Category Archives: News & Analysis

Bitcoin, Bitreserve, Financial Services, Money, News & Analysis, Uphold

Bitreserve re-launches as cloud based financial service hub Uphold

Money cloudCloud based financial exchange Uphold, formerly Bitreserve, has redesigned its functions, products and services for a relaunch. It now aims to connect banks, credit and debit cards and bitcoin to clients’ digital wallets for instant financial services and transactions.

The service, which began as a pure Bitcoin trader, now offers consumers, businesses and charities the option to fund their Uphold accounts via bank transfer or by linking a credit or debit card. The new options are now available in 33 European countries. Uphold said it plans to roll out these services to the United States, China and India by November.

In a four phase rollout out, members in 33 European countries will be able to fund Uphold accounts via bank transfer from October 14th. Meanwhile, clients in 30 European countries can now fund accounts with credit or debit cards. By November 2015 clients in the US and China will be added to the service.

Phase Three, which is scheduled for December 2015, will see Uphold introduce both physical and virtual payment cards with Visa, MasterCard and Discover card, allowing clients to pay merchants online or in-store, directly from their Uphold accounts. The same services are scheduled to be extended to the Indian market in January 2016 in Phase Four of the plan roll-out of cloud services.

The service aims to connect the world’s legacy and fragmented financial networks and systems with a cohesive cloud-money platform, said Uphold CEO Anthony Watson. Uphold said it will bring instant, transparent, accountable and free financial services for all consumers. “We’re simplifying and radically reducing costs for all financial transactions and services – from currency conversions to international money transfers and payroll to bill payment and remittance,” said Watson, “our mission is to make it easy and frictionless for anyone.”

To date, Uphold has powered over $400 million in transactions by tens of thousands of members across 163 countries, in 24 supported currencies and four precious metals. Around 22 per cent of the world’s publicly traded bitcoin has been transacted on Uphold.

Analytics, Big Data, Database, Google, News & Analysis, SAP

SAP unveils new powers within Analytics in the Cloud

SAP1SAP has unveiled a new user-friendly analytics service for enterprises which it claims will give better insights by offering an ‘unparalleled user experience’.

The SAP Cloud for Analytics will be delivered through a planned software as a service (SaaS) offering that unifies all SAP’s analytical functions into one convenient dashboard.

Built natively on the SAP HANA Cloud platform, it will be a scalable, multi-tenant environment at a price which SAP says is affordable to companies and individuals. The new offering aims to bring together a variety of existing services including business intelligence, planning, budgeting and predictive capacity.

According to SAP, it has fine tuned workflows so that it’s easier for user to get from insight to action, as one application spirits the uses through this journey more rapidly. It achieves this by giving universal access to all data, digesting it and forwarding the right components to the right organs of the organisation. An intuitive user interface (UI) will help all users, from specialists such as finance professionals to generalists such as line of business analysts, to build connected planning models, analyze data and collaborate. It can extend to unstructured data, helping users to spot market trends within social media and correlate them with company inventories, SAP claims.

It’s all about breaking down the divisions between silos and blending the data to make visualization and forecasting possible, said Steve Lucas, president, Platform Solutions, SAP. “SAP Cloud for Analytics will be a new cloud analytics experience. That to me is more than visualization of data, that’s realization of success,” said Lucas.

SAP said it is also working with partners to provide seamless workflows.

SAP and Google are collaborating to extend the levels of analysis available to customers, according to Prabhakar Raghavan, VP of Engineering at Google Apps. “These innovations are planned to allow Google Apps for Work users to embed, refresh and edit SAP Cloud for Analytics content directly in Google Docs and Google Sheets,” said Raghaven.

CRM, Europe, Funding, investment, News & Analysis, Salesforce, startups

Salesforce offers $100m VC opportunity to European cloud startups

Salesforce WearSalesforce Ventures has allocated $100 million to invest in European startups as the investment arm of the cloud giant aims to capitalise on a potential $33.3 billion market. Any European cloud start up that impresses the venture capitalists could typically expect backing of between $1 million and $5 million, according to the fund’s development head.

As the investment arm of cloud-based CRM giant Salesforce it has already invested £500 million in 150 cloud and enterprise startups since 2009. However the majority of these have been US based and only 17 European cloud start up firms have been funded. However, researcher IDC predicts that the European cloud sector will grow 12 as fast as any other sector of the IT industry. As Europe catches up with the US, by 2019 its cloud market could be worth a collective $33.3 billion, it said.

As the global shift to the cloud generates demand for exciting new social, mobile and data science technologies it is creating an opportunity that should not be missed, said Salesforce EVP of corporate development John Somorjai. The European investment business will link back to Salesforce Ventures’ operations in the US run by Somorjai. London based Alex Kayyal will head the Salesforce Ventures’ efforts in Europe.

