Hot Cloud Computing News: Nerdio, AWS, BT, Oracle, More Make the Cut
We’ve got a meaty roundup all ready to go for you. Find out what’s happening this week.
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Nerdio is beefing up its sales teams throughout major parts of the world.
The company, which specializes in management of Microsoft Azure platforms (and which it offers to managed services providers), will add more sales folks in the United Kingdom. It’s also launching its in-country efforts in Canada and Down Under (Australia and New Zealand).
Nerdio, headquartered in Illinois, says the expansion comes in response to higher demand for ways to simplify Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 environments.
As more enterprises in the United States adopt cloud computing in reaction to COVID-19, more continue to choose Amazon Web Services.
That’s according to technology research firm Information Services Group. To be sure, data have yet to materialize that indicate a rival has surpassed AWS. The public cloud computing vendor remains the largest in the world.
At any rate, ISG just published its 2021 ISG Provider Lens AWS Ecosystem Partners report. Its findings show that organizations continue to implement various cloud technologies and are largely doing so through MSPs in the AWS ecosystem.
Main priorities include moving legacy SAP workloads into the cloud, ISG found, as well as using AWS data analytics and machine learning services to derive insights and adjust strategies. IoT represents another big area of activity. AWS MSPs are leading the charge in meeting each of those needs, ISG analysts said. Consultants, too, are playing a significant role in shaping U.S. enterprises AWS strategies, ISG added.
“These providers use a comprehensive, modular approach to cater to a wide range of requirements and can bring a combination of industry specialists, technologists and management experts to the table to guide clients on their cloud journeys,” analysts noted.
ISG evaluated 59 providers across six AWS specialties. It named Accenture, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, LTI and Wipro as leaders in all of those practices. Tech Mahindra emerged as a leader in four, while Rackspace Technology came in as a leader in three.
The managed cloud computing provider (whose global partner channel chief just resigned this week — we’re still waiting for an official statement from Rackspace on the departure) is buying a company in Asia.
Rackspace has agreed to acquire Just Analytics, which specializes in cloud data, analytics and AI services. The deal gives Rackspace more reach into Asia Pacific (a hot market right now), and bolsters its Microsoft Azure credentials. Just Analytics holds several regional Microsoft partner of the year awards; its platform resides on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.
Just Analytics operates out of Singapore, with some employees in Vietnam and India. It designs and builds pipelines that turn data into actionable information.
“The acquisition of Just Analytics ties into our growing professional services focus and brings market-leading cloud-based data, analytics and AI capabilities that are in demand from our customers and prospects,” said Rackspace CEO Kevin Jones.
For the foreseeable future, Rackspace says it will keep the Just Analytics brand. The name is well known, Rackspace says, and there’s no need to hinder that recognition (unlike what some other high-profile companies think about their own recent transactions).
Global service provider BT is on a roll this week.
First, the U.K.-based company, which is building out its managed cloud services portfolio, said it has teamed with Rackspace. The efforts target multinational enterprises.
BT will deploy its hybrid cloud services by using Rackspace’s platforms within its data centers. This will give customers access to Rackspace’s cloud management tools — complete with automation, analytics and artificial intelligence — while combining them with BT’s network and security capabilities, BT said.
Rackspace CEO Kevin Jones agreed.
“BT customers will now have access to the best of public cloud, private cloud and traditional hosted environments alongside the speed, security and resilience of BT’s worldwide networks,” he said.
Meanwhile, BT also is partnering with multicloud provider VMware. Together they’ll deliver secure access service edge (SASE) for a cloud-first approach to networking, security and edge computing. That will allow end users to access their public and private cloud applications from where they are located. BT said this will support more trends including the adoption of IoT and hybrid work.
BT will fully manage and support the service on behalf of its customers. Initial features include URL filtering; cloud access security broker safeguards; and content filtering and inspection.
The vendor already offers a similar capability based on VMware’s SD-WAN.
“SASE has emerged as the blueprint for modern networking and security, and we are pleased BT has selected VMware SASE to simplify their customers‘ multicloud journey,” Craig Connors, vice president and general manager for VMware’s SASE business, said.
