saturday but sent Fortune a categorical denial via email on Sunday.

    https://seekingalpha.com/news/3255046-oracle-rejects-accenture-buyout-speculation

  • Amazon and Google’s reported interest in Toshiba’s chip unit could be a sign of things to come

    While Amazon and Google’s flash needs are large and growing, it’s quite unlikely that either company (unlike Apple) could single-handedly consume all of the flash currently sold by Toshiba, or come close to doing so. Toshiba has been estimated to control about a fifth of a NAND market worth about $35 billion, and expected to see strong growth this year.

    Thus in the event that Amazon and Google are eying Toshiba’s flash business, it’s likely to buy a minority stake. One that would let the companies guarantee a stable supply of NAND in the coming years, and the chance to procure it at reasonable prices via long-term contracts.

    https://www.thestreet.com/story/14073764/1/amazon-and-google-s-reported-interest-in-toshiba-s-chip-unit-could-be-a-sign-of-things-to-come.html

Artificial Intelligence

  • OpenAI Just Beat Google DeepMind at Atari With an Algorithm From the 80s

    In one hour training on the Atari challenge, the algorithm reached a level of mastery that took a reinforcement-learning system published by DeepMind last year a whole day to learn. On the walking problem the system took 10 minutes, compared to 10 hours for Google’s approach.

    One of the keys to this dramatic performance was the fact that the approach is highly “parallelizable.” To solve the walking simulation, they spread computations over 1,440 CPU cores, while in the Atari challenge they used 720.

    This is possible because it requires limited communication between the various “worker” algorithms testing the candidate policies. Scaling reinforcement algorithms like the one from DeepMind in the same way is challenging because there needs to be much more communication, the researchers say.

    https://singularityhub.com/2017/04/06/openai-just-beat-the-hell-out-of-deepmind-with-an-algorithm-from-the-80s/
    Thanks JD!

  • Honda, IBM create Dave to solve recall riddle

    Dave — for Digital Assisted Virtual Engineer — is a virtual online agent Honda created in conjunction with IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence system. Essentially a highly developed online chat bot run out of Honda’s Chino, Calif., call center, Dave is designed to answer consumer questions about Honda and Acura recalls 24/7.

    “The concept of this was to say if we want to really service our customers in general, what is the gap?” Tony Gomes, assistant vice president of the parts, service and technical division at Honda, told Automotive News. “The gap is when the centers are closed.”

    http://www.autonews.com/article/20170401/MOBILITY/304039963/honda-ibm-create-dave-to-solve-recall-riddle

Cloud

  • IBM’s cloud adds support for Nvidia’s fastest GPUs yet

    There is still a chance that Google could beat IBM to the market, though. Late last year, Google also announced that it would support Nvidia’s newest GPUs early this year, but we haven’t heard when exactly the company plans to launch this feature. We asked Google for an updated timeline but haven’t heard back yet.

    AWS, too, offers GPU support, of course, and its machines can be outfitted with up to 16 GPUs (those are the older K80 cards, though 16 of those obviously offer a lot of raw computing power, too). Microsoft’s Azure offers a similar setup with support for up to 4 of Nvidia’s slightly older GPUs.

    https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/05/ibms-cloud-adds-support-for-nvidias-fastest-gpus-yet/?ncid=rss

  • Why Amazon may eventually touch everything we do online

    Most of the websites that you already go to run through Amazon. Increasingly, their devices are actually coming into your home, you know, they’re delivering groceries. You will, at some point, not conduct business online without Amazon getting a cut of it. And so, they’ve been very good at slow and steady execution so far, and if they make money off everything you do online, there may be no such thing as stretched too thin.

    http://ualrpublicradio.org/post/why-amazon-may-eventually-touch-everything-we-do-online#stream/0

  • New Study Shows AWS Losing Ground to Azure in Enterprises

    “In the early days of the cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS) took the lead as the cloud computing vendor of choice,” the survey report said. “But the survey revealed that as the cloud matures, organizations are becoming more comfortable with vendors other than AWS and are using multiple cloud vendors. In fact, while other reports show that AWS still has a lead in cloud market share, the top cloud vendor in this survey — which included only organizations with at least 500 employees — was Microsoft Azure.

    https://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2017/04/04/aws-losing-ground-to-azure-in-enterprises.aspx

Software/SaaS

  • Tableau switches to subscription pricing for its BI products

    Businesses will need to pay $70 per user per month for a license of Tableau Desktop Professional, and $35 per user per month for Tableau Server. That compares to the company’s boxed software prices of $2000 for Desktop, plus a $400 annual renewal fee for software updates, and $800 for Server, plus a $200 annual fee.

    It’s a move that will provide additional flexibility, scalability and risk mitigation for Tableau customers, according to Francois Ajenstat, the company’s chief product officer.

    http://www.cio.com/article/3187842/business-intelligence/tableau-switches-to-subscription-pricing-for-its-bi-products.html

  • Walmart and IBM Will Use Blockchain to Ensure Food Safety

    Yiannas explains in an article by Fortune that his company was inspired to utilize blockchain technology for supply chain monitoring by a deadly E. coli scare that happened about a decade ago. The tainted food was, in this case, spinach, and Yiannas believes it goes back to poor practices of sourcing and tracing the contaminated food products. “Consumers, in general, stopped eating spinach…if you could track and pinpoint where that came from faster, you could alleviate all that and ensure consumer confidence continues,” he said. Beyond that, in a case like this one, you could also potentially reduce the number of people who were sickened or killed by poisoned food.

