The increasing complexity of enterprise cloud environments and the rise of hybrid cloud is rapidly increasing IT workloads and fuelling a rising demand for automation, Puppet’s CTO has claimed.

During a time when many organisations are being asked to do more with less, the shift from mostly on-prem to a mixture of cloud environments in a relatively short space of time has radically complicated the workloads of CIOs. 

Speaking exclusively with CloudPro on the launch of Puppet’s automated Comply platform, Puppet CTO Abby Kearns suggested the increasing complexity of IT infrastructures over as little as the last five years is serving as the main element driving demand for automation.

“The hybrid cloud, and managing across hybrid environments, is the number one driver, honestly, because it’s so complex,” Kearns said. “So many companies started about five years ago to move workloads to the cloud, so we started to see that slow migration, but the cloud wasn’t really set up to mimic the way we were managing on-prem environments.” 

Enterprises now have an on-prem environment, a public cloud deployment or perhaps even multiple clouds, with different tools, different workloads and different approaches all in play. Businesses are also using more cloud-native applications and more microservices, so the landscape for IT standards compliance is becoming far more complex.

Puppet’s Comply automation platform is a system designed to cut out many of the traditionally manual processes IT teams and CIOs would manage when ensuring their hardware meets a range of compliance standards. 

The product, which will be offered in addition to a compliance automation consultancy service the company already markets, would allow customers to manage their own automation programmes across their IT estate.

Alex Hin, Puppet’s principal product manager, told CloudPro the platform will raise IT visibility, identify compliance shortcomings and remediate these issues.

He explained the need for such software comes from small teams of three to five people suddenly being tasked with making configuration changes on hundreds of thousands of nodes, either on-prem or on the public cloud. This becomes a high investment for the company, requiring a lot of spend and a lot of expertise for all environments to move into compliance.

“That’s really where it comes into play,” Kearns continued, “the idea that automation is really the only route to be able to do that. Because this isn’t just something where you can assign more people to the work. You can’t just throw more people at the problem, you’re going to have to figure out how to automate this as you start to get into the hundreds of thousands of workloads. It’s just a different kind of scale.”

Puppet\s Comply platform will launch in the coming weeks with pre-integrated compatibility with the CIS benchmarks, and further plans to integrate a number of other compliance standards in future. These will extend to include many common standards from DISA, FedRAMP, SOX, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.

The drive to automate, Puppet hopes, will begin to free up time for many organisations that are trying to do more with less, particularly as a result of economic pressures due to COVID-19. One example of a process that Comply will automate is the ‘desired state configuration’ feature. This essentially automatically reverts any configuration changes to a ‘desired state’ if the system detects that the change has led the system to deviate from the particular standard to which it’s adhering to. 

“For us, we’ve spent the last six months really investing in a platform-centric approach and the opportunity to really extend into compliance and really build on those capabilities are really powerful for us and our customers,” Kearns added. 

“And that’s something we’re going to spend the next several years really continuing to expand on, and really continuing to drive innovation from an automation standpoint, but also from a compliance standpoint as we see those things go hand-in-hand for our customers. “

A surge in attention Slack enjoyed at the start of the pandemic, that led to thousands of new paid customers, appears to have now dissipated, according to analysts, as customers appear to now be turning to rival products instead.

The communications platform has been unable to maintain the same levels of growth as that enjoyed by the likes of Microsoft Teams and Zoom, prompting Morgan Stanley analysts to downgrade Slack’s stock to the equivalent of a selling rate, according to CNBC.

Slack shares closed down 6.3% after the downgrade. The comms platform hasn’t seen the same rapid growth as Zoom, which reportedly saw revenues increase 355% in Q2.

“Massive work from home demand for collaboration tools may end up doing more harm than good for Slack,” the analysts wrote, according to CNBC. “We see higher risk at current levels.

“In many cases, Slack did not have the opportunity to properly pitch its differentiation, and in our view, the customers that have standardised on Microsoft Teams are not looking back.”

In March, CEO Stewart Butterfield posted a lengthy tweet about the company’s reaction to the pandemic and its sudden uptick in paying customers. According to that note, by the mid-point of the first quarter of 2020, Slack had added 7,000 new paying customers, rising to 9,000 a week later. In previous quarters the average was around 5,000 new customers, suggesting that the company would be a beneficiary of the so-called ‘new normal’.

