Category Archives: News & Analysis

Big Data, Database, M&A, Metanautix, Microsoft, News & Analysis

Microsoft acquires Metanautix with Quest for intelligent cloud

MicrosoftMicrosoft has bought Californian start up Metanautix for an undisclosed fee in a bid to improve the flow of analytics data as part of its ‘intelligent cloud’ strategy.

The Palo Alto vendor was launched by Theo Vassilakis and Toli Lerios in 2014 with $7 million. The Google and Facebook veterans had impressed venture capitalists with their plans for more penetrative analysis of disparate data. The strategy was to integrate the data supply chains of enterprises by building a data computing engine, Quest, that created scalable SQL access to any data.

Modern corporations aspire to data-driven strategies but have far too much information to deal with, according to Metanautix. With so many sources of data, only a fraction can be analysed, often because too many information silos are impervious to query tools.

Metanautix uses SQL, the most popular query language, to interrogate sources as diverse as data warehouses, open source data base, business systems and in-house/on-premise systems. The upshot is that all data is equally accessible, whether it’s from Salesforce or SQL Server, Teradata or MongoDB.

“As someone who has led complex, large scale data warehousing projects myself, I am excited about building the intelligent cloud and helping to realize the full value of data,” said Joseph Sirosh, corporate VP of Microsoft’s  Data Group, announcing the take-over on the company web site.

Metanautix’s technology, which promises to connect to all data regardless of type, size or location, will no longer be available as a branded product or service. Microsoft is to initially integrate it within its SQL Server and Cortana Analytics systems with details of integration with the rest of Microsoft’s service portfolio to be announced in later months, Sirosh said.

The blog posting from Metanautix CEO Theo Vassilakis hinted at further developments. “We look forward to being part of Microsoft’s important efforts with Azure and SQL Server to give enterprise customers a unified view of all of their data across cloud and on-premises systems,” he said.

Microsoft, News & Analysis, Storage as a Service

Microsoft launches hybrid physical and cloud storage service

Hybrid CloudMicrosoft has announced new data storage products that it says will simplify management and cut costs in complex hybrid clouds.

The StorSimple Virtual Array and StorSimple 8000 Series Update 2 are designed to simplify the task of storing data across on-premise IT equipment and the cloud. The new additions to the StorSimple range are necessary because the range of enterprises using hybrid storage is widening, according to Microsoft.

In a beta testing exercise, aviation giant Textron claimed the new systems helped it save a million dollars a month, while car maker Mazda claimed the StorSimple additions helped it lower its overall costs by 95%.

The StorSimple Virtual Array creates a hybrid cloud storage system using a virtual machine running on Hyper-V or VMware hypervisors and can work with either a Network Attached Storage (NAS) or Storage Area Network (SAN). It integrates primary storage, data protection, archiving and disaster recovery duties into one easy system for small environments with minimal IT infrastructure and management. The addition of the StorSimple Virtual Array means users don’t need to centralize data protection and disaster recovery at the company’s main data centre but can have a simple and upgradeable system they can manage themselves with StorSimple Manager.

Meanwhile the StorSimple 8000 Series Update 2 introduces local volumes and a new high performance StorSimple Cloud Appliance. Local volumes allow the client to use primary storage without the data being tiered to Azure. This gets better performance from applications that cannot tolerate cloud latencies. A local volume is apt for on-premises workloads that have high Input-Output requirements, such as SQL Server. It’s also better for Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines. These additions don’t stop customers from being able to use Azure for data protection and location independent disaster recovery, the vendor says.

Enterprises can now adopt a hybrid storage strategy based with StorSimple, said Mike Neil, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Cloud and Enterprise. “It will transform their businesses by cutting costs, simplifying IT and helping increase IT agility in support of business goals,” he said.

cloud-RAN, Intel, NEC, News & Analysis, Telco Cloud

Intel teams up with NEC on Cloud RAN development

Base stations could get smaller, cheaper and more powerful if a new virtualization project reaches fruition in 2016, reports Telecoms.com.

Kit maker NEC and Intel Corporation are to jointly develop a Cloud-Radio Access Network (Cloud-RAN) that can virtualize the functions of mobile base stations. The first joint proof of concept trial of Cloud-RAN will run in early 2016.

The partners say they aim to virtualize two major components of the next mobile base station, the Digital Unit (DU) and the Radio Unit (RU), which respectively handle data processing and the sending and receiving of radio waves. The new Cloud-RAN system will separate the DU functions from mobile base stations so they can be run on general-purpose Intel servers with multi-core processors. This means DU functions can be centralised which in turn allows for multiple radio units to be centrally controlled from one general-purpose server.