    With an effort at retaining consumer confidence in the event of a similar scare, Walmart has worked with IBM and Beijing’s Tsinghua University to use blockchain to digitally track how pork products in China move. Walmart’s experiment makes use of blockchain technology designed specifically for this purpose by the Hyperledger Project. This is an open source project that was based out of the Linux Foundation and which aims to create blockchain applications for non-cryptocurrency purposes.

    http://www.investopedia.com/news/walmart-and-ibm-will-use-blockchain-ensure-food-safety-wmt-ibm/

  • Teradata CEO aims to regain ‘customer focus’ with embrace of cloud and open source

    He added: “We were shying away from new technologies like open source and cloud. We weren’t being as aggressive as we should be in moving forward to drive our offering to the point where the customer wanted.”

    However, he said that the vendor has moved at “lightning speed” over the last year to address some of the concerns.

    http://www.computerworlduk.com/applications/teradata-ceo-aims-regain-customer-focus-by-embracing-cloud-open-source-3656964/

Other

  • Google invests in new subsea cable that connects Singapore to Australia

    The cable will feature two fiber pairs with a total capacity of about 18 terabits per second — with the option to expand in the future.

    As Google notes, that’s enough to power 8 million simultaneous Google Hangout video calls (or are those Hangout Meet calls now?). Google, however, is obviously sharing the capacity here, so it won’t quite be able to handle all of those calls at any given time. It’s also worth noting that 18 terabits isn’t extremely fast by today’s standard. The subsea cable between Hong Kong and Los Angeles Google and Facebook invested in last year tops out at 120 terabits per second.

    https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/05/google-invests-in-new-subsea-cable-that-connects-singapore-and-australia/?ncid=rss

  • Expect to see BlackBerry’s name (and tech) on more devices

    On the company’s earnings call, CEO John Chen said (via Seeking Alpha) that “We are now expanding to the next phase of our licensing program. This will focus on a broader set of endpoints. What this might mean, and I make no promise, is that you may soon see a BlackBerry tablet, and it will also extend to cobranded handset with IoT and Enterprise of Things to EoT devices. These endpoints will run our software and security features and be cobranded Secure by BlackBerry.”

    https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/01/expect-to-see-blackberrys-name-and-tech-on-more-devices/

  • EFF: Verizon will install spyware on all its Android phones (update)

    But the EFF spent a little time staring at AppFlash’s privacy policy, where it’s revealed that the software will vacuum up any and all of your private data. For instance, it’ll snag your cell number, device type, operating system and the apps or services that you use. More crucially, the app will also harvest the details of everything installed on your device, your location and the contact details of everyone in your phonebook.

    Verizon admits that the information will be shared within “the Verizon family of companies,” including that of (Engadget parent) Aol. From there, the data will be used to “provide more relevant advertising within the AppFlash experiences and in other places.” The other places being a euphemism for banner and display advertising all across the web.

    https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/31/eff-verizon-will-install-spyware-on-all-its-android-phones/

  • Follow-up to SourceCast Episode 65: H-1B Visa Overhaul Could Actually Benefit Big Tech Companies

    “The top 15 job shops are all pretty much all from India. They get 85 percent of the H-1Bs. If they cut that number, then the American firms will get the bigger slice of the pie,” Shusterman said. “A lot of the Apples or Googles are paying over $100,000 a year. They’re going after top talent. This memo is really going after the lowest paid people.”

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-04/u-s-visa-revamp-poised-to-benefit-big-u-s-tech-punish-outsourcers

Photo: Thomas Shellberg

Posted on

Supplier Report: 8/6/2016

Drowning

Yet another week where M&A dominates the news.

Verizon bought another company (Fleetmatics), SalesForce purchased Quip, and there are rumors that HPE might be up for sale (all of it or some of it). IBM is showing interest in purchasing point of sale company Revel.

IBM is also actually responsible for some technology news this week.  Their health AI systems are starting to target cancer symptoms as a means of early detection. They also maybe created an artificial neuron for super computers.

IBM

  • IBM IC detects cancer before symptoms appear

    “The societal impact of this research is that it could enable physicians to detect cancer early…when there are more possibilities of being cured,” Stolovitzky said. “We wanted this research to be in the area of cancer and also the area of detecting DNA and viruses like Zika. Everything reduces down to the same thing: being able to have a small and affordable diagnostic tool that can detect minute quantities of biomarker particles that tell physicians something about a person’s health.”scale of biology

    http://www.electronicsweekly.com/market-sectors/medical-electronics/ibm-ic-detects-cancer-before-symptoms-appear-2016-08/

  • IBM is reportedly in talks to buy point-of-sale software firm Revel Systems

    Bloomberg reports IBM (IBM) is in early talks to acquire Revel Systems, provider of an iPad-based point-of-sale (POS) hardware and software system for merchants.

