As part of a new $2 billion round of funding, Microsoft has invested in Cruise, GM’s self-driving subsidiary, sending GM’s stock up 9%.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Cruise’s mission is to bring all-electric, self-driving, shared vehicles to the market. The investment will see Microsoft become the preferred cloud provider for Cruise, as it leverages Azure to help commercialize its vehicle offerings.
“Our mission to bring safer, better, and more affordable transportation to everyone isn’t just a tech race – it’s also a trust race,” said Cruise CEO Dan Ammann. “Microsoft, as the gold standard in the trustworthy democratization of technology, will be a force multiplier for us as we commercialize our fleet of self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles.”
“Advances in digital technology are redefining every aspect of our work and life, including how we move people and goods,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “As Cruise and GM’s preferred cloud, we will apply the power of Azure to help them scale and make autonomous transportation mainstream.”
This latest round of investment brings Cruise’s total valuation to $30 billion. Meanwhile, GM’s stock reached an all-new, intraday high on the news, hitting $54.42 after the opening bell.
Dan Ives, Wedbush Senior Technology Analyst, is bullish on Microsoft thanks to its “unparalleled” advantages in cloud transition.
Microsoft’s Azure platform is currently in second place in the cloud market, behind AWS. In spite of that, Azure has been growing rapidly, outpacing the market at large. In particular, Microsoft has been making headway at the expense of AWS and third-place rival Google Cloud.
Ives doesn’t see that stopping, thanks to the unique position Microsoft is in, in combination with continued work-from-home trends.
“Deal flow looks strong heading into the rest of FY21 as we estimate that Microsoft is still only ~35% through penetrating its unparalleled installed base on the cloud transition,” Ives said, according to Markets Insider. “To this point, we believe Azure’s cloud momentum is still in its early days of playing out within the company’s massive installed base and the Office 365 transition for both consumer/enterprise is providing growth tailwinds over the next few years.”
As a result of these factors, Ives sees the company’s stock hitting $260 per share next year, an increase of 16% over the current price.
“From a valuation basis, even if we take a 10%+ haircut to the cloud and enterprise growth drivers, we are still looking at what we value as a $1 trillion valuation cloud franchise for Redmond,” he added.
Microsoft is reportedly developing its own line of ARM-based chips for use in Azure servers and, possibly, Surface devices.
Apple upturned the industry when it announced at WWDC 2020 that it was transitioning its Mac line of computers to its custom silicon, based on ARM designs. Early tests show that Apple’s new M1 MacBooks are faster than even the fastest Intel-based MacBook.
When Apple first announced its plans, Jean-Louis Gassée said Microsoft would be forced to adopt ARM processors to keep up with Apple’s newfound performance.
“This leaves Microsoft with a choice: Either forget Windows on ARM and cede modern PCs to Apple, or forge ahead, fix app compatibility problems and offer an ARM-based alternative to Apple’s new Macs,” said Gassée. “It’s a false dilemma, of course. Microsoft will forge ahead…with repercussions for the rest of the Windows PC industry.”
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is moving ahead in that direction. Bloomberg’s sources said the company is working on its own line of ARM-based processors for its Azure servers. The company is also working on a processor that could be used in its Surface line of devices.
Microsoft has announced an expansion of its partnership with SAP to improve supply chain and Industry 4.0 solutions.
SAP is one of the leading enterprise software providers, and the two companies are expanding their partnership “to help customers design and operate intelligent digital supply chain and Industry 4.0 solutions.” The two companies are also working together to promote interoperability in the industry.
The partnership will allow customers to run SAP’s Digital Supply Chain solutions on Microsoft Azure. The solution will run as software-as-a-service (SaaS) on Azure, giving customers the ability to scale as needed and reap the benefits of the cloud.
SAP is excited to bring our proven and innovative solutions to Microsoft Azure for our manufacturing and digital supply chain customers. This partnership gives our customers the ability to subscribe to our digital supply chain and manufacturing solutions in the cloud and enhances our offerings for Industry 4.0. Building on this, SAP solutions will soon be available at the edge in factories, plants, and automated warehouses in close proximity to sensors, machines, and control systems. —Franz Hero, SAP Senior Vice President for Digital Supply Chain Solutions.
The partnership should be a big win for both Microsoft and SAP customers.
Microsoft is in second place in the Earth-based cloud market, but it looks to be positioning itself to be the premier cloud provider for space.