“There is so much incredible innovation happening in Europe today and we want to empower the next generation of enterprise cloud startups in the region,” said Somorjai, “Our $100 million commitment strengthens our mission to help startups grow and give back to their communities.”

However, he admitted that the competition has already started with five investments already earmarked to take a chunk of the budget.

European cloud start ups that have previously won funding from Salesforce Ventures include CartoDB, CloudSense, Cloud9 IDE, NewVoiceMedia, Qubit, Universal Avenue and YOUR SL. It’s not just about the money, according to Ruben Daniels, co-founder of Cloud9 IDE. “It’s the network and introductions, mentorship and framework that help,” said Daniels.

Salesforce Ventures’ global expertise was as important as its funding, according to CartoDB founder Javier de la Torre. “It helps us more effectively bring our data visualization tools to individual and business users around the world,” said de la Torre.

Content & Applications, developers, News & Analysis, Software AG

Software AG launches web-based Digital Marketplace

Marketplace. Keyboard digitalSoftware AG has launched an online shop for development components in a bid to make cloud application development easier for enterprises.

The Digital Marketplace allows programmers at enterprises to choose and use the essential IT development components they need to solve their business problems. The stock on offer includes solution accelerators, business process models, application components, adapters and industry frameworks. Clients can also get fully-fledged systems created by Software AG’s partners and customers.

Software AG says it has two million developers and an expanding partner base contributing to the online resource. Visitors to the site can browse and take inspiration from industry-specific use cases and – if they fit the bill for the client’s own installation – download components of the systems described.

The vendor was compelled to set up the resource as the model for software purchase and consumption is changing, said Eric Duffaut, Chief Customer Officer for Software AG. “Digitisation is changing everything. Enterprises and governments have to develop and implement their unique digital strategies to meet customer and citizen expectations,” said Duffaut.

The hub is designed to make the increasingly complex world of cloud computing less threatening to the enterprise buyer, many of whom are not particularly technical, according to Duffaut. “These are not run-of-the mill investments and every one is a strategic decision. The Digital Marketplace will make digitisation easier, based on the collective experience of Software AG, our partners and customers.”

Meanwhile, partners will have a new channel to market, said Harish Dwarkanhalli, the Global Delivery Head of Software AG partner Cognizant’s Integrated Process Management practice. “Co-innovation is a key part of the value to our mutual clients. The Digital Marketplace is a new way to highlight the innovation, frameworks and thought leadership we’ve developed.”

Cognizant is using the online market to launch its Intra Day Liquidity Monitoring (ILM) system to clients.

Adobe, Content & Applications, Document Management, DropBox, News & Analysis, Storage, Storage as a Service

Adobe tweaks Document Cloud to unblock Dropbox and make e-signing easier

AdobeAdobe has announced two improvements to document management in the cloud, by making PDF files more manageable in Dropbox and solving one of the snags in electronic document signing.

One billion users of Adobe Acrobat DC and Adobe Acrobat Reader will now be able to edit PDFs as they sit in Dropbox folders, the vendor has announced, as it has worked with Dropbox to simplify the way that PDF files can be edited with Adobe apps.

According to Adobe, the billion mobile devices and desktop computers in the world that have Adobe Acrobat software contain 18 billion PDF files whose functions are limited by Dropbox. The blockage that stopped users from editing those files has now been removed as part of a drive to make Adobe Document Cloud more efficient, the vendor claims.

The improvement was achieved after the two companies integrated their applications and services on mobile devices, desktops and the web, according to Kevin M. Lynch, general manager of Adobe Document Cloud.

Users can now view and edit PDF files stored in their Dropbox Basic, Pro and Dropbox for Business accounts with any changes automatically saved back to Dropbox. Collaboration has also been simplified, Abode claims, as Acrobat DC users can now execute the full range of tasks promised by the application. Editing text on PDF files, organising pages and converting documents to their original format will no longer be hindered by Dropbox environment. Meanwhile, the synchronisation of documents will no longer be restricted by glitches between Adobe and Dropbox operating software.

Adobe has had to adjust as customers have constantly evolved, said Lynch. “Today, mobile has become the rule and people expect to complete work quickly and simply wherever and whenever they need. Our work with Dropbox will help Document Cloud customers be more productive,” said Lynch.

Adobe has also created new options for e-signing in Document Cloud in a bid to make electronic document management easier. New functions include a visual drag-and-drop Workflow Designer, digital signatures (a more advanced secure form of e-signatures) and Enterprise Mobility Management and Signature Capture.

Adobe said it has worked with Workday, Salesforce and Ariba to add e-signing options to their respective HR, sales, procurement and legal systems.

Bryan Lamkin, Adobe digital media’s general manager, promised, “a new level of efficiency”.

