Category: News

Only a third of companies get much from the cloud.

A new study has revealed that only a third of companies are seeing their cloud ambitions realised.

HFS and EYGS announced the findings of a six-month study related to the challenging results that many enterprises find during the cloud-native transformation (CNT) process.

HFS CEO Phil Fersht said the study showed that while 65 per cent of organisations made strategic investments in the cloud, only 32 per cent are realising their ambitions.

“Many are failing to capture the value of their investment. The report clarifies the disconnect between many organisations’ supply and buy side while highlighting the need for a clear understanding of business objectives. It also pinpoints the challenge of justifying moving workloads to the cloud and aiming for business transformation through that process,” Fersht said.

Google Cloud wants new partners

Google Cloud wants new partners and is offering augmented incentives and resources for global partners to exploit the burgeoning opportunities in AI.

Its plans were revealed at this week’s Google Cloud Next ’23 summit in London.

Google’s cunning plan involves using tools such as Duet AI and Vertex AI in critical domains like data modernisation and cloud migrations, incorporating these tools into partner systems and processes and making a concerted global push through managed service providers (MSPs).

Google Cloud plans to significantly boost funding by up to tenfold for independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrator partners aiming to implement gen AI.

UK government launches Chipstart

UK government has launched ChipStart, a two-year pilot programme to support twelve cutting-edge startups in developing revolutionary semiconductor chips.

A £1.3 million investment backs the programme which SiliconCatalyst facilitates.

The two-year pilot initiative will provide critical support to twelve semiconductor design startups, helping them navigate the complex world of semiconductor chip design.

These companies are expected to address diverse global challenges, from brain implants for Parkinson’s patients to quantum computing for enhanced online security and more efficient AI model training.

Performanta named top UK MSSP

Managed services provider Performanta has been recognised as the top MSSP in the UK.

The cybersecurity firm landed on MSSP Alert’s Top 250 list for 2023, ranking 28 globally and the only UK company to get into the top 30.

It is a step up for the group which made it to number 40 in 2022.

Performanta CEO Guy Golan said the ranking was an exceptional achievement for the Performanta team.

AMD swallows Nod.ai and gives new life to SHARK

AMD has snapped up Nod.ai as part of a cunning plan to improve its growing AI capabilities using its SHARK product.

The compiler-based automation software capabilities of Nod.ai’s SHARK software is designed to reduce the need for manual optimisation and the time required to deploy AI models to run across a broad portfolio of data centre, edge, and client platforms.

The company says that the deal should enhance the deployment of AI solutions for its instinct datacentre accelerators, Ryzen AI processors, EPYC processors, Versal SoCs and Radeon GPUs.

The agreement follows the company’s AI growth strategy centres on an open software ecosystem that lowers the barriers of entry for customers through developer tools, libraries and models.

Mendix teams up with Red Hat

Siemens-owned Mendix has partnered with the open saucy Red Hat.

The idea is to mix Menix’s to mix its agility and speed low code platform with the scalability and flexibility of Red Hat OpenShift.

Mendix said that working with Red Hat in this capacity will help organisations build scalable, flexible, and security-focused applications and make it easier to deploy and manage Mendix applications across various cloud environments and on-premises infrastructure using Red Hat OpenShift.

Red Hat vice president of partner ecosystem success Penny Philpot said that the partnership will change how how organisations develop and deploy applications.

Pulsant expands Rotherham data centre

Edgy Pulsant is expanding its Rotherham data centre capacity by 116 per cent to 380kW. The new power will accommodate growing regional demand for low latency, high performance, scalable network infrastructure.

At more than 2000 SQM, the Rotherham site will increase IT space by 30 per cent to support a growing technology sector demand in the Yorkshire and Humber region with edge colocation, hyperscale cloud access, and distributed compute services.

PC sales may have bottomed out

Sales of PCs have continued to decline during the third quarter but may have gone as low as they can, according to the number crunchers at IDC.

IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker says that the downward spiral for PC shipments continued during Q3 as global volumes declined 7.6 per cent year over year, with 68.2 million PCs shipped.