Most companies that provide technology or software to aid remote working saw some level of increased adoption in the first quarter of the year and that continued into the second quarter and beyond. Slack, however, saw its growth peak on 3 June, with its stock falling 28% in the following months.

What will hurt more, however, is how far Slack has fallen behind Microsoft Teams. The two companies are fierce rivals but Microsoft’s more holistic service helped it secure some 44 million daily active users in March. Those users have largely stayed with the service, according to Morgan Stanley’s analysts.

Slack has filed an anti-competition complaint against Microsoft, arguing that Teams is a ‘weak’ product that is forced upon Office 365 users as part of the bundle.

This complaint has only been raised with the EU and it has yet to be acknowledged.

Salesforce’s dominance of the customer relationship management (CRM) software market might be under threat from a fresh strategic challenge from Microsoft. 

Despite not having much luck in the market for the past 20 years, the tech giant has told sales teams to get existing customers to adopt its Dynamics 365 products, according to analysts cited by CNBC. 

A ‘major’ Microsoft partner reportedly indicated the plans to RBC Capital Markets. They suggested that partners typically resell Microsoft software, often in conjunction with consulting services, hardware, or other software.

It is thought that the push could lift Microsoft’s Commercial Cloud, a group of products that now represents over one-third of the company’s total revenue, and encroach further into an area dominated by Salesforce in the process.

“Microsoft engages executives throughout the agreement renewal process and we routinely check in with salespeople to make sure they’re exploring Dynamics 365 and Power Platform prior to each deal’s completion,” Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said to CNBC.

“This is about being efficient with customer engagement and ensuring awareness of the growing interest we see in these offerings, without introducing any change to the structure of customer agreements.”

RBC analyst Alex Zukin told CNBC that the move was a “new priority” for Microsoft. Zukin also said the unnamed Microsoft partner indicated that the tech giant’s senior leadership must approve any enterprise license renewal that leaves out Dynamics, which includes CRM and other business management software and PowerApps.

Microsoft’s sales executives want their teams to talk with clients about the Dynamics 365 cloud services, particularly about renewal times, according to RBC’s source, which said the efforts became more pronounced when the company’s current fiscal year began in July.

In the second quarter of 2020, Dynamics grew 38% compared to the same period the year before, faster than most other Microsoft products. In the 2020 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, total Dynamics revenue exceeded $3 billion, with more than 60% coming from Dynamics 365.

Chromebook users are being offered the capacity to run Microsoft’s flagship Windows 10 operating system on their devices using software company Parallels’ newly released platform.

Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise is the culmination of a partnership between the firm and Google, and allows users to access full-featured Windows apps, including Microsoft Office, on their Chromebooks without necessarily needing a stable internet connection. 

The system is integrated with Chrome OS and the Google Admin console – and doesn’t require virtual desktop infrastructure to run or deploy, meaning IT administrators can set up parallel desktops on devices at relative ease. This builds on a recent partnership struck in June which allowed Windows applications to run natively on budget-friendly Chromebooks.

“Chrome OS is increasingly being chosen by modern enterprises, either for remote work, hybrid, or in the office,” said Google’s vice president of Chrome OS, John Solomon.

“We are thrilled to partner with Parallels to bring legacy and full-featured Windows applications support, through Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise, to help businesses easily transition to cloud-first devices and workflows.”

The platform will allow enterprise users to run multiple operating systems on their Chromebook devices simultaneously, with the company hoping it allows workers to raise their productivity. 

A number of features allow cross-talk between Windows 10 and Chrome OS, for example, copy-and-pasting text and graphics between the two operating systems, or printing from Windows apps via shared Chrome OS printers. Sharing features also extend to user profiles and custom folders, with documents and data seamlessly accessible by both platforms.

Windows 10 can also be used in full-screen mode on the Chromebook, or the operating system can be put on a separate Chrome OS virtual desktop, with users able to switch between the two with just a swipe.

There are already a number of devices supporting Windows 10 on Chrome OS, including the Google Pixelbook Go, the HP Elite c1030 Chromebook Enterprise, Acer Chromebook Spin 713, and Dell Latitude 5400 Chromebook Enterprise. There are 10 devices in total that support Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise, including units from Lenovo and ASUS in addition to the aforementioned devices.

