When call centers first came about in the 1960s, they were built over PBX systems. Private Branch Exchanges (PBX) are essentially a small-scale version of the telephone exchange and are typically handled by one of the few telephone network providers in the country. Fast forward to today, a call center software provider does not need to own even the VoIP line that is necessary to handle communication. The software can simply connect to third party VoIP services with the help of an API and get started on their service.
The cloud has brought down the cost of operating a business and while this is a good thing for the consumers, it also means a rise in the number of competitors one has to deal with.
Monitoring #IoT, #Docker and #MachineLearning | @CloudExpo @Catchpoint
The year 2016 witnessed amazing progress in the field of technology – from Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented/virtual reality going mainstream, to innovations like testing the first-ever reusable rocket. The IT industry also saw a number of advancements including the rise of Cloud and serverless computing and the growing implementation of DevOps that has redefined IT operations. In this article, we look at some of the major developments expected in the world of APM for the year ahead.
CrowdReviews “Media Sponsor” of @CloudExpo | @_CrowdReviews_ #DevOps
SYS-CON Events announced today that CrowdReviews.com has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 20th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6–8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. CrowdReviews.com is a transparent online platform for determining which products and services are the best based on the opinion of the crowd. The crowd consists of Internet users that have experienced products and services first-hand and have an interest in letting other potential buyers their thoughts on their experience.
[session] #FinTech SaaS | @CloudExpo @delaPlexSoftwar #AI #Blockchain
FinTech is the sum of financial and technology, and it’s one of the fastest growing tech industries. Total global investments in FinTech almost reached $50 billion last year, but there is still a great deal of confusion over what it is and what it means – especially as it applies to retirement.
Building financial startups is not simple, but with the right team, technology and an innovative approach it can be an extremely interesting domain to disrupt. FinTech heralds a financial revolution that is for everyone. Ideally, it’s cloud-based, consumer friendly and offers education in a consumable manner with mobility and portability.
Tech News Recap for the Week of 01/23/2017
Were you busy this week? Here’s a tech news recap of articles you may have missed for the week of 01/23/2017!
Why cloud is crucial for development. Microsoft Azure Functions locks in on serverless computing. Storage predictions for 2017, hyper-converged to push forward, and get NVMe. Cisco grabs AppDynamics with $3.7 Billion Acquisition. Virtualization predictions for 2017. 10 new AWS cloud services you never expected and more tops news this week you may have missed!
Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.
Tech News Recap
- Cloud is crucial for development
- CIO’s top concern with cloud computing? Talent, not security
- The cloud updraft grows stronger
- Cybersecurity in 2017: A roundup of predictions
- Expert hacks internal DoD network via Army website
- Microsoft Azure Functions locks in on serverless computing
- Amazon Web Services and Azure expand IVv6 offerings, to add security and handle more devices
- How do we know if we are ready for data virtualization?
- Storage predictions 2017: Hyper-converged to push forward, and get NVMe
- How Airbnb ensures that no travelers trip will be disturbed by a site outage
- Cisco grabs AppDynamics with $3.7 Billion Acquisition
- Virtualization predictions for 2017
- Hyper-convergence in high demand
- HPE to acquire Cloud Cruiser for measuring IT usage
- vSphere 6.5 Security Product Walkthrough
- How long can Amazon’s AWS retain the IaaS crown?
- 10 new AWS cloud services you never expected
By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist
Application Delivery Controller | @CloudExpo #SDN #VM #AI #Virtualization
Application Delivery got its start in the form of network-based load balancing hardware. It is the essential foundation on which Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs) operate. The second iteration of purpose-built load balancing (following application-based proprietary systems) materialized in the form of network-based appliances. These are the true founding fathers of today’s ADCs. Because these devices were application-neutral and resided outside of the application servers themselves, they could load balance using straightforward network techniques. In essence, these devices would present a “virtual server” address to the outside world, and when users attempted to connect, they would forward the connection to the most appropriate real server doing bi-directional network address translation (NAT).
The quarterly verdict: How do Google, IBM and Microsoft all stack up?
(c)iStock.com/CatLane
It’s that time again; another quarter passes by and with it comes a variety of financial reports from the big hitters. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, IBM, and Microsoft have all filed within the past week – so what do the figures all mean?