This re-engineering of base stations boosts their communication performance as they have more precise control of radio interference between the radio units. By consolidating the servers it also cuts the power and space consumption. The upshot of Cloud-RAN should be more powerful base stations that are cheaper to run, according to NEC. Virtualization has been a work in progress for a long time at NEC, said Nozomu Watanabe, General Manager for NEC’s Mobile Radio Access Network Division.

“We have been working with Intel on the virtualization of mobile core networks and customer premises equipment and are pleased to extend our collaboration in Network Functions Virtualization to mobile base stations,” said Watanabe.

NEC is to strengthen its relationship with Intel for the advancement of NFV as the core technology supporting 5G said Watanabe. NEC contributes to SDN and NFV related standards bodies the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), OpenDaylight, ETSI NFV, and Open Platform for NEV (OPNFV). It also the NEC SDN Partner Space programme to promote the development and use of network virtualization technologies.

AT&T, IBM, News & Analysis, Telco Cloud

IBM Cloud to run AT&T’s managed app and hosting

IBMAT&T and IBM are to extend the scope of their 20 year working relationship partnership as IBM takes over the telco’s cloud based networking, application and hosting services.

In a new development AT&T will transfer its managed application and hosting service unit into IBM’s Cloud portfolio. IBM will acquire equipment and access to the AT&T data centres that currently host the services.

The new arrangement is about integrating networks and cloud workloads more easily with each vendor’s IT environments, according to a statement from IBM, which pledged to continue running the managed app and hosting services AT&T provides today. AT&T will continue to provide the security, cloud networking and mobility it currently contributes to the partnership. The two companies will collaborate on creating new services, IBM said.

“Today’s announcement is an expansion of our relationship with AT&T and continuing collaboration,” said Philip Guido, IBM General Manager of Global Technology Services for North America. “With AT&T we’ll deliver IBM Cloud and managed services that evolve to meet clients’ business objectives.”

On Thursday IBM announced details of another collaboration, Project Hyperledger, as part of its involvement in the Linux Foundation. The project brings a number of vendors together to develop blockchain security technology. The objective is to create an enterprise grade, open source distributed ledger framework for the cloud. It also aims to encourage developers to create applications that can use blockchain technology to make cloud based financial transactions verifiable and secure enough to meet strict compliance regulations.

Partners in the Linux Foundation blockchain project include Accenture, ANZ Bank, Cisco, J.P. Morgan, the London Stock Exchange Group, VMware and Wells Fargo.

IBM will contribute tens of thousands of lines of its existing codebase and its corresponding intellectual property to this open source community. Another partner, Digital Asset, is contributing the Hyperledger mark, as well as code and developer resources. R3 is contributing a new financial transaction architectural framework designed to meet the requirements of its global bank members and other financial institutions.

All technical contributions will be reviewed by the foundation’s technical steering committees.

“Blockchain’s distributed ledgers will transform industries from banking and shipping to the Internet of Things,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation, “it needs a cross-industry, open source collaboration to advance the technology for all.”

Enterprise IT, Financial Results, News & Analysis, Oracle, Platform as a service, Software as a service

Oracle cloud sales boom but at what price?

Oracle plane However Oracle’s co-chief executive Safra Catz warned fiscal 2016 will be “a trough year for profitability as we move to the cloud.”

Oracle’s total revenues were down by 6% to $9.0 billion with the sales of ‘cloud plus on-premise software’ down 4% to $7.0 billion. Meanwhile, total cloud revenue has gone up in the last quarter by 26% (in US dollars) and Oracle made $649 million on pure cloud software. The two most successful categories of cloud software for Oracle have been SaaS and PaaS which accounted for $484 million, a rise of 34%. Cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) revenue was $165 million, a rise of 7%.

Expect the SaaS and PaaS revenue to grow by 50% in Q3 and 60% in Q4, said Catz. According to Oracle it won 100 Fusion Human Capital Management system contracts and over 300 Fusion Enterprise resource planning deals in the last quarter. Oracle said it is on target to sell and book more than $1.5 billion of new SaaS and PaaS business this fiscal year.

“We now have more than 1,500 ERP customers in the cloud, that’s at least ten times more ERP customers than Workday,” said Oracle’s other joint CEO, Mark Hurd. “It was a very strong growth quarter for our cloud business, with SaaS and PaaS bookings up 75% in constant currency and billings up 68% in U.S. dollars.”

Not everyone in Wall Street is convinced however. “While the company is showing some signs of cloud success, the meat and potatoes legacy database and app business is under major secular pressure,” FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives told MarketWatch.