The machines themselves require at least an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and storage capacity of at least 128GB SSD. 

The revenues of computing giant IBM declined by 2.6% year-on-year during the third quarter of 2020, with the company reporting $17.6 billion of income fuelled chiefly by a surge in cloud revenue.

This dip represented the third quarter of consecutive year-on-year revenue decline for the company, with IBM’s systems division, global business services and global technology services and global financing sector suffering over the last three months.

The positive trend in terms of the firm’s cloud business also continued, following a 30% spike in cloud revenue during the previous quarter, and 19% growth in the three months before that.

The company’s cloud computing divisions, particularly its cloud and data platforms division, led by Red Hat, grew by 7% year-on-year, bucking the wider business trend. Within this segment, cloud and data platforms grew 20%, while cognitive applications grew 1%. 

These financial results have emerged only days after the company announced it plans to divide its business in half, spinning its infrastructure services unit into a separate entity while going all-in on the cloud.

“The strong performance of our cloud business, led by Red Hat, underscores the growing client adoption of our open hybrid cloud platform,” said IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. 

“Separating the managed infrastructure services business creates a market-leading standalone company and further sharpens our focus on IBM’s open hybrid cloud platform and AI capabilities. This will accelerate our growth strategy and better position IBM to seize the $1 trillion hybrid cloud opportunity.”

The company’s plans to pour all its efforts into its cloud business will, on paper, be justified based on these most recent financial results, with the general health of cloud computing improving following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The firm’s global technology services division, which includes infrastructure and cloud services as well as technology support services, contracted by 4% year-on-year, with cloud revenue within this segment up 9%. 

The systems division, meanwhile, saw revenues of $1.3 billion, down 15%, driven by declines in IBM Z and Storage Systems. This is reflective of the impact of product cycle demands, the company said.

As part of the spin-off, IBM wants to create two separate companies by the end of 2021, with the to-be-cleaved infrastructure business, dubbed NewCo, making way for IBM to focus on AI capabilities and hybrid cloud.

Australian software company Atlassian will end support for all of its on-premise server products from 2024 as it plots a major shift to the cloud.

From 2 February 2021, customers will no longer be able to purchase or request a quote for a new server product, while prices will increase for a host of the company’s on-prem products, with a view to discontinuation three years later. 

The 10 services which will no longer be supported from 2 February 2024 include Jira Service Desk Server, Bitbucket Server and Jira Software Server, among other core Atlassian products.

“From staying ahead of the latest regulatory and security requirements to expanding our ecosystem with a new development platform and introducing flexible plans, we’ve continuously invested in our cloud tools so that your teams can work flexibly and innovate quickly,” said Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar.

“But, when it comes to our mission of unleashing the potential of every team – including yours – you need us to move faster and go even further.”

Atlassian will offer on-prem support in the form of bug fixes for server products until 2022, after which point only critical flaws will be addressed, through to 2024.

The company says offering three years of support and maintenance will help customers transition to the cloud, in addition to loyalty discounts for eligible customers to upgrade to its cloud or data centre products at a lower price.

The company’s Atlassian Migration Program (AMP) also provides customers with a step-by-step guide, free migration tools, a dedicated migration support team, and a free cloud migrationtrial for up to 12 months.

For customers for whom three years is not enough, the firm will also offer a robust self-managed enterprise edition, Atlassian Data Center. This will include new capabilities and integrations that makes it easier to use cloud and data centre products in harmony.

HPE has secured a deal to build a supercomputer in the Czech Republic in 2021, what is considered to be the fastest of its kind in the country.

The development is part of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, an initiative between the EU and the tech industry to coordinate and combine resources to develop world-class exascale supercomputers within the continent.

The new installation has the working title “Euro_IT4”, referencing the IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center, an R&D facility in the Czech Republic, where it will be housed.

HPE will power the project with its Apollo 2000 and Apollo 6500 systems, which are purpose-built to support high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, such as modeling and simulation, with AI and other data-intensive applications. 

IT4Innovations has said it plans to use the system to boost weather forecasting, advancing drug discovery – including a cure for COVID-19 – and to develop greener and sustainable infrastructure.