    Revel competes with Square, PayPal (PYPL) , NCR (NCR) and others in the iPad POS market; its customers include Cinnabon, Chobani, and Popeyes. It has 750 employees, and was valued at more than $500 million in a $13.5 million 2015 funding round.

    https://www.thestreet.com/story/13660304/1/verizon-makes-a-telematics-acquisition-ibm-reportedly-mulls-a-retail-acquisition.html
    Is IBM Setting Up To Buy Revel Systems?

    With a Revel acquisition, IBM could theoretically refill a hole in its product line that has existed since the firm sold its point-of-sale business to Toshiba for $800 million in 2012. Revel, on the other hand, could possibly find itself with a soft exit from a market where funding rounds are getting fewer and further between.

    http://www.pymnts.com/news/point-of-sale/2016/ibm-acquire-revel-rumors/

  • IBM creates first-ever artificial neurons that behave like the real thing

    IBM researchers in Switzerland have created an artificial neuron that behaves just like the real thing. For the first time in history, artificial phase-change neurons have been grouped together (in a population of 500 synthesized in a lab) to process a neurological signal in more or less the same way that biological neurons transmit messages. They can be made exceptionally small and are similar in power and energy usage to biological neurons, and can even produce results with random variations, also just like biological neurons.

    http://inhabitat.com/ibm-creates-first-ever-artificial-neurons-that-behave-like-the-real-thing/

  • IBM’s Wager on Open Source Is Still Paying Off

    “It became apparent that open source could be the de facto standards we needed to be the engine to go out and drive things,” Moore said in his keynote at ApacheCon. “[The contributions] were bets; we didn’t know how this was going to come out, and we didn’t know if open source would grow, we knew there would be roadblocks and things we’d have to overcome along the way, but it had promise. We thought this would be the way of the future.”

    https://www.linux.com/news/ibms-wager-open-source-still-paying

Hewlett Packard Enterprise | HP Inc

  • Is Hewlett Packard Enterprise up for sale?

    As explained by author Kevin McLaughlin, “a buyout would allow HPE, currently the world’s largest seller of servers and storage systems, to streamline outside the glare of public scrutiny.”

    Following McLaughlin’s claims, shares in the company spiked seven percent on the stock exchange, yet closed around 3.5 percent as more details of the potential deal emerged.

    According to Reuters, the firms are focused on acquiring certain software assets from the vendor, worth somewhere between $US6 billion and $US8 billion, rather than the entire company.

    http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/604318/hewlett-packard-enterprise-up-sale/
    HPE Reportedly Considers Going Private

    Reuters reported last week that sources familiar with the HPE private equity discussion said that buyout firms are focused on acquiring some software assets that HPE has been considering divesting, and that those are worth between $6 billion and $8 billion.

    The Reuters report added that the deal was for just the software assets and not the entire company. HPE’s software assets include technology gained in acquisitions such as Vertica Systems, Autonomy, and Mercury. The technologies include data analytics, cloud orchestration, and systems management. That group hasn’t been paying off as strongly as the company’s hardware business has.

    http://www.informationweek.com/software/hpe-reportedly-considers-going-private/d/d-id/1326467
    $40 billion buyout rumour persists as HPE cloud chief and storage boss leave company

    A number of key executives are to leave Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with the top-level departures coming at a time when rumours abound that the company is subject to a $40 billion takeover attempt.

    Head of Cloud Bill Hilf, along with Manish Goel, HPE’s storage boss, are set to leave the company for pastures new. However, the reshuffle did not stop there, with Robert Vriji, managing director of sales for the Americas also set to leave, as well as the high-profile retirement of Martin Fink, CTO and head of HP Labs. Fink will retire at the end of the year.

    http://www.cbronline.com/news/verticals/the-boardroom/40-billion-buyout-rumour-persists-as-hpe-cloud-chief-and-storage-boss-leave-company-4966767

  • PE Firms Looking to Acquire Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software Assets Worth $6B-$8B

    Private equity firms, including KKR NYSEKK, Apollo and Carlyle Group are seeking to acquire certain software assets from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, according to sources reported by Reuters on Friday. Earlier in the day, The Information reported those firms might make a bid for all of HPE.

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise declined comment on the report, while KKR, Apollo and Carlyle did not comment.

    http://www.benzinga.com/news/16/07/8282979/bemzingas-weekend-m-a-chatter

Storage

  • INFINIDAT Reports 60% Quarter Over Quarter Growth in Q2

    INFINIDAT continued to achieve significant sales traction in key vertical markets in Q2, reporting that 32 percent of sales was to leading firms in the finance sector, 28 percent was in technology, telecommunications and cloud services, and 24 percent was in healthcare and life sciences. INFINIDAT added several new customers in Q2, including BT (world-leading communications services provider), HMSA/Hawaii Medical Service Association (health insurer), Triple C (cloud services provider), and Credit Andorra (financial services).

    http://www.cso.com.au/mediareleases/27834/infinidat-reports-60-quarter-over-quarter-growth/

  • How Dell Raised $67 Billion for the Biggest Tech Deal Ever

    Some of Dell’s own potential banks balked early on, arguing that they simply could not sell enough junk bonds to finance the deal, and other lenders refused to participate if they could not easily resell some of the loans to other investors.