News & Analysis, RadiSys, Sanctum, SDN, Virtualisation

Radisys and Sanctum create SDN solution to lost revenue

Network Function VirtualisationService accelerator Radisys is working with software defined networking (SDN) specialist Sanctum Networks to create a carrier-class cloud service that can support communication service providers (CSPs) worldwide.

The SDN cloud was built by combining Sanctum’s Jupiter SDN Controller with Radisys’ FlowEngine Intelligent Traffic Distribution System. Together they aim to create a software defined infrastructure powerful enough to identify, provide and support instant network service offerings with complete visibility.

Using this foundation, the partners say, CSPs will have a much better chance of redefining and improving the subscriber experience and guaranteeing a better of level of service. Software defined networking will also create more options for new over the top services for mobile telcos looking for new revenue streams, the collaborators claim.

The cloud is built on Sanctum’s intelligent SDN orchestrator and FlowEngine’s programmable data plane processor. The system can optimise service delivery in real-time as demands change and also unifies data across many silos, claims Joseph Sulistyo, director of product management and strategy, Radisys. Success hinges on how enthusiastically the network administrators take to the system and get the full use out of it, according to Sulistyo. “Sanctum Networks has developed a well-designed user interface and dynamic network programming model,” said Sulistyo.

Mobile telcos need somebody to remove the complexity of cloud service delivery in real-world deployments, explained Nazneen Shaikh, vice president of product management at Sanctum Networks. “CSPs can improve service visibility into their network, while ensuring carrier-grade reliability, scale and performance,” said Shaikh.

The billing, network and application data at many mobile operators is all over the place, according to Ravi Palepu, senior director of global telco solutions at revenue management specialist Virtusa. “As a consequence many telcos are either losing revenue by under billing, or losing customers by over billing,” said Palepu, “anything that unifies the data could help telcos identify where they are losing money.”

acquisition, colocation, Datacentre, Digital Reality, M&A, News & Analysis, Telx

Digital Realty completes acquisition of colocation rival Telx for $1.9 billion

datacentreGlobal data centre operator Digital Realty has completed the acquisition of colocation provider Telx in a deal valued at $1.886 billion. Telx will now operate as Digital Realty’s colocation and connectivity line of business.

Funding the acquisition doubles Digital Realty’s footprint in the colocation business and gives it a new interconnection platform, explained William Stein, Digital Realty’s Chief Executive Officer. Digital Realty raised gross proceeds of approximately $1.9 billion of debt and equity capital to fund the Telx acquisition, after settling its forward equity sale transactions with each of its forward counterparties to issue 10.5 million shares and receive $714 million.

Further funding was provided when subsidiary Digital Delta Holdings issued $500 million of 3.400 per cent Notes and $450 million of 4.750 per cent Notes. In August it raised $250 million by closing its underwritten public offering of 10 million shares of 6.350 per cent series I Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock.

Stein said the vendor is looking to blend its technical real estate expertise with a more expansive global reach as customers demand new products and services.

“The combination of Digital Realty’s and Telx’s portfolios of data centres and capacity gives customers the platform they need to grow and compete in a data-driven world.  Our focus will give them the ability to scale on a global basis,” said Stein. The company is now so big that nobody can compete with it, he argued. “This acquisition creates unrivalled choice and value, when and where our customers need it,” said Stein.

cloud security, Internet of Things, IoT, KDDI, Kii, News & Analysis

Kii and KDDI say their joint platform will make IoT safe on cloud

Secure cloudJapanese telco KDDI is working with Internet of Things (IoT) cloud platform provider Kii to create a risk averse system in which enterprises can develop mobile apps.

The KDDI cloud platform service (KCPS) is described as a mobile back end as a service (mBaaS) offering that uses Kii’s software to create mobile and IoT apps on a private network. The two companies have worked together on ways to apply cloud disciplines for efficient sharing of resources, contained within the confines on an Intranet environment. The object of the collaboration is to allow companies to develop machine to machine systems, without exposing them to the public cloud while they are in development.

According to KDDI, the KCPS uses the telco’s Wide Area Virtual Switch to integrate a number of different virtual network layers with Kii’s software. Together they create a new level of fast connections across the Intranet. KCPS also provides a service environment for intranet-conscious customers who need high standards of security and enterprise functions without resorting to the public Internet, according to the vendor.

KDDI claims this is the first instance in which both Intranet and Internet services can work seamlessly with any mobile application developed on the KCPS platform.

KDDI’s application development support will allow developers to build better quality, lower priced applications in a short period of time, it claims. The platform is designed to help developers manage application development, devices and data, while providing essential features like push notifications and geo-location information. KCPS should be compatible with mobile apps on Android and iOS, according to KDDI.

