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PCM starts the year with an acquisition

PCM, one of the leading technology providers in North America, has started 2017 with a big acquisition. On Tuesday, it acquired Stratiform, an industry leading provider of a wide range of cloud services. It paid a sum of C$2.1 million based on the closing price of Stratiform’s shares on December 29, 2016. In addition, it has agreed on a potential payout of C$1.75 million over a period of three years. Stratiform’s revenue was C$5.5 million for the fiscal year that ended on July 31, 2016.

This acquisition is expected to give a big fillip to PCM’s hopes of becoming a leading cloud provider in this region. In fact, Stratiform’s cloud-based products and services will lay the foundation for PCM’s cloud-related offerings. Through this acquisition, PCM plans to leverage on the clouds expertise of Stratiform to expand its own presence in Canada and the United States, and also reach out to more markets, especially small and medium business (SMB), mid-market, and public sector enterprises of North America. Stratiform is also a Microsoft Gold Partner, so this acquisition is likely to give PCM a better foothold in the world of Azure, Office 365, and Enterprise Mobility Suite.

Stratiform was founded in 2012 by Jordan Byman and Darren Lloyd, with a clear aim to focus on Microsoft-related technologies. Within a short time, this company became a Microsoft Gold Partner for devices, deployment, cloud services, connectivity, and a Microsoft Silver Partner for hosting cloud solutions in the small and mid-market business segments. This company offers professional consulting, designing, and planning services on a wide range of Microsoft solutions. According to its LinkedIn profile, it employs anywhere 11 to 50 people. All this points to a small company that had an amazing run over the four years since its founding.

PCM, on the other hand, was founded in 1987, and is headquartered in El Segundo, California. With more than 3,700 employees spread across its 45 locations in the United States, Canada, Pakistan, and the Philippines, this company has an annual total revenue of more than $1.6 billion. Its operations is divided into many subsidiaries that include sales, services, marketing, logistics, and business process outsourcing (BPO).

This acquisition augurs well for PCM, as it can give it a strong foothold in the cloud market. In this sense, Stratiform is a good choice for acquisition, as it has an established market and expertise that has to be built on by PCM. Historically, PCM has expanded its operations and revenue by way of strategic acquisitions. It was founded as a telemarketing, direct marketing, and print catalogs company, and it made a foray into other areas by acquiring companies such as PC Wintel, Computability, Wareforce, Data Systems Worldwide (DSW), and En Pointe Technologies and Sales Inc.

As for Stratiform, it had a dream run, and it can continue building its expertise with a larger pool of resources, thereby giving the brains behind Stratiform a better chance to reach out to a global audience.

In all, 2017 started off on a great note for both the companies!

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A look into Cerevo’s Data Logger

Do you love biking? Have you always been interested in your ride’s statistics, like how many miles did you cover, average speed, calories burned, and more? There are already many apps that give you this information, and the latest to join this market segment is Cerevo’s Ride -1.

Ride-1 is a data logger that comes with advanced technologies and sensors to give you the most accurate information. It is equipped with nine axis motion sensors, out of which three each will handle geomagnetism, acceleration, and angular velocity respectively. There are also other sensors that come with it such as temperature sensor, air pressure sensor, GPS system, and illuminance sensor, to give you a complete picture of your riding experience.

The best part about this device is that it comes with an 8-GB flash memory that can store up to 400 hours of data. This means, you can store all information pertaining to your rides over a certain time period, and analyze the same, to understand if you’re on the right track to achieve your fitness and biking goals. Also, you can automatically upload this data through cloud or a Wi-Fi connection to other devices, or you can even share it with other people so they know your exact geographic location. This feature can be particularly useful for those who want to track the rides of their near and dear ones.

In addition to these features, Ride-1 is relatively small, and can be attached easily to your bike within minutes. Thus, there is no hassle of a long setup time, and cumbersome usage instructions. When you combine it with a smartphone, you can almost use it like a cycle computer, as it gives you information about your posture, speed, and other aspects in real-time. This feature is most helpful for professional athletes, and others who ride with a specific goal in mind. You or your coach can analyze all this information to make the appropriate changes that’ll get you faster to your biking goals.