“HPE is uniquely positioned to provide the complete infrastructure and services that the next era of supercomputing demands, and together we are delivering one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe that will benefit science, industry and society as a whole,” said Vit Vondrak, Director at IT4Innovations.

The Euro_IT4 will feature over 500 Nvidia A100 Tensor core GPUs and network for targeted AI performance. Once built, it’s anticipated it will sit somewhere between the 20th and 50th fastest supercomputers in the world, with an anticipated peak performance of 15.2 petaflops per second.

Nvidia itself has recently announced plans to build the UK’s most powerful supercomputer as part of its acquisition of Arm. The ‘Cambridge-1‘ supercomputer will also be aimed at medical research and would hypothetically rank as the 29th most powerful supercomputer in the global TOP500 list.

AMD’s ‘Hawk‘ supercomputer in Stuttgart, Germany, is thought to be the fastest general-purpose system for scientific and industrial computing in Europe. That installation consists of 44 racks and 5,600 computer nodes, providing around 25 petaflops per second of compute power.

That, however, pales in comparison to the world’s most powerful supercomputer, the ‘Fugaku‘, which is the number one listed by the TOP500 benchmarking index. Powered by Arm processors, the Fugaku reached 415.5 petaflops per second.

​Google will begin transitioning customers from Google Hangouts to Google Chat starting next year, with the former set to be officially killed off.

Chat, a messaging service that was previously only available to paying G Suite users, will be made free as a service within Gmail but also as a standalone app.

The announcement signals the beginning of the end for Hangouts, which will slowly lose features and services as they are shifted over to Chat and other areas of Workspace, the company’s new G Suite desktop app.

The transition will start sometime in the first half of 2021, Google said in a blog post, as tools will be made available to help automatically move Hangouts conversations, contacts and conversation history to Chat. The details are still a little vague at this stage, but Google said it will share more guidance soon.

What we do know is that Hangouts will lose support for features such as Google Fi and Google Voice, early next year. It will also lose its call phones feature, to comply with new telecommunications regulations being introduced in the EU and US. The tech giant said it will send notifications to Google Workspace admins to detail the final migration stages in the “coming months”.

Google users won’t be surprised by the move away from Hangouts, as it was originally hinted back in 2018. According to The Verge, Google has said the switch will be gradual and will include a period of time where both Hangouts and Chat will both be available. However, eventually all free users and Workspace customers will be moved over to Chat where it will then fully replace Hangouts.

It’s become a fact of web life that Google giveth and Google taketh away. Just as you’ve become reliant on one of its free tools for managing your photos, streaming your music library or getting your daily news fix, the search giant decides to put it permanently on ice.

Sometimes this happens because Google has launched what it believes to be (but often isn’t) a superior service, while at other times it’s simply because Google has lost interest in that product, even if its users haven’t. It is running a business, after all. 

Fortunately, few Google tools are unique, and there are usually good alternatives available for its abandoned products. In this feature, we round up the best free replacements for tools that have been consigned to the Google graveyard over the last seven years, or that are about to be killed off very soon.

Google Cloud Print

Lifespan: 2010-2021

Why Google killed it: Cloud Print, Google’s cloud-based printing solution, makes it possible to send web pages to printers from any device. Google announced plans to kill the service off late last year, with an execution date of 1 Jan 2021. The company didn’t give a clear reason for the closure, although it did say that Chrome OS, its cloud-based operating system, would be offering improved built-in printing controls.

What to use instead: Google suggests switching to one of its free printing partners, the best of which is PaperCut Mobility Print. There’s even a handy guide that helps you migrate to the service from Cloud Print.

Google Play Music

Lifespan: 2011-2020

Why Google killed it: Google currently has two music-streaming services – Google Play Music, which is the default music player on many Android devices, and YouTube Music – but it now only wants one. Google has been warning users for a while that it will be shutting down Play Music and, in a blog post in August, it confirmed that YouTube Music will replace the service by December 2020.

What to use instead: Although Google would like you to switch to YouTube Music, and is making it as easy as possible to do so, now is the perfect time to move to a better choice. Spotify has a huge library of songs, with both free and paid-for tiers – and, like Play Music, it lets you import and play locally stored audio files.