    Then Dell, Silver Lake and the bankers came up with an idea, pushed hard by Mr. Durban: Sell more high-rated loans and bonds, a questionable idea for a junk-rated company like Dell.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/business/dealbook/how-dell-pieced-together-67-billion-to-buy-emc.html

Other

  • Oracle’s Latest Purchase Opens the Door for More Pricey Tech Deals

    Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies like Salesforce, which deliver software over the Internet, are of particular interest because that sales delivery model is becoming more successful with corporate customers. Neeraj Agrawal, a general partner with Battery Ventures, estimates that SaaS—as hot as it’s been—still represents just 15% of current software market, but he suggests that won’t be the case for long.

    http://fortune.com/2016/07/29/oracle-netsuite-tech-mergers/

  • Verizon buys Fleetmatics for $2.4B in cash to step up in telematics

    More generally, the acquisition of Fleetmatics points to ways that Verizon is continuing to use its balance sheet to finance investments into newer areas to offset continuing declines in its core, legacy business of basic phone services. As that market has become increasingly commoditized and people turn to other, digitised forms of communication away from traditional voice services, Verizon is hoping to invest into newer areas to move beyond “dumb pipe” status to keep its margins up, and revenues growing.

    While its acquisition of AOL (and now Yahoo) will help Verizon scale up its media, advertising and content operations, Fleetmatics is pointing straight to Verizon’s ambitions in enterprise services, and specifically enterprise mobility.

    https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/01/verizon-buys-fleetmatics-for-2-4b-in-cash-to-step-up-in-telematics
    sn_ryback_fmm

  • Salesforce buys word processing app Quip for $750M

    It’s not clear why Quip — which was growing and in the enviable position of being very selective about taking funding from VCs — decided to sell up to Salesforce. But it’s an interesting turn in the ongoing consolidation that we’ve seen in the enterprise market, and how that is transforming the bigger companies that are doing the buying.

    https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/01/salesforce-buys-word-processing-app-quip-for-750m/

  • AWS prints money for Amazon, but can Microsoft, Google and IBM catch up?

    As revealed last week, the AWS division of Amazon reported 58 percent year-to-year growth to almost $US2.9 billion, supported by continued operating efficiency that enabled the business to reach $US718 million in operating profit.

    Worldwide Cloud infrastructure services expenditure grew 52.3 percent year on year in Q2 2016, with Canalys findings pitching AWS as the leading Cloud infrastructure services provider, accounting for 30.4 percent of total spend.

    http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/604414/aws-prints-money-amazon-can-microsoft-google-ibm-catch-up/

  • Is the End Near for Tableau Software Inc?

    Data visualization company, Tableau is scheduled to report second quarter earnings tonight, after the market closes. The stock is perpetually one of the most beaten down during earnings season. After Q4 earnings, shares dropped nearly 50%, only to drop an additional 10% following Q1 earnings. Early indications appear as if they are heading in the same direction ahead of tonight’s report. Just this week Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to “hold” from “buy” on concerns of slow margin growth. For Tableau to stop the slow bleed, it will have to convince investors that this and future quarters can generate sustainable growth.

    http://www.valuewalk.com/2016/08/tableau-software-inc-data-shortsell-earnings/

  • Teradata: Could This Be The Start Of Something Big?

    At this point, TDC has more than $7.20/share in cash although 98% of the cash is offshore. It also has long-term debt of $552 million. The current enterprise value is $3.44 billion which produces an EV/S for the current year of 1.49X. Based on the company’s current projection, the free cash flow yield for TDC will be 8% or so. The company indicated that there is potential upside to the free cash flow estimate based on the year-ending profile of assets and liabilities, particularly A/R. The company has a P/E of 12X current year non-GAAP earnings. Stock-based comp is quite low at around 10% of reported non-GAAP earnings. The other adjusting items have to do with one-time charges related to the disposition of the company’s marketing assets business as well as reorganization costs. With those kind of valuation metrics, there is plenty of upside if the company’s efforts to re-invent itself are even marginally successful. With that level of valuation, the company presents a very attractive acquisition target to both strategic and private equity investors. In the wake of the company’s guidance for the next two quarters, I think downside exposure is very limited as well.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/3994915-teradata-start-something-big
    Big Data acquisitions: All about the enterprise

    Why would Teradata execute a services play not just once, but twice? Ultimately, it would seem to come down to Enterprise sales. Implementing big data — and doing it successfully — is still hard, and experienced consulting shops/Systems Integrators (SIs) can make enterprise customers feel a lot more confident moving forward with it. That puts them in the perfect position to recommend tools and technologies. So, having a manageably small, but geographically distributed, services organization can be very helpful to Teradata indeed.

    http://www.zdnet.com/article/big-data-acquisitions-all-about-the-enterprise/

Photo: Phoebe Dill

Posted on

Supplier Report: 7/30/2016

sn_docks_Austin Neill

For weeks we have been asking if Java is dead… while the rumors of its demise may have been greatly exaggerated, Google may have created the final nail for Java’s future coffin.