Currently, this product is available on Cerevo’s online shop, and also on select retail and electronic stores. It’s priced at around $210. Though some experts consider this to be a little pricey, it’s definitely worth for the features it offers. Also, this price is much lower than that of a highly functional cycle computer, and it can be used extensively on other devices too, provided you combine it with a cloud system and a smartphone. It is also waterproof, and comes with a rechargeable battery that can power the system for 15 hours after a charge of just three hours.

This product is manufactured by a Japanese company called Cerevo. Found in 2007 and headquartered in Tokyo, this company specializes in making next-generation networked devices for both consumers and professional users. The unique ideas and design of Cerevo have made it a popular brand among tech savvy users, especially those belonging to the Millennial generation.

With such cool features, Cerevo’s Ride-1 is going to be a big hit, and the company is likely to meet its target of 10,000 pieces much before its estimated time of three years.

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News

Fuji Xerox Plans to Enter the Cloud Market

The cloud market is one of the most happening segments of the tech sector, and this is why everyone wants to take a share in its multi-billion dollar potential. The latest company to enter this market is Fuji Xerox –  world’s biggest supplier of office printers and document management systems.

According to its executive vice-president, Masataka Jo, this company plans to launch its cloud arm in mainland China soon, with an aim to focus on the higher end clients in the market. He made it clear that much of the focus will be on China this year, as it wants to create a sustainable business model in the world’s second largest economy. With this idea in mind, it wants to introduce its cloud products and services that will supplement its existing operations. These announcements come at a time when the Chinese market is facing slowing demand for goods and services due to a dampening of its economy, and these measures are hoped to invigorate Fuji’s position in China and to boost demand for its products.

In November of last year, the company introduced a new cloud service package called “Smart Work Gateway.” This cloud-based service will help businesses to make the most of diverse work styles –  something that is becoming a growing demand considering the fact that different employees prefer varying work devices. This product creates a cloud ecosystem where multiple devices work, and where its own cloud products as well as that of its partners link organically. The best part is this ecosystem can be customized to meet the work environment expectations of different employees, that in turn, is sure to benefit the organization as a whole by way of increased productivity.

In addition, this gateway will collate pertinent information collected from different sources, analyze them, and will provide meaningful insights to clients to help them devise better business strategies and decisions. All this means, businesses get the added advantages of analytics besides the regular storage and maintenance.

This product, in many ways, supplements the existing products of the company. Unlike many traditional companies that plan to start cloud as a separate arm of business, Fuji wants to use cloud as a natural extension of its long cultivated technologies in language, image, and knowledge processing, to keep in tune with the changing times of the business environment, and also to add value to its clients. As a result, its clients will continue to use the same products of Fuji Xerox, but will also get more value in the form of business intelligence and better connectivity.

This product is currently available only in Japan and Hong Kong, but Fuji wants to extend it to China as well in the next few months. Over time, it plans to introduce it throughout its Asia Pacific markets.

This strategy clears brings out the need for traditional companies to embrace the cloud, and more importantly,  use the cloud ecosystem to add value to their clients. In many ways, it also reaffirms the fact that cloud is going to be one of the primary drivers of business growth in the coming years.

The post Fuji Xerox Plans to Enter the Cloud Market appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

Technology

Cloud Predictions for 2017

As 2016 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on the good and bad things that have happened over the last year, learn from it, and get set to welcome the new year on a positive note. Over the last year, cloud industry has seen many positive developments that are likely to extend into 2017 as well, and there are some new developments that are expected to take place in the upcoming year. Here are a few cloud predictions for 2017.

Explosive growth

It’s no-brainer to predict that 2017 will see rapid growth in the cloud industry. Already, many companies understand the benefits that come from switching to cloud, so they’ve already moved their operations to it, or are in the process of doing so. In addition, emergence of technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning are likely to fuel the growth of cloud industry.

