Tableau Tackles Analytics at Scale, Not Through Tech Alone but with a ‘Culture of Data’

by Brad Shimmin, posted in Big Data
B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

  • At its annual user conference, Tableau rolled out several data prep and management capabilities, highlighted by the ability for Tableau Prep Builder users to write out to third-party data stores, such as the popular Snowflake solution.
  • This, along with several ongoing cloud and database initiatives, marks a significant philosophical shift for the vendor away from pure analytics and toward a more complete solution to help buyers establish a company-wide data culture.

For a company powered by analytics, Tableau put very few on display during its annual user conference in Las Vegas last week. Certainly, there were numerous stats to be found, particularly relating to the adoption of Tableau Online, where there are now 15,000+ active customer accounts. What’s more, Tableau Online is maintaining 100% YoY growth, as reported by CEO Adam Selipsky – a fitting fact given that Tableau and its new, cloud-first parent company, Salesforce, are now free to talk integration and rationalization. Continue reading “Tableau Tackles Analytics at Scale, Not Through Tech Alone but with a ‘Culture of Data’” →

Is There Room for Start-ups in the Lucrative AI Chip Market?

by Rena Bhattacharyya, posted in Big Data
R. Bhattacharyya

Summary Bullets:

• Competition in the AI chipset space is heating up; new players are looking to join the fray and they are raising impressive amounts of capital.

• New vendors face stiff competition from tech heavyweights such as Nvidia, hyper-scale cloud providers such as Google and Amazon, and well-funded Chinese organizations.

Just as the market for AI platforms is heating up, so is competition in the AI chipset space. And it isn’t only the large well-established competitors such as Nvidia, Google, and Huawei vying for market share. New players are looking to join the fray as well, and they are raising impressive amounts of capital. Untether, a Toronto-based chip manufacturing start-up, announced in early November that it had raised $20 million in series A funding. The one year old company plans to release a chip designed for AI inference using near-memory design, reducing the distance data must travel, thereby moving data to processors at 2.5 petabits per second, which improves overall processing efficiency. Across the pond, Graphcore, a UK-based organization, has raised a substantial $200 million to develop its Intelligence Processing Units (IPUs), parallel processors designed for machine learning.

Continue reading “Is There Room for Start-ups in the Lucrative AI Chip Market?” →

DXC Technology Considers Divesting Non-Core Units After Reporting a Multi-Billion Quarterly Loss

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Cloud Enable
Amy Larsen DeCarlo – Principal Analyst, Security and Data Center Services

Summary Bullets:

• In the same month DXC announced two new acquisitions, the company said it is may sell off three non-core business units

• DXC wants to invest the proceeds to strengthen its core IT outsourcing business

Less than two months after assuming the role of President and CEO at DXC, Mike Salvino made waves when he told financial analysts on an earnings call the company is considering the sale of non-core business units. Saviano said executives are looking seriously at divesting three organizations: Workplace & Mobility; U.S. State and Local Health Human Services; and Horizontal Business Process Services. This comes as DXC posted dismal Q2 FY 2020 earnings that saw revenues slide 3.4% versus the same quarter a year ago. Continue reading “DXC Technology Considers Divesting Non-Core Units After Reporting a Multi-Billion Quarterly Loss” →

AWS and Oracle Protest Microsoft’s Surprise $10 Billion Pentagon JEDI Contract Win

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Cloud Enable
Amy Larsen DeCarlo – Principal Analyst, Security and Data Center Services

Summary Bullets:

• Microsoft’s JEDI win after an often controversial procurement process that many said favored AWS caught the industry off guard

• Arguing that the process was tainted by Department of Defense (DoD) employee conflicts of interest and political interventions, Oracle and AWS are both contesting the procurement in court

The DoD sent shockwaves through the cloud computing sector in October with the announcement that Microsoft Azure had won the multi-billion single award Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI). Cloud behemoth AWS, long considered to be the one to beat in the closely watched and often controversial process, expressed surprise at the outcome. Some insiders have suggested that challenges during the bidding gave Microsoft the time to pull together a more cohesive and competitive cloud play. But others, including Oracle, a one-time competitor for the deal, are calling out the process as inherently unfair.
Continue reading “AWS and Oracle Protest Microsoft’s Surprise $10 Billion Pentagon JEDI Contract Win” →

5G Use Case Demos: How Different Operators See the Future

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon – Research Director, Business Network and IT Services – Americas

Summary Bullets:

• At Mobile World Congress Americas and at the AT&T Business Summit, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T showcased their latest (or their splashiest) planned 5G use cases.

• While many of these applications are still in trial mode, they demonstrate the kinds of use cases key operators envision will be possible and compelling as 5G become ubiquitous enough for enterprise adoption.

