Computers will soon be faster thanks to the fusing of CPUs and RAM. This is accordingly to that’s what SK Hynix CEO Seok-Hee Lee thinks.Â
The head of the world’s second-largest memory maker behind Samsung made this prediction during his keynote address at IEEE’s International Reliability Physics Symposium. Assuring that the central processing unit and the memory will eventually be integrated within a single die to deliver higher performance computing systems.
To achieve this feat, Lee, whose company only produces memories and not CPUs, believes the chip manufacturing industry will need to come together and adopt a collaboration model focused on open innovation.
IDG’s annual State of the CIO survey clearly shows how the pandemic has affected IT spending. After a 2020 impacted by tightening budgets and a sole focus on mission-critical initiatives, the priorities for this year are somewhat widening.
This year’s three main business drivers for IT are transforming business processes, increasing cybersecurity protections and improving customer experience.
To do so, CIOs will be putting most of their money into technologies. This will include data and business analytics, security and risk management, cloud-based enterprise applications and customer experience technologies. Global budgets are expected to increase by 6.2% to cover this broader spectrum.Â
News story #3: Cloud spending (finally) surpasses on-prem
And speaking of spending — Â enterprise cloud spending topped that made on data centers for the first time last year. Nothing too unexpected in terms of IT news of the week. But one thing is to know change is coming, and a whole different story is to have confirmation.
A global report by the Synergy Research Group reveals businesses spent 35 percent more on cloud-based solutions, taking the total up to almost $130 billion. Conversely, spending for on-premise solutions went down six percent to less than $90 billion.
CIOs are spending most of their cloud budget on servers storage, security and software. When it comes to software, however, it is important to mention that the report mainly looked at server OS and virtualisation software — comparing software-as-a-service with on-prem business apps software would render way different results.
From industry insiders to technology evangelists, all of them are worth your attention. Top 10 Belgian Cloud Pros that you should follow on Twitter.
Are you Belgian and into cloud? Looking to relocate to Belgium to pursue a career in cloud computing? These are the experts you should be following on Twitter. From industry insiders to technology evangelists, all of them are worth your attention. Top 10 Belgian Cloud Pros to Follow on Twitter.
Now happily retired, Christian is a cloud expert and advocate with over 35 years of experience working at tech behemoths like HPE, where he served as the chief technologist of the firm’s cloud advisory services. He is an avid tweeter and blogger and regularly shares news and analysis about the global cloud industry.
Jan is a senior program manager at Microsoft, where he helps the company’s customers and partners design and develop their cloud ecosystems, with a focus on IoT, machine learning and cognitive services. He has been a Microsoft MVP for many years, conducting training and speaking at industry events across the world.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Codit, an Azure-focused integrated solutions company, Sam is a Microsoft Azure MVP and frequently speaks on the topics of AI, IoT, Integration and API management. Highly experienced in IoT and cloud-based solutions, Sam posts regularly about these industries.
Frederik is a business development and cloud expert who, back in 2001, founded Skyscrapers, a company looking to accelerate SaaS development with a combination of AWS, Cloud Native, DevOps, and Kubernetes. He shares his insight and expertise in these areas through his company’s blog.
Wim is a cloud architect with over a decade worth of experience working with Microsoft’s infrastructure technologies. He works for cloud services provider Synergics, where he focuses on designing Azure hybrid solutions. A true Microsoft cloud advocate, Wim is a Microsoft MVP and founding board member of the MC2MC Microsoft cloud community and writes regularly about hybrid cloud on his blog.
Peter is part of the company’s Azure Technical Trainer team. A Microsoft MVP and certified trainer, he is devoted to teaching partners and customers the ways of Azure – from guidance on how to deploy and manage workloads to helping other experts get Azure certified. He is also a coveted public speaker and shares his knowledge via his blog.
This cloud solutions architect at managed cloud services provider DexMach is a devoted Azure expert and advocate. Whether it is on Twitter, on his blog, or at an industry event, Karel is passionate about helping the Azure community grow, constantly sharing news and educational resources about the platform.
Glenn is CTO and founder of Zure Belgium, where he helps clients design, deploy and maintain scalable Azure PaaS solutions. A Microsoft MVP and certified trainer, he is an active member of the Belgian Azure user group AZUG, as well as a frequent speaker at industry events.
Geert is a cloud architect and Microsoft incubator at De Cronos Groep. There he helps kick-start new initiatives based on the Microsoft tech stack and designs cloud-native solutions on the Azure platform. A frequent speaker at industry events, Geert regularly shares his Azure expertise through his blog and YouTube channel.
A Microsoft insider, Wesley is a cloud solutions architect focused on ensuring that the company’s customers are successful with their data and advanced analytics projects. In particular, Wesley is an expert in working with the various components of the Azure AI platform. He is a frequent speaker at numerous community event and regularly shares Azure news and tips.
If you are a cloud specialist living in Luxembourg or are looking to get into cloud, discover our top 10 experts from Luxembourg to follow on Twitter.