Speaking of the future, does IBM have their eyes set on the golden goose Cerner? Acquiring Cerner would finally get them access to hospital information they so desperately want. While IBM is pining for a purchase, Oracle made a big one happen by grabbing NetSuite for $9.3B. Of course we can’t ignore Verizon’s purchase of Yahoo, oh wait I dedicated a whole podcast to that move.

Microsoft seems to be in a funk this week with news that they are cutting employees and potentially misrepresenting their cloud growth (yes, Microsoft too).

IBM

  • Cerner Could Be a Prized Asset for IBM

    To date the only active buyer on the health care front when it comes to large mega cap companies is IBM (IBM) , though its one missing link is access to hospitals, explained Mohan Naidu of Oppenheimer on Tuesday.

    While Cerner would fill that gap, Naidu cautioned that the likelihood of a potential deal comes down to both timing and how much IBM would be willing to pay. The health care IT firm’s scarcity value would likely require a pretty hefty premium, he said.

    Morningstar Inc. analyst Vishnu Lekraj added on Tuesday that Cerner is viewed as a “crowned jewel” in the health care IT space, describing its software assets as top tier in the industry and a “big prize” to gain: “To a company that’s lacking in servicing health care it would be a prime target,” he said.

    https://www.thestreet.com/story/13653083/1/cerner-could-be-a-prized-asset-for-ibm.html
    Note: IBM has approximately $14B in cash as of 3/31/2016 (credit: Spoons)

  • IBM Hired Hundreds of Designers to Figure Out What Customers Want

    So to shake up the status quo, IBM, Cognizant, Infosys and others have been racing to hire thousands of designers who once would have taken more specialized jobs—at an ad agency, say, or an industrial-design shop. At IBM, they team up with engineers and consultants and embed with a multiplicity of clients. Besides providing customer insights, the teams encourage constant feedback and tweak products as they’re built—a process aimed at getting them out faster. It’s how successful Silicon Valley startups operate but radical for the IT services industry.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-25/ibm-hired-hundreds-of-designers-to-figure-out-what-customers-want

  • IBM to deploy recruitment process automation at ITC Infotech

    The implementation will help us enhance employee experience. This will create visibility in social media and provide real time data and dashboards. We hope that this will also help us improve recruitment efficiency in terms of cost, productivity and time to fulfill, added Anand Talwar, Chief Human Resource Officer, ITC Infotech.

    http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/companies/ibm-to-deploy-recruitment-process-automation-at-itc-infotech/328122/

Oracle

  • Oracle buys enterprise cloud services company NetSuite for $9.3B
    The rumors are true…

    Oracle will acquire NetSuite for about $9.3 billion, or $109 per share in an all-cash deal, the companies announced Thursday. Both Oracle and NetSuite’s cloud service offerings aimed at enterprise customers will continue to operate and “coexist in the marketplace forever,” according to a statement by Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.

    https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/28/oracle-buys-enterprise-cloud-services-company-netsuite-for-9-3b/
    The Flawed Logic Behind Oracle’s NetSuite Deal

    Oracle Corp.’s $9.3 billion bid for cloud financial software provider NetSuite should help boost Oracle’s lagging cloud business. But Oracle is paying a high price, particularly as NetSuite is too small to really move the needle for Oracle. Another big issue: NetSuite plays in a software category—financial management systems—whose mojo is being sapped by newer apps.

    https://www.theinformation.com/the-flawed-logic-behind-oracles-netsuite-deal
    A look at Oracle’s 10 biggest acquisitions
    http://www.networkworld.com/article/3101876/software/a-look-at-oracle-s-10-biggest-acquisitions.html

  • Pulling back the covers on Oracle lawsuit: State could spend $27 million in legal fees

    According to the Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office, the state has spent nearly $16 million so far building its case that the giant software company badly bungled development of the Cover Oregon heath-care exchange. With the trial not set to begin until January, the Department of Justice has estimated the cost of the lawsuit could top $27 million by next April, making it one of the most expensive in department history.

    “I had feared it would be extremely high, but my God, I’m shocked by that number,” said Mike McLane, House Republican leader.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2016/07/puling_back_the_covers_on_orac.html

Microsoft

  • Is Microsoft Massively Overstating Its Cloud Revenues?
    Another cloud provider, another rumor of misreported revenues…

    In its quarterly 10-Q filing with the SEC from April, Microsoft breaks out the specific products it includes in its commercial cloud figure in the following way, “Our commercial cloud … primarily comprises Office 365 Commercial, Microsoft Azure, and Dynamics CRM Online.” As such, Microsoft’s commercial cloud pulls sales from two different official reporting divisions — intelligent cloud and productivity and business processes — each of which contains several unique products, making it guesswork at best to glean how much of that stated $12 billion in sales belongs to which product.