Top line highlights:
- IBM’s cloud revenue was at $13.7 billion for the full year of 2016, up 35%, while fourth quarter cloud revenues increased 33% to $4.2bn
- Microsoft’s commercial cloud annualised revenue run rate hit $14 billion, with Azure revenue up 95% in constant currency and compute usage more than doubling year on year
- Alphabet does not disclose specifics but ‘other revenue’ – which includes cloud computing – went up 62% to $3.4 billion in the most recent quarter
In terms of wider figures, IBM’s overall Q416 revenue was $21.8bn, down 1% year over year and with cloud representing almost 20% of the total. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue total was $24.1bn GAAP, seeing an uptick of 1%, while Alphabet reported $26.1bn in total for the fourth quarter.
Naturally, all the quotes were around similar themes. “I am pleased with our results this quarter,” said Microsoft EVP and chief financial officer Amy Hood. “We see strong demand for our cloud-based services and are executing well on our long-term growth strategy.”
“We have established ourselves as the industry’s leading cognitive solutions and cloud platform company,” said IBM CEO Ginni Rometty. “More and more clients are choosing the IBM Cloud because of its differentiated capabilities, which are helping to transform industries such as financial services, airlines and retail.” “We’re seeing great momentum in Google’s newer investment areas and ongoing strong progress in ‘other bets,’” said Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat.
One big name is absent from this list, of course. Amazon will report its earnings in the coming week; for comparison, its third quarter figures in October saw revenue for AWS at $3.2 billion and $11.1bn over the last four quarters. The profit on the overall business for the third quarter, of $252 million, was a comparative disappointment for the analysts; so much so that a Quartz story headlined that AWS was the “financial life preserver that Amazon desperately needs.”
In a note published earlier this month, Synergy Research, a long-time observer of the cloud infrastructure marketplace, posited that infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) remain the quickest growing markets at 53% year on year, ahead of hosted private cloud infrastructure (35%) and enterprise software as a service (34%). AWS and Microsoft were the leaders in IaaS and PaaS, while IBM and Rackspace were on top for hosted private cloud, with operator and vendor revenues for the overall cloud services and infrastructure market hitting $148bn in 2016.
Previous analysis from the firm continues to put AWS well ahead of the competition, with Microsoft relatively secure in second place. Sangara Narayanan, writing for GuruFocus.com earlier this week, said: “For now and for the foreseeable future, Amazon’s AWS gets to keep the IaaS crown despite aggressive moves from Microsoft and IBM to expand their own cloud revenues in their own unique ways.”
It will of course be interesting to see what AWS rustles up; for the meantime, however, the cloud arms at Alphabet, IBM and Microsoft continue to shine if perhaps the overall business hasn’t. A recent Bloomberg report summed it up best – the companies “reinforced what’s become a truism in technology: the biggest growth is in businesses that deliver computing over the internet.”
You can read the full statements for Alphabet, IBM, and Microsoft here.
The quarterly verdict: How do Google, IBM and Microsoft all stack up?
(c)iStock.com/CatLane
It’s that time again; another quarter passes by and with it comes a variety of financial reports from the big hitters. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, IBM, and Microsoft have all filed within the past week – so what do the figures all mean?
Top line highlights:
- IBM’s cloud revenue was at $13.7 billion for the full year of 2016, up 35%, while fourth quarter cloud revenues increased 33% to $4.2bn
- Microsoft’s commercial cloud annualised revenue run rate hit $14 billion, with Azure revenue up 95% in constant currency and compute usage more than doubling year on year
- Alphabet does not disclose specifics but ‘other revenue’ – which includes cloud computing – went up 62% to $3.4 billion in the most recent quarter
In terms of wider figures, IBM’s overall Q416 revenue was $21.8bn, down 1% year over year and with cloud representing almost 20% of the total. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue total was $24.1bn GAAP, seeing an uptick of 1%, while Alphabet reported $26.1bn in total for the fourth quarter.
Naturally, all the quotes were around similar themes. “I am pleased with our results this quarter,” said Microsoft EVP and chief financial officer Amy Hood. “We see strong demand for our cloud-based services and are executing well on our long-term growth strategy.”
“We have established ourselves as the industry’s leading cognitive solutions and cloud platform company,” said IBM CEO Ginni Rometty. “More and more clients are choosing the IBM Cloud because of its differentiated capabilities, which are helping to transform industries such as financial services, airlines and retail.” “We’re seeing great momentum in Google’s newer investment areas and ongoing strong progress in ‘other bets,’” said Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat.
One big name is absent from this list, of course. Amazon will report its earnings in the coming week; for comparison, its third quarter figures in October saw revenue for AWS at $3.2 billion and $11.1bn over the last four quarters. The profit on the overall business for the third quarter, of $252 million, was a comparative disappointment for the analysts; so much so that a Quartz story headlined that AWS was the “financial life preserver that Amazon desperately needs.”