Cloud computing is an umbrella under which many a successful professional career can be built by those who decide to go the way of IT. If you are a cloud specialist living in Luxembourg or are looking to get into cloud and could use the advice of a local, here’s a list with the folks you should be following on Twitter. Discover our top 10 experts from Luxembourg to follow on Twitter.
Top 10 Cloud Experts from Luxembourg to Follow on Twitter
Adam is a true cloud enthusiast who works as an IT services consultant and outsourcing processes specialist, always approaching IT from a business transformation perspective. He tweets extensively about industry trends and news, but also about many other topics of interest like space exploration and career advice.
Fernando is an Oracle ACE working as a Senior Database Architect at eProssed. He is highly experienced with the Oracle Database, mainly with Oracle Engineered Systems with focus in mission-critical and high availability environments. Fernando is also co-founder and board member of LuxOUG, and he blogs extensively about all things Oracle and disaster recovery.
Rodrigo is a Database Administrator (DBA) specialising in Oracle. In fact, he is an Oracle Certified Master (OCM) and Oracle ACE, a recognition that speaks to his deep expertise in the technology and his contributions to the platform. Rodrigo is also a chairman at LuxOUG and blogs extensively about all things Oracela and DBA.
Laurent is a Microsoft cloud expert working as Head of Digital Transformation for consultancy firm Elgon and Ainos. He is a Microsoft Office 365 MVP, a focus he complements with expertise in areas like project and change management and business development. He tweets regularly about all things cloud and Microsoft, as well as general interest tech news and new developments regarding the star-up scene.
Andre is an Oracle ACE working as a Cloud Architect Team Lead and Senior Database Engineer at Digora, where he works with OCI, AWS and Azure. He is an Oracle Apps DBA, Exadata MAA, DG and HA expert, as well as a co-Founder LuxOUG. He blogs about DBA in his native Portuguese.
Paolo is CEO at cloud start-up Omnis Cloud, where he helps partners and customers deliver cloud solutions based on open-source platforms which allow private and public sector organisations to take back control of their data. He is passionate about Linux, data privacy, security and regulations, topics he tweets about regularly.
Arnaud is a Tech Lead at Bâloise Assurances Luxembourg. He is a senior .NET developer who describes himself as a Microsoft Azure addict and is a co-founder of the Luxembourg .NET User Group. He is highly involved with the country’s cloud community and tweets extensively about the topic.
Gildas is a DevOps and Software Engineer at the Luxembourg International Bank. He combines his interest for development with that for the sysadmin domain. He is a big advocate of the DevOps culture and the co-creator and organizer of Voxxed Days Luxembourg, a new event focusing on microservices.
Andrey is a FinTech Adviser at Luxembourg Bankers’ Association. He has combined expertise in FinTech and open innovation in financial services, and he is passionate about all the technologies impacting this industry – including, of course, the cloud.
Mathieu is Chief Technology Officer at Squaremiled, role to which he comes after years working as a software craftsman and architect. He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and a co-founder of the Luxembourg .NET User Group. He tweets and share news about the topic.
Robot Butlers and Virtual Influencers, Tech´s flashy new toys, A new logistics network, and Microsoft cloud comes to retail... Discover our weekly tech news.
Robot Butlers and Virtual Influencers – Tech´s flashy new toys, A new logistics network, and Microsoft cloud comes to retail… Discover our weekly tech news.
Robot Butlers and Virtual Influencers – Listen to the podcast version
A friendly reminder that you can now enjoy our weekly updates in podcast version.
CES; the world´s biggest technology show; is at full throttle since Monday, having changed its traditional Las Vegas setting for virtual presentations due to the pandemic.
The event is known for its outlandish new tech concepts and products. A way for consumer brands to show off and set the agenda for the upcoming year. And, although most of these technology predictions don´t end up panning out, there is always something to learn from them.
These year´s big reveals include a robot butler that can both serve you dinner and wash the dishes afterwards. A smart pet portal that lets your cat in and out while keeping other neighbourhood animals out, and Reah Keem — LG’s new virtual influencer with around 6,000 followers on Instagram.
From ‘cloud kitchens’ that centralise all meal orders for a given area of the city, to more ubiquitous and smaller warehouses closer to the delivery location. The logistics infrastructure is changing.
The pandemic has given e-commerce firms a boom, creating the need to update existing delivery networks to be able to keep up with demand. Furthermore, expected delivery times are narrowing, with costumers now being accustomed to delivery windows of less than 30 minutes.
All in all, this new wave of e-commerce developments is quietly reshaping our cities in a time where their streets are mostly transited by delivery vans and bicycles. This expansion, experts say, is comparable to the laying of fibre-optic cable 20 years ago, and its effects will be long lasting.
Following the release of its cloud service for the healthcare market, Microsoft has made available on preview its second vertical cloud, this time around for the retail industry.
The offering combines services and features from Azure, Microsoft and Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform to help the company’s retail customers provide an end-to-end shopper journey.
Microsoft also announced new features for its Dynamics 365 Commerce, its app providing back-office, in-store, call centre and e-commerce solutions. The app will now offer both in-built B2C and B2B commerce on a single platform.