More acquisitions

2016 saw a ton of new startup companies in the cloud sector, that offered unique cloud-based products and services for end clients. We can expect many of these small companies to be acquired by the large cloud-providers, to keep pace with the business pressures and competition in this industry. In this sense, 2017 maybe a bounty year for many startups, as they can get a good deal in the acquisition, provided they have a unique product that adds value to clients.

Focus on management

Since companies are moving more operations and processes to the cloud, management of these processes would be a central aspect in 2017. Due to the growing nature of operations, it may no longer be possible to manage operations through manual processes, so they’ll have to look for automation tools. This means, it’s going to be double digit growth for companies that are involved in creating management consoles and tools.

Talent and employment

There is a big gap that exists between the demand and supply for cloud-related skills, and this gap is expected to further widen in 2017. Cloud companies are sure to expand their operations as more clients are considering the idea of moving to the cloud. This growth will generate a greater need for cloud talent, that is unfortunately falling quite short already. On a positive note, this trend can generate more jobs and job-related choices for those who are interested in learning the skills needed for this industry.

More breaches

As unfortunate as this may sound, we’re going to see more data breaches in 2017. The good news, however is that analysts predict most of this will happen over traditional systems, as cloud security has become stronger and more resilient over the last year. In fact, cloud systems may be the hardest to break since it has many layers of proactive monitoring and sophisticated security. Traditional systems don’t enjoy these advantages, so they’re more prone to attacks.

In short, 2017 is going to be a fun and exciting year for the cloud industry, and the benefits are expected to spill over to other industries, businesses, and economy at large. On this positive note, let’s welcome the new year.

Happy new Year!

The post Cloud Predictions for 2017 appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

Technology

Why Veeva is well-poised for 2017?

Life sciences industry continues to use many legacy systems, as it has been slow to adopt cloud technology in its operations. However, this trend is changing, albeit slowly, as more pharma companies are looking to tap into the enormous benefits offered by cloud.

There have been many reasons for this shift, with innovation being the foremost of them all. Today, most of the innovations happen in the cloud, and this is also one area that attracts the maximum number of venture capitalists. Since more innovations are expected to happen in 2017, it’s best for pharma companies to move to it at the earliest, so they can take advantage of these developments as they happen.

Another important reason for pharma companies to think of moving their operations to the cloud is the shrinking global space. Today, almost every major company has its operations spread across the world. This means, they need the right tools to collaborate and work together. Cloud is the right technology to meet this need, as it makes easy for employees to communicate with each other, regardless of their physical location. Likewise, it also helps companies to distribute their products to a global marketplace, and maybe even work with partners located on the other side of the world.

Due to these benefits, cloud-based companies like Veeva are working on creating a full suite of applications that’ll help companies in the life sciences industry to use cloud. They have already built a platform called Vault, and are looking to build clinical data management and clinical operation applications on it. This company also plans to have many integration points for connecting other applications to their platform. Currently, there is no single platform that provides a wide range of cloud applications for the life sciences industry, and Veeva plans to change that. Since it has perfected its platform over the last four or five years, it plans to start building applications on it in the coming year. This is why Veeva is poised to take a big leap forward in 2017.

Currently, the company is doing well on the financial side too. In 2015, it had set a target of $1 billion in revenue by 2020. During the second quarter of 2016, the company had a revenue of $142.8 million, and this was a 34 percent jump when compared to the same period of the previous year. At this rate of growth, Veeva may even achieve its target ahead of schedule, especially given that it plans to make a big foray into providing public cloud services starting next year.

Finally, the changes that have taken place over the last year such as Trump’s victory in US Elections and the passage of 21st Century Cures Act, could end up being advantageous to the company. According to its CEO, Peter Gassner, the life sciences industry is advancing at a rapid rate, so it’s only natural to have more regulators in the picture. He opines that this move will end up being positive for the life sciences industry at large, and Veeva in particular.

Due to these reasons. Veeva is well-poised for 2017.