The company announced the latest version of its Azure cloud program, Azure Space, designed to be the “the platform and ecosystem of choice for the mission needs of the space community.” As companies large and small turn to space for communications, travel and colonization, cloud computing will be an important part of the transition.
Microsoft has also partnered with SpaceX to pair Azure with the Starlink satellite system. Starlink is a low-Earth orbit constellation of satellites designed to provide internet access that competes with terrestrial broadband. Unlike legacy satellite internet providers, such as HughesNet and Viasat, Starlink’s low-Earth orbit provides faster speeds and much lower latency, inline with traditional broadband options.
The combination of Starlink and Azure will help the two companies compete with Amazon and Blue Origin, as well as provide service to customers in remote regions.
“As the importance of data to society has increased, so too has the importance of reliable and diverse pathways for connectivity,” writes Tom Keane – Corporate Vice President, Azure Global. “Our global network of over 160,000 miles of subsea, terrestrial, and metro optical fiber helps billions of people connect all around the world. However, many of our customers also operate in remote, rugged environments and find it hard to keep pace with their increased need for access to data and bandwidth.”
In addition to competing with Amazon, the Microsoft and SpaceX partnership will help both companies play a pivotal role in future US space operations.
“The two companies also plan to further connect Starlink with Microsoft’s global network — including Azure edge devices — integrate SpaceX’s ground stations with Azure networking capabilities,” writes Jennifer Sokolowsky, in a company blog post.
“SpaceX recently won a contract with the Space Development Agency to build new satellites – separate from the Starlink system – in support of a Space Tracking Layer defense system capable of detecting and tracking ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles. Microsoft will be join the SpaceX team on this project.”
It appears that Microsoft is going all-in on the final frontier, and may quickly establish itself as the platform of choice for space operations.
Microsoft has been selected as the technology partner for an all-digital CES 2021, slated for January.
The Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) CES is one of the biggest technology trade shows of the year. Companies unveil and demonstrate their upcoming products and services.
With the coronavirus pandemic, however, events like CES have been canceled en masse, or moved to digital venues. Microsoft has considerable experience in this area, as the company has hosted digital versions of a dozen of its own events. In addition, Microsoft has worked with the NBA, the NFL and iHeartMedia to help them with their events.
This experience was a major factor in the CTA choosing Microsoft to be its technology partner. CES 2021 will use Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Power Platform to power the digital conference.
“When we look back at the last six months, the opportunities these events have provided for increased learning, inclusivity, connectedness and accessibility for all our customers, partners, enthusiasts and employees around the world are inspiring,” writes Bob Bejan – CVP, Global events, production studios and marketing community. “There is an immense appetite for these broad-reaching, digital-only events, and an immense potential for them to positively impact customer, partner and even employee relationships. And now, we cannot wait to apply all of our learnings to the creation of the CES 2021 experience.”
Verizon partners with Microsoft to create new ways for enterprises to accelerate the delivery of fast and secure 5G applications to enable state of the art low-latency IoT solutions.
Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge network integrated with Azure edge services can enable ultra-low latency, many times faster than the blink of an eye, according to Verizon, which can help businesses tap into real-time data analysis and delivery. Applications incorporating computer vision, augmented, mixed and virtual reality, digital twins or machine learning can be enhanced with 5G and MEC on the customer premise, helping transform the way industries such as retail, transportation, and logistics operations.
Think of automated high-precision asset localization, tracking and positioning in manufacturing. In healthcare, the increased speed, reduced latency and high bandwidth connectivity of 5G networks could enable real-time precision medicine leveraging mixed reality and AI capabilities as well as seamless and fast sharing of large files to improve patient care.
“We have built a network that provides real-world, 5G-enabled solutions TODAY,” said Rima Qureshi, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Verizon. “By bringing together Verizon’s 5G network and on-site 5G Edge platform with Microsoft’s expertise in cloud services, we will enable the development of the next-generation technologies everyone has been envisioning.”
The collaboration brings Azure cloud and edge capabilities together with Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge, a mobile edge computing platform designed to enable developers to build applications for mobile end-users and wireless edge devices with ultra-low latency. By utilizing on-site private 5G, businesses will be able to realize increased power efficiencies and reduced costs of end user devices while addressing their privacy and security needs.
Logistics and supply chain solutions company Ice Mobility is already testing on Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge platform, integrated with Microsoft Azure. The company is using 5G and MEC to help with computer vision assisted product packing. By gathering data in near real-time on product packing errors, the company has the potential to improve on-site quality assurance and save 15% to 30% in processing time.