HPE’s Aruba has big news.
Federal government users now may officially buy Aruba Central, a cloud-native platform for managing campus, branch, remote and data center networks. Aruba recently earned formal “Authorized” designation with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).
The means Aruba Central now qualifies as meeting the Office of Management and Budget’s FedRAMP policies. As such, federal agencies can use Aruba Central for their unified WLAN, switching and VPN edge-to-cloud infrastructure.
FedRAMP promotes adoption of secure cloud services across the U.S. federal government. Companies that earn FedRAMP approvals have proven they comply with standards for security and risk assessment, authorization, continuous monitoring and more.
“We’re seeing our government customers migrate an increasing number of workloads to public, private and hybrid cloud environments, and this is placing an increased emphasis on FedRAMP compliance,” said Dolan Sullivan, vice president of Federal for Aruba. “Security is built in to our solutions from the ground up and today’s announcement underscores Aruba’s commitment to helping government customers modernize their networks and leverage innovative technologies to solve their most pressing IT challenges while mitigating risk.”
Such protections are critical, said Jon Green, Aruba’s chief security officer.
“Delivering services from the public cloud always results in security and risk management concerns,” he said. “Our customers are being asked to trust us to take care of their data without themselves having direct visibility into our security practices. Accreditations like FedRAMP provide assurance to our customers that an independent, federally authorized auditing organization has inspected each of our security controls and found them sufficient.”
Oracle has joined peers AWS and Microsoft in launching a data center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Oracle, and its channel partners, now can provision cloud services throughout the country. Indeed, South Africa is fast becoming a major cloud computing consumer. More banks and telecom firms are demanding the capabilities. Partners, too, are focusing more on the country. Still, it’s a hard place to operate because of infrastructure challenges, including higher electricity prices and frequent power cuts, Reuters noted.
This latest data center marks Oracle’s 37th. The company plans to open 44 more this year alone throughout the world as it seeks to compete against AWS, Microsoft and Google (providers with which it also partners). Oracle isn’t setting its sights on other parts of South Africa, but it could open more cloud regions in West Africa in 2023, a representative told Reuters.
Expect a variety of cloud computing providers to keep opening more data centers around the globe. Soaring demand is pushing vendors to expand, especially to locations close to users, in efforts to reduce latency.
Finally, if you’ve been thinking about teaming up with China-based cloud computing provider Alibaba, you might want to hold off.
On Wednesday, Reuters published an exclusive report about the Biden Administration’s plans to determine whether Alibaba poses a risk to national security.
The feds want to know how Alibaba stores U.S. clients’ personal data and intellectual property. Authorities further are looking into whether the Chinese government could access that information.
Alibaba has yet to rank as one of the large cloud vendors. According to research firm Canalys, the company only serves about 4 million customers. Alibaba’s cloud division accounts for just 8% of the overall company’s sales, Reuters said.
Finally, if you’ve been thinking about teaming up with China-based cloud computing provider Alibaba, you might want to hold off.
On Wednesday, Reuters published an exclusive report about the Biden Administration’s plans to determine whether Alibaba poses a risk to national security.
The feds want to know how Alibaba stores U.S. clients’ personal data and intellectual property. Authorities further are looking into whether the Chinese government could access that information.
Alibaba has yet to rank as one of the large cloud vendors. According to research firm Canalys, the company only serves about 4 million customers. Alibaba’s cloud division accounts for just 8% of the overall company’s sales, Reuters said.
If you’re looking for this week’s cloud computing news all in one spot, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got a meaty roundup for you. It features Nerdio, Amazon Web Services, Rackspace Technology, BT, VMware, HPE-owned Aruba, Oracle and Alibaba.
Whew!
That might seem like a lot to process, but you’ll want to get in the know. Find out who’s expanding, who’s doing some M&A (as if the channel hasn’t been full of that already this year), who’s teaming up, who’s attracting the most customers and who might not be doing a lot of business in the United States.
Check out our slideshow above to get the scoop on what’s happening at each of these channel-focused cloud giants. (Yes, including Alibaba — and you’ll want to read why we’ve included the company in our cloud computing news roundup).
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Kelly Teal or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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