At recent events, including Mobile World Congress Americas and the AT&T Business Summit, operator booth demos were dominated by 5G use cases, probably because they make the splashiest demos and point to the future of what may be possible rather than the more sedate set of offerings in the market today.
Continue reading “5G Use Case Demos: How Different Operators See the Future” →

Edge Computing Will Underpin Long-Term Digital Transformation Strategies

by Gary Barton, posted in Cloud Enable, Network
G. Barton
G. Barton

Summary Bullets:

  • Edge computing can enable a wide range of technologies as part of a digital transformation program.
  • Edge computing supports low-latency services and offers new ‘branch in a box’ capabilities.

AT&T’s 2019 Business Summit had a big focus on edge computing. AT&T offers a convincing vision with use cases for both its multi-access edge compute (MEC) and network edge compute (NEC) platforms. However, the questions from the enterprises present at the event suggested that many are uncertain about what edge computing means and what it may offer their businesses. This is unsurprising, as the majority of service providers are still developing their own models for deploying edge compute capabilities, let alone offering fully formed go-to-market models. Continue reading “Edge Computing Will Underpin Long-Term Digital Transformation Strategies” →

AI in the Contact Center: Why and How?

by Gary Barton, posted in Communicate
Gary Barton – Analyst, Business Network and IT Services

Summary Bullets:

• Most enterprises agree that AI delivers benefits – but not necessarily the benefits they expected

• AI projects require clear goals and a dedicated project management team, as well as external advice

GlobalData’s research into AI includes talking to enterprises about how and why they are using AI-powered technologies in the contact center. This research has given light to a number of key trends, and also highlighted examples of best practice.

What Technologies Are Being Used?

GlobalData’s research shows that, perhaps unsurprisingly, AI-powered chatbots are the most prevalent use case for AI in the contact center. The use of text-based chatbots on websites is now common, but GlobalData’s research suggest that voice-based chatbots are more of a focus for enterprises. Cost reduction is a key reason for this, particularly for contact centers in North America and Europe. But chatbots also deliver the potential for increased customer service with the potential for quicker response times to more simple inquiries. Continue reading “AI in the Contact Center: Why and How?” →

Survey Results Indicate Strong Investment in AI by Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Sectors

by Rena Bhattacharyya, posted in IT Leader
R. Bhattacharyya

Summary Bullets:

  • Organizations in banking, financial services, and insurance are more likely to prioritize current and future investment in AI than overall survey respondents.
  • AI-driven solutions can help the sector verify customer identification and assist with fraud detection as well as anti-money laundering and know-your-customer initiatives.

Banking, financial services, and insurance organizations are eager to leverage AI solutions such as chat bots, deep learning, and machine learning. According to GlobalData’s most recent IT Customer Insight survey, organizations in this sector are more likely to be prioritizing investment in AI technology than their counterparts across other vertical industries. As shown below, 63% of respondents in banking, financial services, and insurance currently prioritize investments in AI, compared to only 54% of companies across all vertical markets. Similarly, 64% of financial services, insurance, and banking organizations have prioritized AI for investment in the next two years, versus only 55% of overall survey respondents. Continue reading “Survey Results Indicate Strong Investment in AI by Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Sectors” →

NVIDIA is Poised to Dominate the Edge with its GPU Strengths and Partnership Strategy

by Chris Drake, posted in IT Leader

Summary Bullets:

• NVIDIA recently unveiled a broad swath of initiatives that will help establish it as a leading player in the emerging market for edge computing technologies.

• New partnerships with Ericsson and Red Hat are specifically designed to help 5G network operators exploit the potential of NVIDIA’s graphics processing units (GPUs) at the edge.

Edge computing is fast becoming one of IT’s hottest new growth areas and is widely seen as one of the technologies that will usher in a new era of digital services for businesses and consumers. Many IT companies are targeting emerging opportunities to deliver edge computing, including NVIDIA, a specialist provider of GPUs for the gaming industry.

At the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Los Angeles, NVIDIA unveiled a broad swath of initiatives that will help to establish it as a leading player in this increasingly important market. Continue reading “NVIDIA is Poised to Dominate the Edge with its GPU Strengths and Partnership Strategy” →

IBM Data and AI Forum: Say Hello to a More Accessible IBM Watson

by Brad Shimmin, posted in Big Data
B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

  • Just one short year after an internal reorganization to more fully meld artificial intelligence (AI) with data and analytics, IBM is back with a new, more accessible vision for IBM Watson.
  • This time around, the company isn’t focused on game shows or scientific discovery but instead on solving very basic, often human-centric challenges.

When it comes to chasing the market’s heated but somewhat unrequited love affair with AI, IBM has certainly done its part in terms of generating hype for its multi-billion dollar investment in IBM Watson. That hype, which has taken aim at some rather lofty goals such as identifying and diagnosing cancer, has not fully panned out, with some early adopters scaling back or halting operations altogether due to concerns over cost and efficacy. Continue reading “IBM Data and AI Forum: Say Hello to a More Accessible IBM Watson” →