“We are especially excited to join Verizon and Microsoft to test how 5G and MEC can improve the quality assurance process,” said Mike Mohr, CEO of Ice Mobility. “They truly have listened to our needs to provide automated real-time quality oversight and feedback, which will enable us to cost-effectively launch unique new products, while maintaining the highest execution standards, significantly increasing throughput and reducing costs. And, this is just the beginning.”
“By leveraging Verizon’s 5G network integrated with Microsoft’s cloud and edge capabilities, developers and businesses can benefit from fast, secure and reliable connections to deliver seamless digital experiences from massive industrial IoT workloads to precision medicine,” said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president Azure for Operators at Microsoft.
Moving forward, Verizon will explore opportunities to co-innovate with Microsoft to deliver new value to industries ranging from manufacturing to healthcare.
Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network enables throughput at least 25 times faster than today’s 4G networks*; delivers ultra-low latency; and offers very high bandwidth. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is expected to eventually enable 100 times larger data volumes than 4G; and the ability to connect more than a million devices per kilometer. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service is available to people in 55 cities and its 5G Nationwide service is available to more than 200 million people in more than 1,800 cities around the U.S.
Microsoft and Datadog have announced a partnership that will see Datadog be a first-class service in Azure Portal.
Datadog is a company that specializes in monitoring and securing cloud platforms. The company’s platform is designed to integrate with client infrastructure and provide the necessary monitoring to help companies maintain optimal performance and security.
The new partnership will make Datadog a first-class service for Azure customers, the first partnership of its kind for Datadog.
“Azure is the first cloud to enable a seamless configuration and management experience for customers to use partner solutions like Datadog. Together with Datadog, we are enabling customers to use this experience to monitor their Azure workloads and enable an accelerated transition to the cloud,” said Corey Sanders, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Azure.
“Observability is a key capability for any successful cloud migration. Through our new partnership with Microsoft Azure, customers will now have access to the Datadog platform directly in the Azure console, enabling them to migrate, optimize and secure new and migrated workloads,” said Amit Agarwal, Chief Product Officer, Datadog.
“Today starts a new chapter in our close collaboration with the telecommunications industry to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever,” said Microsoft Azure Executive Vice President Jason Zander in a blog announcement. “We’re building a carrier-grade cloud and bringing more Microsoft technology to the operator’s edge. This, in combination with our developer ecosystem, will help operators to future proof their networks, drive down costs, and create new services and business models.”
Jason Zander, Executive Vice President, Microsoft Azure, announces new collaborations with the telecommunications industry that will unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever:
The increasing demand for always-on connectivity, immersive experiences, secure collaboration, and remote human relationships is pushing networks to their limits, while the market is driving down price. The network infrastructure must ensure operators are able to optimize costs and gain efficiencies, while enabling the development of personalized and differentiated services. To address the requirements of rolling out 5G, operators will face strong challenges, including high capital expenditure (CapEx) investments, an increased need for scale, automation, and secure management of the massive volume of data it will generate.
Today starts a new chapter in our close collaboration with the telecommunications industry to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever. We’re building a carrier-grade cloud and bringing more Microsoft technology to the operator’s edge. This, in combination with our developer ecosystem, will help operators to future proof their networks, drive down costs, and create new services and business models.
In Microsoft, operators get a trusted partner who will empower them to unlock the potential of 5G. Enabling them to offer a range of new services such as ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity, mixed reality communications services, network slicing, and highly scalable IoT applications to transform entire industries and communities.
By harnessing the power of Microsoft Azure, on their edge, or in the cloud, operators can transition to a more flexible and scalable model, drive down infrastructure cost, use AI and machine learning (ML) to automate operations and create service differentiation. Furthermore, a hybrid and hyper-scale infrastructure will provide operators with the agility they need to rapidly innovate and experiment with new 5G services on a programmable network.
More specifically, we will further support operators as they evolve their infrastructure and operations using technologies such as software-defined networking, network function virtualization, and service-based architectures. We are bringing to market a carrier-grade platform for edge and cloud to support the operator’s goals to future proof their infrastructure with disaggregated, and containerized network architectures. Recognizing that not everything will move to the public cloud, we will meet operators where they are—whether at the enterprise edge, the network edge, or in the cloud.