Oracle’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share of outstanding common stock.

Cisco, Financing, Funding, News & Analysis

Cisco to create 200 new cloud jobs at Cisco Meraki UK

Cisco has announced plans to create 200 new UK jobs for cloud professionals with an investment of $2.5m in the UK-based Startupbootcamp accelerator.

The news came as Cisco entertained Sajid Javid the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills at its new City of London HQ in Finsbury Square. Javid met with Cisco’s UK CEO Phil Smith to discuss the digitisation of the economy and Cisco’s role in catalysing this process in the UK.

In July Cisco announced it would invest $1 billion in the UK over the next three to five years. In November in announced its intention to buy London-based conferencing company Acano for £470m ($700 million) and Portcullis for an undisclosed figure.

The 200 new UK jobs will be at Cisco Meraki, a cloud controlled wifi, routing and security specialist arm which Cisco plans to grow three-fold by early 2017. Meraki is expected to grow in response to booming demand for solutions to the problems created by the BYOD trend in enterprises.

In a separate initiative Cisco is investing in Startupbootcamp, a startup accelerator that aims to nurture new digital talent. Cisco runs different technology themes in programmes across eight sites in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Eindhoven, Israel, Istanbul and London. Startupbootcamp claims that 80% of its alumni are still trading and have attracted an average investment of £400,000 each.

Cisco already runs an incubator, IDEALondon, in association with University College London (UCL) and DC Thomson. Last week as IDEALondon celebrated its second anniversary it announced it has secured £10 million in external funding and earned £2 million in revenue, creating 100 jobs. Cisco customers now have 50 pilot projects using technology from IDEALondon startups. The pilot projects help refine the systems and give Cisco customers access to new options that otherwise wouldn’t be available, it claims.

“There are still huge opportunities to improve productivity with digital technology,” said Cisco’s UK CEO Phil Smith.

“Two hundred new high value jobs is fantastic news,” said Javid. “Britain is the place to do business.”

Cloud Foundry Foundation, News & Analysis, Platform as a service

Cloud Foundry launches PaaS certification to combat vendor lock-in

Cloud computingTrade body the Cloud Foundry Foundation, has announced the industry’s first certification programme for platform as a service (PaaS) offerings as part of its drive to standardise the PaaS sector of cloud computing.

Cloud Foundry Certification aims to ensure all certified products use the same core Cloud Foundry software. Certification will be awarded to products and services that meet strict technical requirements outlined by the foundation’s technical governing body, it claims. Products called “Cloud Foundry” can only use that designation after meeting Cloud Foundry Certification standards. Products must re-certify every year.

The goal is to make applications work across any PaaS in a multi-vendor, multi-cloud environment. The first products to be tested for certification will be CenturyLink’s AppFog, HPE Helion Cloud Foundry, Huawei FusionStage, IBM Bluemix, Pivotal Cloud Foundry, SAP HANA Cloud Platform and Swisscom Application Cloud.

The standard is necessary because the first generation of cloud computing companies saved time and money by tying themselves to a single cloud provider such as Amazon or Google, according to Cloud Foundry CEO Sam Ramji. As the second generation of companies begins businesses want long term commitment and need an industry standard in order to regain control of their applications.

“Now that companies are regularly building new applications on their platforms they want broad standardisation across vendors,” said ESG Analyst Stephen Hendrick. Gartner research reports the PaaS market crossed the $4 billion mark this year and Wikibon Research predicts it will grow to $68.3 billion by 2026.

IDC predicts that by 2016, there will be an 11% shift In IT spending, with money being moved from traditional in-house IT delivery to the cloud and by 2017, 35% of new applications will use cloud-based as faster DevOps life cycles to streamline app production.

Cloud Foundry is collectively developed by 55 member companies in banking, telecoms, heavy industry, management consulting and large-scale computing vendors such as Pivotal, IBM, SAP, HPE, Intel, EMC, VMware, Cisco.

The platform is portable across Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, OpenStack and a range of data centre infrastructure.

Box, Enterprise IT, News & Analysis, Salesforce, Software as a service, Storage as a Service

Box and Salesforce unite for integrated in-app file management

mergerSalesforce and Box have worked together to integrate their respective cloud offerings so you can use files stored in Box without having to exit Salesforce. To this end they have jointly created a new Salesforce Files Connect for Box service, along with a Box software development kit (SDK) for Salesforce.

The Salesforce Files Connect for Box means that users of the former’s customer relationship management system can search, browse, access and share Box files from any device without coming out of their Salesforce app or jeopardising the existing access and security granted in Box.