Hangouts

Lifespan: 2013-2020

Why Google killed it: Google has a number of different messaging apps and is trying to streamline its offerings. It shut down Allo last year (more on that later) and is killing off Hangouts Classic – its most popular messaging app, with more than a billion installs on Android – in December 2020. It might seem strange for Google to shut down its most successful service, but the company is focusing on business communication, which in the light of the pandemic-fuelled rise in working from home, seems like a smart bet.

What to use instead: Google wants you to communicate using Android’s built-in Messages app, or either of Hangouts’ direct successors – Google Meet or Google Chat (its Slack alternative for businesses). There are much better choices available, however. WhatsApp is packed with features including voice and video calls, is available for your phone, computer and the web, and your friends are probably already using it.

Google Chrome Apps

Lifespan: 2010-2020

Why Google killed it: Not to be confused with Chrome extensions, Chrome Apps are hosted or packaged web applications that run using Google’s browser. They are downloaded from the Chrome Web Store and look much like a typical desktop app. The chances are you don’t use these, and that’s the reason Google decided to pull the plug on them. Support for them on Windows, Mac and Linux will end in December 2020 (Chrome OS users will continue to have access), and they will be killed off entirely by June 2022.

What to use instead: Chrome Apps are a nice gimmick, but in truth they don’t serve any great purpose. Rather than installing an app and running it in your browser, just navigate to the actual online service. You’ll get pretty much the same experience.

One Today

Lifespan: 2013-2020

Why Google killed it: Google has a non-profit arm that aims to solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges. One Today was an Android app that made it possible for users to donate money to charities and see exactly how that donation was going to be spent. Google killed it off at the start of February 2020, explaining that “in the last few years, we have seen donors choose other products to fundraise for their favourite non-profits”.

What to use instead: Thinking of You is a free app for Android and iOS that lets you send a thought to someone you know, along with a donation to one of its many supported charities, including Shelter, Stroke Association, Make-A-Wish, Kidney Research UK, Parkinson’s and Children with Cancer UK. You can also donate directly to charities, and Thinking of You gives all transaction fees to the charities on its app.

Datally

Lifespan: 2017-2019

Why Google killed it: Google’s Play store is home to millions of Android apps, including many produced by the search giant itself. Datally was a useful free app (called Triangle when it originally launched in June 2017), that helped users manage their mobile data by viewing and blocking the activity of installed apps. Google never gave a reason for why it pulled Datally from the Play store in October last year, but it’s not the only app to vanish in this way.

What to use instead: Data Usage – Data Manager is a good free alternative for Android that can display daily data usage for apps you use and warn you if you go over your limit. It hasn’t been updated in over a year, but it still works fine with newer versions of Android.

Google Daydream

Lifespan: 2016-2019

Why Google killed it: There was a time when virtual reality seemed destined to be the next big thing, and if you couldn’t afford a full-fledged headset such as the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive, you could just drop your Android phone into a VR headset like Google Daydream instead. Developers didn’t flock to it however, and consumers didn’t buy it in any great numbers either, so Google ceased development, stating: “There hasn’t been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we’ve seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset”.

What to use instead: If you can afford it, buy a dedicated headset; if you can’t, you can pick up cheap phone-based VR headsets from Amazon and eBay. There’s also Google’s own Cardboard viewer which costs from just £15 (it’s only made out of cardboard, after all) and works with both Android devices and iPhones.

Google Trips

Lifespan: 2016-2019

Why Google killed it: This app for Android and iOS was designed as a trip planner that could pull information on upcoming excursions from Gmail and offer day guides to over 200 major cities. Google killed off the Trips app, but still offers much of the same functionality in in Google Maps and on the web at google.com/travel.

What to use instead: TripIt is a very similar app available for Android and iOS that helps you organise your travel plans (when you have some again). Just forward your confirmation emails to TripIt and it will build a master itinerary for you, and provide travel stats and carbon footprint details. It also helps you get around and lets you keep colleagues and friends informed of where you are.

Inbox by Gmail

Lifespan: 2015-2019

Why Google killed it: Inbox by Gmail provided a different way to access the search giant’s webmail service, and was designed to cut through the junk in a busy inbox and present you with only what’s important. You could even snooze emails for a later time. In shutting down Inbox, Google said it had been “a great place to experiment with new ideas”, but it now wants to focus on just Gmail.