    The same problem exists in the intelligent cloud reporting segment, making it frustratingly difficult to gauge the progress of this strategic imperative. When Microsoft announced its new financial reporting structure, it outlined intelligent cloud as including “results from public, private and hybrid server products and services such as Windows Server, SQL Server, System Center, Azure, and Enterprise Services.”

    http://host.madison.com/business/investment/markets-and-stocks/is-microsoft-massively-overstating-its-cloud-revenues/article_985d1685-e5dd-5433-8eb7-c5c93c717a77.html
    sn_lying_ms

  • Microsoft is laying off an additional 2,850 employees

    The latest round of job cuts is in addition to the 1,850 layoffs that were announced in May, reports Engadget. Microsoft made the announcement in its latest SEC filing. Most of the layoffs are ex-Nokia employees, the company Microsoft acquired to try to become a hardware player in the smartphone space. Microsoft says that 900 of the 2,850 employees it plans on laying off have already been notified, with the rest of the additional layoffs coming before mid-2017

    https://news.fastcompany.com/microsoft-is-laying-off-an-additional-2850-employees-4015477

  • Microsoft misjudges millennials, spectacularly

    Since this spring Microsoft has had to apologize publicly three times for offensive, anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic and racist words and acts, all in the name of getting millennials onboard. One of the incidents could be deemed unintentional, but a lack of foresight certainly contributed to the resulting marketing calamity. Memo to Microsoft: There are much better ways to lure millennials to your brand. In fact, thinking that any of this might help is deeply insulting to your target audience.

    http://www.computerworld.com/article/3101397/it-management/microsoft-misjudges-millennials-spectacularly.html

Storage (Dell | Infinidate | Netapp)

  • Ditch your Macs, Dell tells EMC staff

    Amid Dell’s looming takeover of EMC, an edict has been issued insisting that Dell customers must only ever see Dell laptops during meetings and consulting engagements, EMC insiders have told The Register.

    At least EMC staff after being offered nice replacement kit, in the form of the gaming-bred XPS machines, that another insider told us have been promised to incoming Dell employees.

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/29/ditch_your_macs_dell_emc/

  • Two in five execs grumble flash technology is too expensive, research finds

    Yet NetApp argues that the benefits of flash go beyond the bottom line. “Our research shows that while the business value of flash in terms of performance and responsiveness is understood by IT decision makers, education on the true value of flash needs to continue further up the chain,” said Laurence James, EMEA products, alliances and solutions manager at NetApp. “Flash is a long-term investment that can transform business performance and should not be analysed in terms of capital investment alone.”

    That is a TERRIBLE sales tactic, you are either saving money or going after a performance boost.
    http://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2016/jul/29/execs-grumble-flash-technology-too-expensive-research-finds/

Other

  • Verizon buys Yahoo for $4.8B

    As a side note to all this, some anecdotal evidence. We’ve been hearing for months that AOL offices in different regions have been readying themselves for a future with more purple in it. That’s run the gamut from keeping a holding pattern over new office space and future hires, through to strategic ‘sprints’ to consider developments in coming months around R&D initiatives, advertising and more.

    “We are preparing. It sometimes feels like the only thing we talk about,” one AOL executive told me. It may be a sign of how confident Verizon and AOL are of a winning bid, but also of how they would like to kickstart an integration and get working together as quickly as possible. (Poor integrations being one of the killers of so many mergers, of course.)

    https://sn.joeylombardi.com/?p=1927
    Why a Verizon and Yahoo merger would be like Microsoft snapping up CompuServe

    Here’s the other infuriating part of Verizon and AOL “purchasing” Yahoo assets. What assets? I know the one-time competitor to Google has some of the highest traffic on the planet, what with all of their weather apps and such. But even Google has figured out how to break free from the old “click my banner” trick so popular in 2007. Major companies like eyeballs, consumers like innovation. That’s the problem with investors who still use a BlackBerry. They want to buy a logo. They see brand acquisition as a conquest, not a business strategy.

    http://www.computerworld.com/article/3099116/internet/why-an-verizon-and-yahoo-merger-would-be-like-microsoft-snapping-up-compuserve.html

  • Salesforce’s Benioff says he would have paid more than $26B for LinkedIn

    Of course, the Benioff email didn’t say how much more he would have offered, or how the revised bid would have been restructured. Microsoft won in part because of the amount on the table, but also because if offered all cash. Salesforce had offered a mix of cash and stock.

    I wouldn’t be proud of that…
    http://venturebeat.com/2016/07/25/salesforces-benioff-says-he-would-have-paid-more-than-26b-for-linkedin/

  • Teradata agrees to acquire data company, to expand services

    Miami Township-based Teradata (NYSE: TDC) will acquire Big Data Partnership, a London-based EMEA-based services provider of big data solutions and training. Big Data Partnership has what Teradata calls deep expertise in disruptive technologies, including Apache Hadoop, and helps its clients discover how to become more data driven and data savvy through data science and the adoption of the latest big data technologies.

    http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2016/07/25/teradata-agrees-to-acquire-data-company-to-expand.html

  • FireEye Stock Jumps on Takeover Speculation

    Possible acquirers include Symantec, which reportedly made an offer for FireEye in June before ultimately buying Blue Coat Systems. International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) may also be interested in the company, with both tech titans aiming to grow their respective security businesses.