Our approach is built on the acquisitions of industry leaders in cloud-native network functions—Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch and on the development of Azure Edge Zones. By bringing together hundreds of engineers with deep experience in the telecommunications space, we are ensuring that our product development process is catering to the most relevant networking needs of the operators. We will leverage the strengths of Microsoft to extend and enhance the current capabilities of industry-leading products such as Affirmed’s 5G core and Metaswitch’s UC portfolio. These capabilities, combined with Microsoft’s broad developer ecosystem and deep business to business partnership programs, provide Microsoft with a unique ability to support the operators as they seek to monetize the capabilities of their networks.
Your customer, your service, powered by our technology
As we build out our partnerships with different operators, it is clear to us that there will be different approaches to technology adoption based on business needs. Some operators may choose to adopt the Azure platform and select a varied mix of virtualized or containerized network function providers. We also have operators that have requested complete end-to-end services as components for their offers. As a part of these discussions, many operators have identified points of control that are important to them, for example:
Control over where a slice, network API, or function is presented to the customer.
Definition of where and how traffic enters and exits their network.
Visibility and control over where key functions are executed for a given customer scenario.
Configuration and performance parameters of core network functions.
As we build out Azure for Operators, we recognize the importance of ensuring operators have the control and visibility they require to manage their unique industry requirements. To that end, here is how our assets come together to provide operators with the platform they need.
Communication Service Providers
Interconnect
It starts with the ability to interconnect deeply with the operator’s network around the globe. We have one of the largest networks that connect with operators at more than 170 points of presence and over 20,000 peering connections around the globe, putting direct connectivity within 25 miles of 85 percent of the world’s GDP. More than 200 operators have already chosen to integrate with the Azure network through our ExpressRoute service, enabling enterprises and partners to link their corporate networks privately and securely to Azure services. We also provide additional routes to connect to the service through options as varied as satellite connectivity and TV White Space spectrum.
Edge platform
This reach helps us to supply operators with cloud computing options that meet the customer wherever those capabilities are needed: at the enterprise edge, the network edge, the network core, or in the cloud. The various form factors, optimized to support the location in which they are deployed, are supported by the Azure platform—providing virtual machine and container services with a common management framework, DevOps support, and security control.
Network functions
We believe in an open platform that leverages the strengths of our partners. Our solutions are a combination of virtualized and containerized services as composable functions, developed by us and by our Network Equipment Provider partners, to support operators’ services such as the Radio Access Network, Mobile Packet Core, Voice and Interconnect services, and other network functions.
Technology from Affirmed and Metaswitch Networks will provide services for Mobile Packet Core, Voice, and Interconnect services.
Cloud solutions and Azure IoT for operators
By exposing these services through the Azure platform, we can combine them with other Azure capabilities such as Azure Cognitive Services (used by more than 1 million developers processing more than 10 billion transaction per day), Azure Machine Learning, and Azure IoT, to bring the power of AI and automation to the delivery of network services. These capabilities, in concert with our partnerships with OSS and BSS providers, enables us to help operators streamline and simplify operations, create new services to monetize the network, and gain greater insights into customer behavior.
In IoT our primary focus is simplifying our solutions to accelerate what we can do together from the edge to the cloud. We’ve done so by creating a platform that provides simple and secure provisioning of applications and devices to Azure cloud solutions through Azure IoT Central, which is the fastest and easiest way to build IoT solutions at scale. IoT Central enables customers to provision an IoT app in seconds, customize it in hours, and go to production the same day. IoT Plug and Play dramatically simplifies all aspects of IoT device support and provides devices that “just work” with any solution and is the perfect complement to achieve speed and simplicity through IoT Central. Azure IoT Central also gives the Mobile Operator the opportunity to monetize more of the IoT solution and puts them in a position to be a re-seller of the IoT Central application platform through their own solutions. Learn more about using Azure IoT for operators here.
Cellular connectivity is increasingly important for IoT solutions and represents a vast and generational shift for mobile operators as the share of devices in market shifts towards the enterprise. We will continue our deep partnership with operators to enable fast and efficient app development and deployment, which is critical to success at the edge. This will help support scenarios such as asset tracking across industries, manufacturing and distribution of smart products, and responsive supply chains. It will also help support scenarios where things are geographically dispersed, such as smart city automation, utility monitoring, and precision agriculture.