The two firms claim the integration will make users of each service more productive, as content managed on Box can easily be connected directly to records, users and groups within Salesforce. The newly created cohesion between the two apps means that two Salesforce users can now collaborate together on material that is stored in the Box system.

The Box SDK for Salesforce aims to give developers license to use Box’s content management within any app built on Salesforce App Cloud. It also allows developers to embed Box’s content management functions within the Salesforce system. The upshot is that it gives Salesforce users mope options on the type of content they can use, even from specialised industries like financial services, healthcare and government.

Salesforce Files Connect for Box is currently being tested out by select customers and is expected on general release in Summer 2016. Box SDK for Salesforce is currently available for free on Github for developers.

Integrations like this help make it easier for enterprises to move to the cloud, said Box CEO Aaron Levie.

“As companies get more mobile, social and connected, it’s critical that anyone can instantly access the information they need, no matter where it is stored,” said Nasi Jazayeri, executive VP of Community Cloud at Salesforce.

News & Analysis, Research, The Bunker

Hybrid cloud proving a struggle for enterprise – research

Velostrata is the latest hybrid cloud vendor to come out of stealth

Hosting and co-location company The Bunker says the vast majority of companies are installing hybrid cloud systems but with a massive failure rate.

The Bunker’s Completing the Hybrid Cloud Puzzle, based on market research conducted by Vanson Bourne among CIOs and IT decision-makers, indicates that though hybrid clouds are overwhelmingly popular 63% of the survey struggled to execute their vision for the cloud.

Cloud migration failures were attributed to a lack of in-house skills (49%); confusing, biased or incorrect advice (44%) and alack of integration of Cloud Infrastructure and non-Cloud resources (41%).

Out of the survey group of mid-market and large corporations, ranging in size from 1000 to over 3000 employees, 90% are in the throes of creating a hybrid of cloud and on-premise computing. Meanwhile, 96% said they expect to migrate applications or data to their cloud infrastructure within the next 5 years.

It has not been easy, however, since 70% of the 94% of organisations that have already migrated applications or data to a cloud Infrastructure have experienced a failure. For some this failure was a failed or stalled project or the lack of any return on their investment. Despite many of the survey group claiming a ‘good level of engagement; for the cloud, both internally and externally, over half of respondents (54%) confessed they hadn’t got the optimum technical solution to address their needs.

The motives for adopting a cloud solution were efficiency, flexibility and scalability (identified by 60% of the group) and lower costs (40%) and the need to turn IT spending from a capital expenditure to an operational costs (which was identified by 38% of the group).

Around half (55%) of the study identified their ideal model for IT infrastructure to involved a mixture of in-house and outsourced IT infrastructure using a mix of private and public cloud.

“The business benefits of Cloud technologies may be compelling, but organisations continue to struggle when it comes to delivering on them,” said Bunker CTO Phil Bindley. The CIOs are failing to build technology systems that meet business needs, according to Bindley, but it’s not their fault. “CIOs and IT decision-makers do not appear to be getting the advice or support they need,” he said.

Enterprise IT, News & Analysis, Platform as a service, RedHat

Red Hat launches OpenShift Dedicated for enterprise public cloud

redhat office logoOpen source software vendor Red Hat has launched a new cloud service for enterprise IT and development teams who want help in braving the public cloud.

OpenShift Dedicated has the Docker container and Kubernetes orchestration technologies that were included in the recent OpenShift Enterprise 3.1 release. The new cloud service aims to build on OpenShift Online, Red Hat’s vehicle to help individual developers build, launch and host their own applications in a shared public cloud that it supports.

The new cloud service includes single-tenant isolation and a resource pool of 100GB SSD-based persistent storage, 48TB network Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and nine nodes for deploying container-based applications. It offers admin and security controls to let each customer customise and secure their cloud environment using virtual private networking and Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) functions. Customers will also be able to use Red Hat’s JBoss Middleware from applications developed and deployed on OpenShift.

The new cloud service gives potential customer a third option for using Red Hat’s OpenShift Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering, it says. Clients can now choose between OpenShift Enterprise, OpenShift Online and the new OpenShift Dedicated cloud service.

OpenShift Enterprise is for those who want to manage their OpenShift instances on their choice of on-premise hardware or cloud provider. The Online option is for those who want to access OpenShift as a service in the public cloud. The third option, the new OpenShift Dedicated service, is for those who want to use Red Hat technology to deploy, manage and support their OpenShift instances running on AWS, it said.

The new option is for the increasing number of customers who want more control over the building and isolation process for their applications, but not complete responsibility for admin and operational management.

OpenShift Dedicated is globally available today for Red Hat customers in all AWS hosting regions, with support for other public cloud options expected in future.