What to use instead: If you miss Inbox’s clean design, then you can bring it back by installing Simplify Gmail. This Chrome extension was created by Michael Leggett, Gmail’s lead designer from 2008 to 2012, and the co-founder of Google Inbox.

Google+

Lifespan: 2011-2019

Why Google killed it: Google+ was the search giant’s attempt to take on Facebook and Twitter, and although Google did everything possible to push it – including integration with the company’s other services, such as YouTube and Google Drive, and continual redesigns to make it easier to use – few people were interested and Google eventually threw in the towel, citing “low user engagement”.

What to use instead: Facebook or Twitter would be the obvious choice, but there are lesser-known services to consider such as the currently invite-only Webtalk or MeWe, which is a privacy-focused social network with no ads.

Goo.gl

Lifespan: 2009-2019

Why Google killed it: Google’s URL shortener was a useful service for shrinking long, unwieldy web addresses and making it easier for people to share links and measure traffic. Despite its popularity, Google made the decision to shut it down in 2018 (bit.ly/3kmiica) due to competition from other services and people moving from “desktop web pages to apps, mobile devices, home assistants, and more”.

What to use instead: Bit.ly is our preferred choice of URL shortener. It lets you shrink long URLs, customise the links, and view the number of clicks for each one – so you can quickly see how many people have looked at things you’ve shared. It’s free to use, but the paid-for version offers extra features.

Google Allo

Lifespan: 2016-2019

Why Google killed it: Rather than be put off by the surfeit of mobile messaging apps, in 2016, Google decided the world needed two more and rolled out Allo – with Google Assistant baked in – and Duo (for video calling). While Duo still exists (for now), Google killed off Allo in 2019 to focus instead on its Messages app.

What to use instead: You could use WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or any of the many other available chat apps. Telegram is a good alternative to Allo, but focuses more on speed and privacy.

Chromecast Audio

Lifespan: 2015-2019

Why Google killed it: Although Google’s Chromecast is best known as a device that can stream video content directly to your television set, there was also a version that could be used to cast audio directly to your speakers from an iPhone, iPad, Android device or PC. It cost £30 and came with a 3.5 mm analogue stereo patch cable and power adapter, but was killed off after the company introduced its own range of Google Assistant-powered smart speakers. The technology lives on in the main Chromecast, however.

What to use instead: A smart speaker such as Amazon’s Echo or Google’s own Home/Nest is great for playing audio, but if you want to ‘cast’ music from your other devices, then the Roku Express streaming media player (£25 from Amazon) is ideal. It can stream video at up to 4K Ultra HD, and also lets you cast music (and photos) to your TV. 

For a software solution, try Nero Streaming Player for Android or iOS. The free app can cast music (as well as photos and videos) to your smart TV or any other UPnP/DLNA compatible Media Player.

YouTube Video Editor

Lifespan: 2010-2017

Why Google killed it: YouTube Video Editor was a web-based tool you could use to edit and enhance your movies and apply some effects before sharing them on YouTube. While it was a great idea, YouTube says as few as 0.1% of creators bothered with it (many probably didn’t know it existed in the first place), so Google decided to drop it.

What to use instead: It’s better to edit video directly on your PC rather than in the cloud, and Shotcut does this with no fuss. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux, this free tool can handle all the main media formats and the editing is done on a multi-track timeline. When you’ve finished making your movie, go to the Export tab and select YouTube to upload and share your video in MP4 format. See page 28 for details.

Google Now

Lifespan: 2012-2016

Why Google killed it: Google Now was a card-based search system for iOS and Android that let you view all sorts of relevant information. Cards would appear when you needed them, and it integrated with your installed sites and apps. Google Now also served as the first iteration of its digital assistant, and was summoned by tapping your phone’s button or by saying “OK, Google”. It was eventually replaced by Assistant, which offers two-way spoken interaction.

What to use instead: If you’re heavily invested in Google’s ecosystem, use Google Assistant. If Apple is your preferred choice, then Siri will be more suitable. For everyone else, Amazon Alexa is the digital assistant you should opt for. It’s embedded in a number of Amazon products, such as Echo and Fire TV, and can do everything from answering questions and giving you the news to controlling your lights and reading you audiobooks.