    http://www.pantagraph.com/business/investment/markets-and-stocks/fireeye-stock-jumps-on-takeover-speculation/article_4c9bb33c-a526-5bdc-80ab-ac29e3798859.html

  • Why open source programming languages are crushing proprietary peers

    Even more impressive than R, however, is Go, the open source language first released by Google. Based in large measure on a 5X boom in active GitHub repositories defaulting to Go as their primary language, developers have gone gaga for Go. Go may even give the venerable Java a run for its money, given developers’ propensity to use it to build cloud applications.

    http://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-open-source-programming-languages-are-crushing-proprietary-peers/

  • CSC reportedly plans layoffs ahead of HPE merger

    Computer Sciences Corp. plans to lay off about 500 workers ahead of its merger with Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s enterprise services business, according to a Computerworld report. But the company says the layoffs are unrelated to the proposed merger.

    http://www.ciodive.com/news/csc-reportedly-plans-layoffs-ahead-of-hpe-merger/423504/

Photo: Austin Neill

Posted on

Supplier Report: 7/16/2016

sn_beach_JoshuaNess

The fight between Google, Microsoft, and AWS (with IBM and Oracle fighting for scraps) is the major news trend of the week.

Microsoft announced a partnership with GE that will introduce their Predix IoT engine into the Azure cloud. Meanwhile, Google’s Diane Greene says Google can beat AWS and Microsoft in almost any RFP because they know cloud the best.  Amazon said the origins of their cloud infrastructure was a reaction to legacy IT providers “not caring”, especially once the sale was inked.

While cloud was a major topic, HPE once again is making headlines for exploring the possibility of selling off some of their enterprise software (seriously… this again?).

IBM

  • Inside IBM’s New App-Building Training Ground

    While the New York garage is similar to the others IBM has in cities like Toronto, San Francisco, and London, IBM is specifically making an open pitch to blockchain developers. Blockchain is a technology made famous by bitcoin, which has a public digital ledger for every transaction performed that can be shared among a distributed network. Many companies are tinkering with blockchain because it could change the way digital transactions are performed. IBM says this is because it sees an increased need for training and leadership when it comes to this burgeoning technology. Financial services—along with multiple other industries—are trying to figure out ways they can use this new system (which was introduced to the world thanks to bitcoin), and implement it into their system. Many New York-based companies are trying to figure out what they can do. While there’s a blockchain focus in the New York garage, the space isn’t exclusively for that technology.

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3061668/the-future-of-work/inside-ibms-new-app-building-training-ground

  • OpenText CEO Takes Aim at IBM Watson #OTEW

    “Our path on software is pure openness: open standards and open algorithms,” Barrenechea said. “IBM’s platform is closed. Our hardware is built open standard x86. You can chose your vendor, and you can choose your design. With IBM Watson, it’s closed. You use the Watson mainframe when you’re there.”

    http://www.cmswire.com/information-management/opentext-ceo-takes-aim-at-ibm-watson-otew/
    IBM Responds:

    Reached by CMSWire after Barrenechea’s comments, IBM Watson Chief Technology Officer Rob High said the cognitive APIs and services on the Watson platform are available to any developer who wants to build a Watson application.

    “These APIs are available to the public on our Watson Developer Cloud,” he said, “but we’re expanding to other platforms as well.”

  • Microsoft and IBM in a deal to push Surface devices to enterprises
    I wonder how IBM’s buddies at Apple feel about this… not well I imagine.

    For IBM, the deal is much like the one it struck with Apple in 2014 to develop apps for iPhones and iPads. IBM will acquire more enterprise software customers, and it won’t have to worry about supporting the hardware.

    The IBM custom software will take advantage of unique Surface features, Microsoft said. The applications will revolve around analytics, reporting, employee productivity, management and forecasting.

    http://www.itworld.com/article/3094383/microsoft-and-ibm-in-a-deal-to-push-surface-devices-to-enterprises.html

Microsoft

  • Microsoft wins landmark data storage case

    A unanimous decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Microsoft did not have to turn over documents from an email account stored in an Irish data center despite a 2013 warrant.

    “We have little trouble concluding that execution of the Warrant would constitute an unlawful extraterritorial application of [the U.S. authority],” wrote Circuit Judge Susan L. Carney in the official opinion.

    http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/287763-microsoft-wins-landmark-data-storage-case

  • Yes, Windows 10 subscriptions are coming, at least for enterprise

    Beginning this fall, Microsoft will offer Windows 10 Enterprise E3, a special enterprise tier of Windows 10 that will cost $7 per user per month. Yusuf Mehdi, the corporate vice president of the Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft, said cloud providers would now be able to offer three premier Microsoft services on a subscription basis: Microsoft’s Azure, Office 365, and now Windows 10.

    “For the price of a cup of coffee and a donut per day, you can get enterprise-class security on a per-user subscription basis,” Mehdi said onstage at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Canada. “If you’re a cloud provider, this is now phenomenal.”