The post Why Veeva is well-poised for 2017? appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

Technology

A Look Back into 2016’s Cloud Trends

2016 has been an eventful year for some, while not so great for others. Many life-changing and society-changing trends happened in this year that include Britain’s Brexit vote, Russia’s support for Syria, and of course, Mr.Trump’s stunning victory in the US Presidential election. These are profound events that are likely to shape the economy and social fabric of the Western World in the years to come.

On the tech side, there were many eventful happenings including acquisitions and partnerships. As the year comes to a close, here’s a look into some of the top trends that changed the face of cloud industry.

Accelerated development

2016 saw rapid developments in cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). These developments put pressure on companies to embrace these developments, and to make cloud an integral part of their operations. These developments and the benefits that came from it led to a wider adoption of cloud. In fact, almost every major Fortune 500 company was touched by these cloud developments, while many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) gained greater awareness about cloud and its potential benefits. All this means, 2016 lay the foundation for an explosive growth of the cloud industry for years to come.

Growth in cyber attacks

Despite all the advancements we’ve made, 2016 still saw a huge number of cyber attacks that led to a loss in the tune of trillions of dollars. The biggest of them all is undoubtedly Russia’s involvement in Trump’s campaign, but other than that, there were also attacks on many major organizations. At this rate, loss from cyber attacks is expected to touch $6 billion by 2021, according to a report from Cybersecurity Ventures.

Due to these frequent attacks, many steps were taken by different service providers and corporate clients to prevent such attacks, and this included advancements in cloud security. In fact, many companies moved to the cloud from dedicated data centers, thereby reversing the trend of security fears in the public cloud.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence

It was a big year for the world of machine learning and artificial intelligence, as almost every major company announced product releases or developments in this sector. Google, for instance, announced the launch of Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones that comes with many AI-based features. Apple published a paper on AI, and has said in length about its new iOS 10 that will be powered by artificial intelligence. Microsoft and Facebook are not to be left behind, as the former has collaborated with Intel to develop new AI features for its customers, while the latter is working on a deep learning system called Caffe2Go. Since all of these development use cloud in one form or another, these developments brought much cheer to cloud providers.

In short, 2016 was an exciting year for the cloud industry, and in many ways, it has put the industry on an accelerated path. 2017 and the coming years, are likely to see greater adoption of cloud not just among large enterprises, but also among SMEs. In all, we can expect another exciting and fulfilling year in 2017.

The post A Look Back into 2016’s Cloud Trends appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

Technology

Why Cloud Computing is Expected to Soar in 2017?

Cloud has become an integral, and probably even a driving division, for many tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft, in 2016. As competition heats up with Google, IBM, and Oracle joining the bandwagon, 2017 is expected to be a great year for tech in general, and cloud computing in particular. Eventually, it is expected that these top players will control much of the $1 trillion cloud market by the end of this decade.

What factors are likely to contribute to this astounding growth? Here’s a few of them.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Internet of Things (IoT), as the name suggests, is a technology that allows different devices to communicate with each other. Much of these IoT components will use cloud computing to store, manage, and analyze the data.

Already, many companies are experimenting with different sensors to create a smooth flow of data, and most of them have cloud as the underlying infrastructure.  They choose cloud simply because these sensors tend to generate huge amounts of data, the storage and analysis of which happens best in the cloud.

Advanced connectivity

Cloud is fueled not just by software needs, but also by advancements made in the world of network connectivity. Recently, AWS executives talked in length about the 8,700 mile undersea cable that offers vast amounts of computing power to companies located in any part of the world.  Such leaps in networking hardware ensure speeds that are simply unmatched by servers and data centers. Another technology that we’re likely to see a lot more is white-fi. This is similar to Wi-Fi, except that it uses unused TV spectrum, especially in rural and remote areas, to provide high-speed connections to the Internet and its related components. Such advancements in connectivity are expected to give a big boost to the growth of cloud computing in 2017.