Where we go next
Our early engagement with partners such as Telstra and Etisalat helped us shape this path. We joined the 5G Open Innovation Lab as the founding public cloud partner to accelerate enterprise startups and launch new innovations to foster new 5G use cases with even greater access to leading-edge networks. The Lab will create long-term, sustainable developer and commercial ecosystems that will accelerate the delivery of exciting new capabilities at the edge, including pervasive IoT intelligence and immersive mixed reality. And this is just the beginning. I invite you to learn more about our solutions and watch the series of videos we have curated for you.
Microsoft is partnering with the telecom industry to power 5G, cloud and edge technologies.
Microsoft Azure is currently the second most popular cloud platform. Despite this, Microsoft has been making inroads into a number of industries, and has set its sights on the telecom industry.
The telecom industry promises to be a lucrative market for cloud providers, especially with the rollout of 5G. The new wireless technology promises to revolutionize cloud computing, as well as edge computing.
Today starts a new chapter in our close collaboration with the telecommunications industry to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever,” writes Jason Zander Executive Vice President, Microsoft Azure. “We’re building a carrier-grade cloud and bringing more Microsoft technology to the operator’s edge. This, in combination with our developer ecosystem, will help operators to future proof their networks, drive down costs, and create new services and business models.
In Microsoft, operators get a trusted partner who will empower them to unlock the potential of 5G. Enabling them to offer a range of new services such as ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity, mixed reality communications services, network slicing, and highly scalable IoT applications to transform entire industries and communities.
Should Microsoft gain significant traction in this market, it will be another arena where it will be able to substantially challenge market-leader AWS.
Microsoft has scored a big win in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), gaining an exclusive license for OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model.
OpenAI is one of the leading AI research labs. Elon Musk has been one of the biggest critics of AI, believing it poses an existential threat to humanity. Musk was one of the original founders of OpenAI, in the hopes that responsible AI development could help avert disaster.
GPT-3 is “an autoregressive language model with 175 billion parameters, 10x more than any previous non-sparse language model.” The model uses deep learning to better emulate human language patterns.
Microsoft’s latest announcement builds on their existing partnership with OpenAI, which was expanded in May.
”Today, I’m very excited to announce that Microsoft is teaming up with OpenAI to exclusively license GPT-3, allowing us to leverage its technical innovations to develop and deliver advanced AI solutions for our customers, as well as create new solutions that harness the amazing power of advanced natural language generation,” writes Kevin Scott – Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft.
”We see this as an incredible opportunity to expand our Azure-powered AI platform in a way that democratizes AI technology, enables new products, services and experiences, and increases the positive impact of AI at Scale. Our mission at Microsoft is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, so we want to make sure that this AI platform is available to everyone – researchers, entrepreneurs, hobbyists, businesses – to empower their ambitions to create something new and interesting.”
Scott acknowledges that, at this point, it’s hard to imagine the many ways GPT-3 will impact the industry. The partnership, however, ensures Microsoft will continue to be on the forefront of AI development.
According to PA Media, Microsoft quickly confirmed the issue was a result of a cooling failure in its UK South data center. As a result, “Storage, Networking and Virtual Compute resources have been shut down as part of our automated processes to preserve the equipment and prevent damage.”
Companies and organizations have migrated to the cloud in record numbers in the wake of the pandemic. This latest issue, however, demonstrates the challenges involved in maintaining access and uptime when relying on outside companies for mission-critical infrastructure.
Oracle has scored some big wins as it takes on larger cloud rivals.
AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud dominate the US cloud computing market. Oracle, IBM and others continue to fight for market share, leveraging their existing software, services and systems to gain cloud customers.
Oracle has been making significant headway using this strategy. According to Reuters, Oracle has scored contracts with McDonald’s, Albertsons and Humana to move at least some of their business to Oracle’s cloud platform. In addition, Xactly has decided to move the majority of its work to Oracle’s platform.
These are major contracts for one of the underdogs of the industry and should go a long way toward helping Oracle gain ground.
Microsoft has scored a major contract that will see the Redmond-based company be the preferred cloud provider for PepsiCo.
Microsoft’s Azure is firmly in second place in the US cloud market, behind Amazon’s AWS and ahead of Google Cloud. The company has made signification headway, and has been racking up a string of high-profile contracts.
PepsiCo is the latest company to sign on with Azure, choosing it as its preferred cloud platform in a deal that will also see it deploy Microsoft 365 and Teams for all 270,000 employees.