Demand and the global economy remained subdued, while PC shipments increased in each of the last two quarters. This slowed the rate of annual decline indicating that the market has bottomed out.
PC inventory is better than it has been for a while with less stock on hand.

Climb Global Solutions completes DataSolutions buyout

US Value-added global IT channel company Climb Global Solutions has completed the acquisition of UK cloudy security outfit DataSolutions.

DataSolutions is an Ireland-based, speciality IT distributor serving the Irish and UK reseller markets. DataSolutions brings its robust share of the Irish market and growing position in the UK to Climb with 14 carefully selected strategic vendor partners, including Check Point, Citrix, Neustar, HPE Aruba, IGEL and Color Tokens.

Climb CEO Dale Foster said the DataSolutions acquisition builds upon his outfit’s goal to strengthen its line card with new strategic, cutting-edge technology vendors and bolsters its geographic footprint in Western Europe.

Startups with female founders get less VC cash

According to the Alan Turing Institute’s women in data science and AI team, startups with female founders account for less than three per cent of all venture capital (VC) funding deals involving AI.

In a new report, Rebalancing Innovation, Women, AI And Venture Capital in the UK, the Institute points to a need for more diversity in AI investment by UK VC firms.

The research covers the past decade of investment, between 2012 and 2022, and indicates that in that time, 80 per cent of capital raised went to all-male founding teams, while all-female teams received 0.3 per cent of VC investment.

Sky’s the limit on UK competition probe

The UK’s cloud computing market faces a competition probe over concerns that Amazon and Microsoft are ruling everything with an iron fist.

Media watchdog Ofcom said the two make up 70-80 per cent of the sector in the UK, while closest rival Google has 5-10 per cent.

Ofcom had said in April it was worried a lack of competition made it difficult for businesses to switch providers.

It has referred the sector to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to look into the issue.

Amazon and Microsoft told the BBC they would work with the CMA as it conducts its investigation. However, Amazon said it felt Ofcom’s concerns were “based on a fundamental misconception” of the sector.

The services are used by businesses across the UK, and Ofcom estimated that in 2022 the cloud services market in the UK was worth up to £7.5 billion.

Ofcom orders probe into cloud industry

The dark satanic rumour mill has manufactured a hell-on-earth yarn claiming that Ofcom is set to order the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to probe the UK’s cloud industry over anti-competitive practices.

One cloudy company has been tipped off that there will be a recommendation to the CMA to open an inquiry into the cloud market for competitive reasons.

The source further said the CMA’s investigation would likely encompass aspects such as egress fees, data portability and interoperability.

It may even extend to examining software licensing and its potential to influence the market dynamics.

Meta rolls out generative AI tools for advertisers

Meta is starting to roll out generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools for all advertisers.

It claims these functions can create content like image backgrounds and produce variations of written text.

The company started testing these tools in May, giving access to a select group of advertisers in a “testing playground”.

The new features will be available in Meta’s Ads Manager when their official rollout is completed next year.

The announcement marks the Facebook and Instagram owner’s first moves into bundling generative AI technology into its products for mining vast stores of past data to generate new content like prose, art and software code.

Infinity buys RedkiteCRM

Infinity Group has acquired RedkiteCRM, one of the few Microsoft-focused Housing Management System providers serving the social housing sector.

RedkiteCRM provides deep industry expertise and dedicated IP catering to the unique challenges faced by housing associations managing tenant communications and operations.

In a match with Infinity Group, all their tailored solutions are built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Experience, CRM, Business Central and Power Platform.

The acquisition sees Infinity Group grow to 150 full-time employees while expanding its customer base and capabilities to deliver hyper-focused solutions to the social housing sector.

These include digitising communications and automating processes across damp and mould, rent arrears, rent accounting, compliance, allocations, repairs, fire safety, customer services and asset management. It also provides a single source of reporting for all interactions.

Mitel snaps up Unify

Mitel has acquired the unified comms business Unify from French reseller Atos.

The move means that Mitel has a combined customer base of more than 75 million users in 100 countries and an expanded community of more than 5,500 resellers, service providers, technology, and strategic alliance partners.

Mitel’s president and chief executive officer, Tarun Loomba, will serve as president and CEO of the combined company.