More ubiquitous

Gone are the days when companies spoke at length about the pitfalls of moving to the cloud, especially from a security point of time. Today, the consensus is that cloud will drive the future of businesses, and it is up to individual companies to embrace them.

Since business is all about competition and revenue, no one wants to be left behind, and so everyone wants to make the most of the benefits offered by cloud. Currently, almost all Fortune 500 companies use cloud in one or more ways, and this is expected to make further inroads in 2017. Besides the large enterprises, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are also using cloud to meet their needs. 2017 is going to see more cloud usage by businesses across different sectors and geographical regions, regardless of the size and nature of operations.

Machine learning

Another technology that is sure to power cloud computing is machine learning. Many researchers are currently working on creating intelligent machines that can provide greater insights into the tons of data that are being generated every minute. This technology, like IoT, will also use cloud for storage and analysis.

In all, cloud computing is expected to soar in 2017 due to a combination of improved hardware and emerging technologies.

The post Why Cloud Computing is Expected to Soar in 2017? appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

Computing

Seattle’s Connection with the Cloud

If you’re an expert in cloud computing, Seattle is probably your best choice of location. Though historically Seattle has been a prosperous city with a fair share of tech jobs, the last few years has elevated its status to that of a cloud hub. If you’re still wondering why, it’s home to the two biggest companies in cloud computing – Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. With these two giants calling Seattle home, it’s no brainer to understand the kind of opportunities that’s available for cloud techies in this city.

This boom in Seattle has augured well for not just this city, but for the entire state of Washington as well. Statistics show that from 2013 to 2016, labor force in Washington grew by 7.2 percent. The number of people employed in cloud-related jobs grew by 26 percent during the same period, and accounts for the employment of more than 80,000 people.

It’s not just the tech sector, but other areas have also benefited largely from this cloud boom. People who move in here need houses to live, and this has helped the construction industry in a big way. In many ways, this boom was a blessing for the real-estate industry that was under pressure during and after the Great Recession of 2008. This scenario also explains why Seattle’s home prices did not drop as much, when compared to other major cities in the US.

Besides construction and real-estate, other industries such as retail and consumer goods have also gained much from the cloud boom, albeit indirectly. When more people move into a city, they fuel more demand for goods and services. In general, the tech industry is known for its above average salaries, so those employed in it have gone beyond the staples, thereby invigorating a falling luxury goods market. In other words, a wide spectrum of retail industry in Seattle has benefited by the cloud boom.

With all these sectors showing remarkable progress, the government is not to be left behind. More money by way of taxes has gone into the government’s coffers, and this has led to a substantial increase in social and welfare programs. The public school system of Washington is considered one of the best in the country, and rightly so, because of its larger availability of funds when compared to other states.

In all, cloud industry has contributed in a big way to the growth of Seattle, and the state of Washington as a whole. This region is only expected to get better in the future, as both AWS and Microsoft are expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years. To add to this cheer, Google is also looking to expand its presence in Seattle. Already, Google has offices in the Puget Sound area as well as in nearby Kirkland, and it plans to construct a new campus just a few blocks from Amazon’s headquarters. Another player, Facebook, is already rapidly expanding in Seattle, and hundreds of startup companies have come up in Seattle to service these larger players.

So, if you’re looking for a change in 2017, you know where to head!

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News

Holiday Cooking with AllRecipes.com on the Cloud

Are you one of those people who want to make something special during the holiday season for your near and dear ones? Well, in that case, you’re sure to have browsed recipes from AllRecipes.com – one of the most popular and comprehensive database of food recipes for any season. This holiday season got even better as AllRecipes.com has turned to Microsoft Azure, a popular cloud platform, for sharing its recipes with millions of visitors like you.

AllRecipes.com is a food site owned by Meredith Corp, and has been in operation since 1997. Over these two decades, it has transformed the way people search for recipes, and in fact, has helped billions of people around the world to make any kind of dish. If you translate this to numbers, it services more than 1.5 billion people every year, and these visitors view about 95 recipes per second. Over the last few years, 66 percent of its visitors connect to it through their mobile device. These numbers are growing as more people around the world are exploring food beyond their comfort zone.