“As a global leader in convenient food and beverages, our commitment to the timely delivery of PepsiCo products has never been more important,” said PepsiCo CIO, Seth Cohen. “Through our partnership with Microsoft, we aim to improve service delivery capabilities to meet rising demand for essential goods while driving new innovations to make our operations and workforce stronger and more resilient for the future.”
“Our partnership with PepsiCo applies Azure and AI capabilities to the ever-changing supply chain and retail landscape in new and exciting ways. By migrating PepsiCo’s global data estate and SAP landscapes to Azure, we’ll be able to help PepsiCo drive efficiencies from farmer to consumer,” said Deb Cupp, Microsoft CVP Enterprise Commercial Business. “We’re also pleased to deliver Microsoft 365 to PepsiCo’s associates worldwide as part of this partnership. Mobile communication and collaboration for PepsiCo’s workforce will be one of the keys to realizing the value Microsoft brings.”
This is a huge win for Microsoft and will no doubt help it convince other companies to give Azure strong consideration.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has released a beta of Honeycode, a low-code development service for cloud computing.
AWS is the current, undisputed champion of cloud computing, with a commanding lead in the market. In spite of that, both Microsoft and Goole have made headway and are chipping away at AWS’ lead.
Simultaneously, one of the biggest trends in the tech industry is low or no-code development. These tools provide a way for organizations to quickly prototype, develop and deploy applications with minimal coding. This can significantly reduce investment cost, and speed up development. Both Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud offer low-code development options.
Now Amazon is playing catchup, with the release of Honeycode. Honeycode is described as “a fully managed service that allows customers to quickly build powerful mobile and web applications – with no programming required.”
According to the company’s announcement, “customers can use a simple visual application builder to create highly interactive web and mobile applications backed by a powerful AWS-built database to perform tasks like tracking data over time and notifying users of changes, routing approvals, and facilitating interactive business processes. Using Amazon Honeycode, customers can create applications that range in complexity from a task-tracking application for a small team to a project management system that manages a complex workflow for multiple teams or departments.”
It’s a safe bet Honeycode will be a popular addition to the AWS ecosystem and help the company as it continues to fend off Microsoft and Google.
Amazon has just fired a shot across Microsoft’s bow with plans to open a Redmond-based office that will house up to 600 AWS employees.
Amazon has been increasing its presence in the Redmond area, with the city being chosen for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite endeavor. The company’s new offices, however, will host AWS engineering teams.
It’s likely no accident Amazon has chosen Redmond for its new offices. In recent years, Microsoft Azure has emerged as the strongest competitor to AWS, so having a presence in Microsoft’s backyard makes sense.
Officials for both Amazon and Redmond touted the announcement as one that would benefit the city, as well as Amazon’s employees.
“Our new Redmond office is part of our plan to continue growing and creating jobs in the Puget Sound region,” said John Schoettler, Amazon’s vice president of global real estate and facilities. “In addition to Redmond’s strong existing talent pool and close access to our Seattle and Bellevue locations, these new facilities will also provide more flexible work options for employees, allowing us to continue our sustainable growth in the region for years to come.”
“We are thrilled that Amazon has decided to create even more jobs and further invest in Redmond,” said Angela Birney, mayor of Redmond. “As we look to the future and people are able to get back to work, Amazon’s commitment to providing jobs for the community by utilizing existing talent in the Puget Sound Region will continue to strengthen Redmond’s growth and prosperity now and for years to come.”
Microsoft announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Metaswitch Networks, a developer of network software.
Metaswitch Networks’ products are used by over 1,000 customers worldwide, and the company has recently pioneered “the development of ultra-high-performance cloud native communications software. This software is underpinning modern cloud-based communication networks, in the core and at the edge.”
In the blog post announcing the acquisition, Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President of Azure Networking, made it clear this focus on cloud-based communication was at the heart of the acquisition.
“The convergence of cloud and communication networks presents a unique opportunity for Microsoft to serve operators globally via continued investment in Azure, adding additional depth to our hyperscale cloud infrastructure with the specialized software required to run virtualized communication functions, applications and networks.”
By combining Metaswitch Networks’ software with Azure, Microsoft will be in a position to better meet the needs of new and existing companies.