    I love the “cup of coffee” line… it is a total diversion tactic.
    machoman_cream
    http://www.pcworld.com/article/3094785/windows/yes-windows-10-subscriptions-are-coming-at-least-for-enterprise.html

  • Instant Analysis: GE Brings Its Predix Industrial Software to Microsoft’s Cloud

    Predix is one of GE’s major investments in the Internet of Things, and it allows companies to manage and analyze industrial equipment (jet engines, factory machines, etc.) to improve their efficiency and reduce downtime.

    “Bringing Predix to Azure means those same customers will now have access to additional capabilities such as natural language technology, artificial intelligence, advanced data visualization and enterprise application integration,” Microsoft and GE said in a press release.

    The companies said Predix will also be integrated with Microsoft’s Azure IoT Suite, Cortana Intelligence Suite, Office 365, and other services, so that Predix customers can access industrial data in their business software.

    http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/12/instant-analysis-ge-brings-its-predix-industrial-s.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004

  • Kevin Turner’s departure from Microsoft generates cries of happiness from employees

    Microsoft’s Executive Vice President for its Windows and Devices group also received negative opinions from some of its employees. Over 60% of the employees believe Turner was fired, although that wasn’t the case, and a mini-poll shows that 93 out of 95 of them felt “crazy happy” about this. Only two seemed to feel “crying sad”. Turner was known for being pretty rough, similar to ex-CEO Steve Ballmer, who was also known for being quick to throw anger around, especially as Turner was brought in whilst Ballmer was at the throne.

    http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2464435/microsoft-employees-have-almighty-bitchfest-over-executives-turner-and-myerson

Hewlett Packard Enterprise | HP Inc

Oracle

  • Oracle’s $9B Lawsuit with Google Sees New Development

    Per media reports, last Wednesday Oracle appealed to the San Francisco U.S. District Court to reconsider the verdict. The filing stated that “Google’s financial rewards are as ‘conspicuous’ as they come, and unprecedented in the case law.” Oracle claims that Google has gained over $42 billion from Android powered by its Java APIs and therefore demanded a share of its profit.

    However, Google had earlier defended itself saying that the Java code was free and open and there have been no copyright infringements. In fact, Google’s stance was also supported by a majority of the Java programming community (including most of Silicon Valley) which believed that a decision in Oracle’s favor could prove detrimental to innovation as programmers use open source APIs across various interfaces for developing codes.

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/oracles-9b-lawsuit-google-sees-150603905.html

Storage (EMC | Dell )

  • John Byrne becomes president of Dell and EMC unified global channel

    John Byrne an ex Advanced 3D, ATI, AMD executive has just got promoted again at Dell. He is now president of the Dell and EMC global channel. Mike Magee and Fudo have known John Byrne for close to two decades, but now is not the time for kiss and tell.

    This is a huge success for Byrne who started at Dell as global vice president of Sales Strategy and Operations in July 2015, then got promoted to be global vice president of Sales Strategy, Operations and Channels at Dell in October.

    http://www.fudzilla.com/news/41103-john-byrne-is-president-dell-and-emc-global-channel

Other

  • AWS says tech legacy vendors ‘don’t care’ about enterprise customers

    In contrast, he accused legacy IT vendors of “extortionist techniques” to hit that revenue, saying: “They forced you to pay upfront even if you are not going to use [what you buy].”

    Amazon went on to reference a stream of enterprise customers using its software, after UK MD, Gavin Jackson, recognised that many in the audience were not serious AWS users, but people interested in hearing more of what the company has to offer their businesses.

    While AWS claims to have more than one million customers worldwide, and the largest number of start-ups (including behemoths like Spotify and Netflix) on its books, it wants more enterprise customers to start using its platform.

    http://www.cloudpro.co.uk/leadership/cloud-essentials/6145/aws-says-tech-legacy-vendors-don-t-care-about-enterprise-customers

  • Google cloud boss Diane Greene: We’re winning against AWS and Microsoft

    “We can actually win an RFP pretty much every time against AWS or Azure. Our growth is great,” Greene told attendees of the Fortune Brainstorm Tech show in Aspen, Colorado on Monday.

    “We have the best infrastructure, our own network backbone, our own fiber, a very cost-effective data centers, very automated.”

    http://www.businessinsider.com/google-cloud-boss-on-aws-and-microsoft-2016-7

  • Why Teradata Corporation Fell 11.5% in June

    Plenty of stocks plunged on the outcome of the Brexit vote, but Teradata suffered more than most. The U.K. has been a solid growth market for Teradata’s data and analytics products in recent quarters, so the prospect of slower orders from that hamstrung economy can be scary to Teradata investors.

    Then, analyst firm CLSA posted a report, explaining that a low-cost bulk storage product known as Amazon Redshift is growing much faster than its traditional rivals. The data warehousing package more than tripled its revenue in 2015 while Teradata and other traditional providers posted shrinking sales.

    That one-two punch lowered Teradata shares more than 14% in just two days.

    http://www.pantagraph.com/business/investment/markets-and-stocks/why-teradata-corporation-fell-in-june/article_417c9709-6078-570f-a7b7-48355263a7ec.html

Photo: Joshua Ness

Posted on

Supplier Report: 5/14/2016

sn_train_tunnel_Stefan Kunze

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
    sn_HPI_q1_2016

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/