Picasa

Lifespan: 2002-2015

Why Google killed it: Picasa was a big favourite for many people, and provided an easy way to organise and edit your photos. It included lots of fun extras such as face recognition, collages and filters, but was eventually replaced by its cloud-based successor, Google Photos.

What to use instead: While you can (and probably do) use Google Photos to back up your phone’s photos to the cloud, there are desktop services that are more in keeping with Picasa’s original design, features and spirit, such as DigiKam, which was recently updated and now lets you organise your photos by face. See last issue’s Workshop 1 for details.

Orkut

Lifespan: 2004-2014

Why Google killed it: Before Google+ became Google’s main focus, the search giant had Orkut, an online community that was created by employee Orkut Büyükkökten. It was designed to help users stay in touch with friends and was hugely popular in India and Brazil. 

It’s not hard to guess why Google closed it. As the company’s engineering director Paulo Golgher said in a blog post: “Over the past decade, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ have taken off, with communities springing up in every corner of the world. Because the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut’s growth, we’ve decided to bid Orkut farewell.”

What to use instead: While the obvious choices are Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you should also consider the Android/iOS app-based Hello, which is a new social network founded by Orkut Büyükkökten and a small group of ex-Google engineers. It’s different from other services in that it aims to tie people together, based on their common interests.

Google Reader

Lifespan: 2005-2013

Why Google killed it: Subscribing to RSS/web feeds using Google Reader could save you a serious amount of time and effort, especially if you visited a lot of websites on a daily basis. Instead of having to go to each site individually, Reader would fetch all the latest headlines for you, aggregating them in an easy-to-read layout. Also, because it was web-based, you could view your subscriptions from anywhere, including on your phone. 

Sadly, in 2013, Google made the shocking decision to kill off Reader, stating: “While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined”. 

What to use instead: In the run-up to Reader’s closure, plenty of rival services surfaced as potential successors, but many have since fallen by the wayside. One that has continued to serve users well is Feedly, which lets you add and organise feeds and tweets, has light and dark modes, and offers mobile apps and browser add-ons. The free version is perfectly adequate for most users, but there’s a paid-for Pro edition with extra features and speedier feed updates from $6 (around £4.50) per month. 

​Zoom users will soon be able to enjoy in-meeting apps from the likes of Trello, Dropbox, Slack, and many other collaborative tools.

The video-conferencing platform has announced the launch of ‘Zapps’ – apps made just for Zoom which will power workflows during and in between meetings.

According to Zoom, Zapps was designed to provide developers with a fast and flexible web view canvas to create apps, viral distribution, as well as IT deployment and manageability.

So far, 36 platforms have announced demos of their ‘Zapps’, including popular collaborative tools such as Trello, Docket, and Slack, as well as Dropbox and Salesforce.

Zapps are to become generally available by the end of the year and will be open to developers soon after.

The announcement was made during Zoom’s virtual conference Zoomtopia 2020, where the company also revealed that it would be launching an online event platform for Zoom users to create and host free, paid, and charity events. Called OnZoom, the new platform will become available internationally from 2021. It is currently available as a public beta for US users.

Additionally, Zoom has added new enhancements to its SDKs, aiming to help developers and companies enrich their own custom video-based applications with Zoom’s platform. The feature is now available on Android, iOS, and web.

The company also developed new functionalities for its core unified communications platform, such as enhanced voice command options and a suite of whiteboarding enhancements.

Lastly, Zoom said that it will begin rolling out Phase 1 of 4 of its end-to-end encryption (E2EE) offering, almost four months after first committing to the technology, which will first be available as a technical preview from next week.

Zoom users, regardless of whether they pay for the platform or not, will be able to host up to 200 participants in an E2EE meeting on Zoom, providing increased privacy and security for your Zoom sessions.

Speaking at Zoomtopia 2020, CEO Eric S. Yuan said that the “one thing we’ve learned in this challenging time is that remote work does work”.

“The future will bring a hybrid of the best of in-person and virtual communications. The announcements we make today at Zoomtopia demonstrate that Zoom is built for this moment and beyond. We have the platform to support what the world needs – today, tomorrow, and well into the future,” he added.