Typically, traffic to AllRecipes.com is cyclical. For example, the number of visitors on a Sunday afternoon is almost 60 percent more when compared to Monday morning. Likewise, traffic peaks during Thanksgiving and Christmas season as more people look for recipes to serve their family. A detailed study of its traffic pattern shows that eight weeks in November and December, especially during the holidays and the day before the Super Bowl generate the maximum traffic.

Since it’s traffic is cyclical and predictable, it makes sense for AllRecipes.com to move to the cloud. This way, it can choose a scalable plan that will handle its traffic during the peak season, and will expand during the off-seasons to help the company save some money. Without the cloud, this company would have to invest in large infrastructure, which would have not just cost not just a ton more money, but would also be underused during the off season. With cloud, AllRecipes.com has the option to expand or scale back, according to its needs.

Another important reason to move to the cloud is the expected responsiveness. Most chefs who visit the site are looking for ideas while dropping their kids at soccer practice or while shopping at the grocery stores. Sometimes, they may be at a place where the network is not great, and yet they may want to have an idea of what to make for dinner once they’re back. To cater to these customers, who incidentally form the largest customer base, it’s important that the site is fast, responsive, and takes as little data as possible. Again, this can be best achieved on a cloud platform like Microsoft Azure rather than on a data center that could be located miles away from the visitor’s location.

So, why did the company choose Azure, and not anything else? The simple answer is this site is built on C#, so Azure was the natural choice!

All this means is you’re sure going to spend a lot less time waiting for the site to load, and a lot more time cooking and having fun with your family and friends.

Merry Christmas!

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News

IBM and Delos to Create Healthy Indoor Environments

One of the major concerns during any winter season is the quality of indoor air. Since most of us have to shut our windows and turn on the heater to protect against the cold, the quality of indoor air suffers greatly. Such unclean air leads to an increased chance of respiratory and other illnesses during winters. To prevent these problems and to promote healthy indoor environment, cloud-giant IBM has partnered with a wellness, real estate and technology firm called Delos.

Under the terms of this partnership, Delos will tap into IBM’s Watson and its cloud infrastructure to understand the impact of indoor environment on human health. Specifically, it will create cognitive computing-based apps with Watson and Bluemix platform to give construction engineers and architects an insight into the existing problem, and may also provide solutions that can be incorporated in the design and construction of homes and offices. Through these apps, both companies want to drive home the point that a healthy indoor environment is essential for better living and working conditions. Already, many companies find it difficult to handle the low productivity and frequent sick leaves during the winter season, so they are sure to take steps to reduce this absenteeism and increase productivity.

Are you’re wondering why IBM chose Delos for this partnership? Well, for starters, Delos is already in the process of collecting massive amounts of data, to understand the relationship that exists between indoor air quality and health. So, in this sense, IBM is simply providing the right technology to help Delos make sense of the data they have collected. In many ways, it’s a natural partnership because IBM has the perfect platform and technological tools to help Delos identify the right patterns from its vast data. In addition to its own data, Delos is also tapping into the database of Mayo Clinic to fill in any gaps that may arise.

Delos has already setup a Wellness Lab in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, to simulate a wide-variety of indoor environments in real-time. it has setup sensors in homes and offices across different cities in the US to give its scientists and researchers greater access into everyday conditions. With this information, researchers can identify the impact of different aspects such as indoor light, optimal temperature, acoustics, dust levels, and more, on the health of those living in these conditions.

With IBM’s Watson and Bluemix, Delos can also look into the historical data, including the many studies that have been done in this regard. Eventually, it can combine all this information to understand what impacts indoor air, and in turn, what effect it has on human beings.

This partnership is a classic example of IT application, where the advancements we have made are used to improve our own well-being. Though this is not the first experiment of its kind, the fact that it taps into so many sources of information and uses advanced technology, makes it truly unique.

It won’t be long before we start breathing healthy air – even during winters!

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