In a note published earlier this month, Synergy Research, a long-time observer of the cloud infrastructure marketplace, posited that infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) remain the quickest growing markets at 53% year on year, ahead of hosted private cloud infrastructure (35%) and enterprise software as a service (34%). AWS and Microsoft were the leaders in IaaS and PaaS, while IBM and Rackspace were on top for hosted private cloud, with operator and vendor revenues for the overall cloud services and infrastructure market hitting $148bn in 2016.
Previous analysis from the firm continues to put AWS well ahead of the competition, with Microsoft relatively secure in second place. Sangara Narayanan, writing for GuruFocus.com earlier this week, said: “For now and for the foreseeable future, Amazon’s AWS gets to keep the IaaS crown despite aggressive moves from Microsoft and IBM to expand their own cloud revenues in their own unique ways.”
It will of course be interesting to see what AWS rustles up; for the meantime, however, the cloud arms at Alphabet, IBM and Microsoft continue to shine if perhaps the overall business hasn’t. A recent Bloomberg report summed it up best – the companies “reinforced what’s become a truism in technology: the biggest growth is in businesses that deliver computing over the internet.”
You can read the full statements for Alphabet, IBM, and Microsoft here.
Surviving #DigitalTransformation Fatigue | @CloudExpo #Agile #SOA #AI #ML
If it weren’t for digital technology, today’s business transformations would look quite different – but that doesn’t mean that the transformations are inherently digital. The digital appellation is a poor fit to begin with, and now it’s growing long in the tooth. 2017 may very well be the year it becomes passé, and we move onto the Next Big Thing. In times of disruption, buzzwords play an important role. As new technologies, approaches, and priorities spring up, we need a common vocabulary so that we can cogently discuss such innovations. Never forget, however, that digital transformation was never more than an oversimplification of a complex, multifaceted transformational process that impacts every organization differently.
Cloud Drives Up Microsoft’s Profits
Cloud is undoubtedly driving the profits of big techies like AWS and Microsoft, as the recent financial results show. On Thursday, Microsoft released the results for the fourth quarter of 2016, and it shows a four percent increase in overall earnings.
It reported a net income of $5.2 billion or $0.66 a share, when compared to $5.02 billion or $0.62 a share a year ago. Overall, Microsoft’s revenue rose to $24.09 billion from $23.8 billion almost a year ago. These numbers beat the expectations of Wall Street, so Microsoft’s shares are trading at all-time highs, and it closed at $64.27 at the end of trading on Thursday, which is almost a one percent increase through the day.
Much of this rise in its profits has come from its cloud business, signaling that cloud computing is the future of Microsoft. Sales from Azure cloud computing platform increased by 93 percent from a year ago, and revenue from its “intelligent” cloud segment rose by eight percent to reach $6.9 billion.
What is surprising about this increase in revenue is that it includes the impact of LinkedIn’s acquisition, which was an astronomical $26.2 billion, making it one of Microsoft’s biggest acquisitions. The revenue from LinkedIn was also only minimal, as the deal was finalized only on December 8th, which means, it includes only a few weeks of LinkedIn’s revenue.
Much of this foray into cloud can be attributed to Satya Nadella, as he strengthened this line of business after he took over as the CEO of the company. In a way, he has reinvented a company that was struggling with a failing PC business.
For many years, Microsoft didn’t have much idea on which direction it should pursue after its Windows software hit a plateau. It tried to compete with Google in search and Apple in smartphones – both of which unfortunately misfired. Satya Nadella came to the fore during this uncertainty, and has taken the company in the right way.
He and his team found much success in moving applications like Office to the cloud, and creating business around it, so Microsoft can compete with the likes of AWS and other top players in the cloud market. In many ways, cloud computing represents one of the biggest technological shifts that Microsoft has had in years, and has proved to be a huge revenue generator for the company.
Probably the good news for Microsoft and its investors is that other aspects of its business also brought in some revenue for the company. Microsoft Office business, for example, showed strong growth as revenue rose by ten percent to $7.4 billion, though much of it came in the form of online subscriptions to Office 365. Surprisingly, its older Windows software business did well too. In fact, there was a five percent increase in revenue from Windows operating system. Also, revenue from Microsoft’s corporate customers also saw an increase of five percent.
In all, Microsoft has done well over the last quarter and it expects to have a good first quarter in 2017 too.
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