“We have a long history of working with operators as they increasingly embrace software-based solutions and continue to support the advancement of cloud-based networking while helping create new partnership opportunities for existing network equipment providers,” continues Khalidi. “Our intention over time is to create modern alternatives to network infrastructure, enabling operators to deliver existing and value-added services – with greater cost efficiency and lower capital investment than they’ve faced in the past.”
Microsoft has announced it is establishing its first data center in New Zealand, as it works to expand its enterprise cloud services in the country.
Microsoft has been working to grow its Azure cloud business and has been making significant headway against market leader AWS. One area where Microsoft is aggressively making headway is in its datacenter regions. The company already has more datacenters globally than any other provider, with 60 regions announced, and more than 140 countries.
“This significant investment in New Zealand’s digital infrastructure is a testament to the remarkable spirit of New Zealand’s innovation and reflects how we’re pushing the boundaries of what is possible as a nation,” said Vanessa Sorenson, general manager, Microsoft New Zealand. “The Fletcher School’s Digital Evolution Index characterizes New Zealand as a ‘standout nation’ demonstrating to the world what the future might look like. I’m confident this investment will help accelerate our digital evolution.”
Microsoft’s announcement should help the company continue its expansion, delivering scalable solutions to New Zealand businesses and organizations.
Microsoft has released its quarterly earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2020, and Azure stands out as one of the company’s big hits.
Analysts were deeply interested in Microsoft’s earnings for this quarter, in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. How the company faired would be a good indicator of the overall impact the pandemic is having. In its earnings, Microsoft beat analysts exceptions, reporting revenue of $35 billion, representing a 15% increase over the year-ago-quarter.
A particular standout was the company’s Azure cloud business, which saw revenue growth of 51%.
“We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months. From remote teamwork and learning, to sales and customer service, to critical cloud infrastructure and security – we are working alongside customers every day to help them adapt and stay open for business in a world of remote everything,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “Our durable business model, diversified portfolio, and differentiated technology stack position us well for what’s ahead.”
“In this dynamic environment, our sales teams and partners executed a solid third quarter, with Commercial Cloud revenue generating $13.3 billion, up 39% year over year,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft. “We remain committed to balancing operational discipline with continued investments in key strategic areas to drive future growth.”
The quarterly report was good news, and Microsoft made a point of highlighting that the pandemic had minimal impact on its revenue. However, there was a note of caution, as the company acknowledged “the effects of COVID-19 may not be fully reflected in the financial results until future periods.”
Microsoft has announced a five-year contract with Coca-Cola to modernize and standardize the beverage company’s software.
The contract covers Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 to provide an integrated solution, as opposed to the fragmented systems the company was using. An integration solution will also help Coca-Cola gain valuable insights from the data it collects. In particular, Dynamics 365 will apply artificial intelligence to drive insights.
“At The Coca-Cola Company, innovation and growth are key pillars of our business,” said Barry Simpson, senior vice president and chief information and integrated services officer of The Coca-Cola Company. “This partnership with Microsoft allows us to really step change our employee experience through replacing previously disparate and fragmented systems. These platforms allow us to deliver relevant, personalized experiences as we network our organization.”
“Coca-Cola is a pioneer and forward-thinking leader in its industry,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president, Worldwide Commercial Business, Microsoft. “Today, the company is taking its digital innovation a step further, leveraging Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and Azure to better connect people and opportunities through breakthrough productivity and powerful information management that will drive continued business success over the next decade.”
The contract is a big win for Microsoft as it continues to make headway in the cloud marketplace.
Microsoft has announced a big win for its Azure cloud platform: a deal to host BlackRock’s Aladdin infrastructure on Azure.
Aladdin is an “end-to-end investment management and operations platform used by institutional investors including asset managers, pension funds, insurers and corporate treasurers.” By moving the infrastructure to Azure, BlackRock hopes to bring enhanced capabilities and an improved experience to its clients.
“As both a user and a provider of Aladdin, this decision reflects BlackRock’s ongoing commitment to continuous innovation and scalable operating solutions,” said Rob Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock. “Aladdin infrastructure deployed on Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform will provide BlackRock with enhanced capabilities to deliver the best outcomes for our Aladdin clients.”
“By bringing Aladdin to the cloud, Microsoft will support BlackRock in further enhancing its client experience while also enabling continuous innovation in the financial services industry,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business. “Together, we will empower an ecosystem of financial services customers running their most critical workloads in the cloud.”
The two companies are committed to working together to further sustainability through the use of big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The deal is a big win for Microsoft, and will likely help it move further into the financial services industry.