“As the IoT gains mass acceptance, we see tremendous value helping mobile app developers get more IoT devices into the hands of consumers,” said Kii CEO Masanari Arai, “our collaboration will use the cloud to build the backend support of these apps in Japan.”

acquisition, Datacentre, Dell, EMC, hybrid cloud, M&A, News & Analysis, VMware

Dells finds $67 billion to acquire EMC and create cloud giant

Dell office logoAs extensively leaked PC and server outfit Dell today announced it will be acquiring storage giant EMC for $67 billion to create a leading player in the datacentre and cloud industries.

Dell is privately held by founder Michael Dell and VCs MSD Partners and Silver Lake. The combined company will remain private, while VMWare, which is majority owned by EMC will remain separate and publicly traded. This deal is the biggest tech M&A deal of all time and the resulting company will be one of the world’s largest privately held ones. Dell only cost $25 billion to take private, so it’s asking for a big contribution from its equity partners.

As with any massive M&A scale and efficiencies will be major strategic benefits, but the two companies were also keen to stress how much they complement each other, with Dell strongest in the SMB and public sector markets while EMC’s strongest area is blue-chip corporates. In terms of product portfolio the narrative inevitably refers frequently to end-to-end solutions and that sort of thing.

“The combination of Dell and EMC creates an enterprise solutions powerhouse bringing our customers industry leading innovation across their entire technology environment,” said Michael Dell. “Our new company will be exceptionally well-positioned for growth in the most strategic areas of next generation IT including digital transformation, software-defined data center, converged infrastructure, hybrid cloud, mobile and security.

“Our investments in R&D and innovation along with our privately-controlled structure will give us unmatched scale, strength and flexibility, deepening our relationships with customers of all sizes. I am incredibly excited to partner with the EMC, VMware, Pivotal, VCE, RSA and Virtustream teams and am personally committed to the success of our new company, our customers and partners.”
“I’m tremendously proud of everything we’ve built at EMC – from humble beginnings as a Boston-based startup to a global, world-class technology company with an unyielding dedication to our customers,” said Joe Tucci, CEO of EMC. “But the waves of change we now see in our industry are unprecedented and, to navigate this change, we must create a new company for a new era. I truly believe that the combination of EMC and Dell will prove to be a winning combination for our customers, employees, partners and shareholders.”
It’s not difficult to spot the customary synergies in this deal. When Dell went private it was primarily to allow a complete strategic overhaul away from the voracious quarterly demands of Wall Street. Fundamentally it wanted to move out of the highly commoditised PC market on which it was founded in the 80s, and into core enterprise IT sectors such as servers.

EMC has been in the enterprise data storage game for even longer, is been threatened by pure play cloud providers and needs to move with the times. Just as with Dell, EMC seems to be betting that removing the rabid short-termism that comes with being a public company will allow it the space to do that and, assuming MSD and Silver Lake remain patient the new company should be able to innovate and compete well in the cloud, virtualization and IoT worlds.

“We are excited and honoured to invest in the outstanding businesses built by Joe Tucci and his world-class management team,” said Egon Durban, managing partner of Silver Lake. “We believe the strategic integration of EMC and Dell will generate unparalleled depth and breadth across servers, storage, virtualization and the next era of converged infrastructure, creating a global technology platform poised for sustained long term growth and innovation in the years to come. We are doubling down and increasing our investment in this differentiated market leader for the next paradigm of enterprise computing.”

The plan is for Michael Dell to run the whole company and Tucci to move on when the deal is done. A deal this size will take a while to get approval and complete, so nothing concrete will happen for a few months yet. But when it does, the cloud market will hopefully be more competitive than ever.

BYOA, Identity management, M&A, News & Analysis, Software as a service

LogMeIn acquires LastPass for $125 million to create remote access giant

Remote working SaaS company LogMeIn will acquire password management service provider LastPass for $125 million to bolster its position in identity and access management.

LogMeIn already has a strong position in cloud-based remote login and LastPass is best known as a password manager with an emphasis on enterprise, so it’s easy to see how the two product portfolios complement each other. The combined companies will be in a position to offer a wide range of remote access tools and services.

“LastPass has a great business, a beloved and award winning product, millions of loyal users, and thousands of great business customers – they are synonymous with the category,” said Michael Simon, LogMeIn’s Chairman and CEO. “We believe this transaction instantly gives us a market leading position in password management, while also providing a highly favourable foundation for delivering the next generation of identity and access management solutions to individuals, teams and companies.”

“LogMeIn and LastPass share a great common vision on reshaping identity and access management in ways that not only increase productivity but also improve security for individuals and companies, alike,” said Joe Siegrist, CEO of LastPass. “The striking commonality between our businesses, our products, and cultural DNA make this a great fit for both teams, and we believe a great win for our customers.”

In the rationale behind the move there was much talk of BYOA (bring your own app), which LogMeIn has identified as a key trend. Essentially this means remote workers using whatever tools they see fit and IT managers having to work out how to accommodate them – much as has happened with BYOD (bring your own device). LogMeIn’s strategy is to be the default BYOA enabler.