Translating Cat Meows; what the EU could do about emissions; Quantum moves ahead; and an anti-poaching cloud cover... Discover our Weekly News.
Translating Cat Meows; what the EU could do about emissions; Quantum moves ahead; and an anti-poaching cloud cover… Discover our Weekly News.
Translating Cat Meows: Do you speak cat?
What did the cat just say?
According to research, cats do not share a common language. Every cat is unique and tailors its meows to its owner (a.k.a. human servant). And, just like it happens with people, some cats are chattier than others.
Well, a former Amazon Alexa developer has created an app that leverages AI and machine learning to translate those meows into human language.
MeowTalk already has 13 phrases in its vocabulary, including “Feed me!” and “Leave me alone.”
You can bet you’ll be hearing the first one a lot more.
The use of renewable energies and other traditional approaches to curbing emissions are no longer enough if the EU wants to meet its 2050 climate-neutrality target.
Enter technology.
From large-scale, data-powered simulations of the Earth’s climate to green data centers, there are plenty of emerging technology initiatives underway for which EU funding could be a game-changer.
The folks at Politico have compiled a shortlist for you to bring up over dinner.
Several of the world’s leading research institutions and tech companies have been working on their own take on quantum computing for a while now.
One of the key differences between the various approaches out there is what is used as the basis of the computer’s qubits, the basic units of information on which quantum computers operate.
While technology juggernauts like IBM and Intel had traditionally opted for using tiny superconducting loops as qubits, the use of trapped-ion systems remained marginal.
Now that is changing. Ion traps have gained traction, which is good for competition.
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has revealed how its collaboration with Google Cloud is helping protect endangered species from poachers.
Beyond developing custom machine learning models to identify and track threatened animals across the globe, ZSL used a network of acoustic sensors to listen for gunshots in a nature reserve in Cameroon.
The organisation then used the data collected to generate insights on poacher activity, revealing key details like what time of day poachers tend to be more active and where.
ZSL hopes to evolve these insights into a monitoring system that is able to provide alerts in real time.
According to a report by the Financial Times, Apple Siri may be the new Google. In other words, Apple might be working on their own search engine in a move to make Siri a one-stop shop.Â
The rumours emerged at a time when big tech is under growing scrutiny for its monopolistic practices.
Besides trying to capitalise on the current media agenda to appear more pro-competition, Apple Siri intends to eliminate the need for its popular assistant to resort to Google searches whenever a query is made.Â
Experts, however, believe the move might be a stepping stone towards a full-fledged search engine that eliminates the Google factor altogether.
Will Apple Siri be the new Google? Edge computing in 2021
In addition, a new Forrester report points at 5 predictions about how technological transformation will impact edge computing in 2021.Â
Spending on edge computing is expected to grow at the detriment of the public cloud. Orchestration and 5G will also keep on spreading.
Edge hosting is likely to become its own marketplace, with content delivery companies reaching out to colocation partners to build a widely distributed network of data centres that can host applications closer to where they are used.
AI will also move towards the edge, making machine learning happen closer to the source rather than within the data centre.
Microsoft is celebrating a record quarter, fuelled by the growth in cloud adoption brought about by the epidemic.
The company’s core cloud business grew 31% over the last quarter, with Azure’s revenue jumping up by 47%.
Enterprise software giant SAP had a few cloud updates as well this week. The firm announced a new roadmap to shift to a co-innovation, one-data model that prioritises cloud-based subscriptions over traditional upfront licensing.
Fishing for Data, data storage, data center, AI, cloud gaming and DevOps, discover latest news with Mission Control Center by Mindquest.
Fishing for Data, cloud storage, data center, AI, cloud gaming and DevOps, discover latest news with Mission Control Center by Mindquest.
Data storage & Liquid cooling
Some weeks ago we
learnt how a future where cloud gaming was the norm could see emissions rise by
30%.
Maintaining a data centre and a data storage is a costly endeavour. Especially because of how much power is devoted to cooling the hardware. But Microsoft has a solution.
Earlier this week, the company retrieved a cylinder-shaped data centre it had sunk off the Scotland coast two years ago. Albeit covered by algae and barnacles,; the data centre is in perfect working order and has in fact proven to be more reliable and efficient than traditional server rack environments.
Researchers attribute the positive results to a combination of less human interaction and cooler temperatures; as well as to the nitrogen that was used for ventilation instead of the usual oxygen. Which reduces corrosion.
Although one could wonder how an ocean floor full of servers would affect global water temperatures.
An international coalition of medical experts has introduced the
world’s first standards for clinical trials involving artificial
intelligence.
The standards, which were published on Nature Medicine and The
Lancet, are aimed at tackling the current hype around AI and preventing
interested parties from leveraging the media attention to sell dubious
research.
The move comes at a time when the entire world is laser-focused on Covid vaccine clinical trials. An area in which AI can help speed up things immensely. Applied wrongly, however, the technology could endanger millions of people.
In an interview with
SiliconANGLE, Gene Kim, the DevOps guru behind books like “The Phoenix
Project” stressed how vital DevOps is to the future of the
enterprise.
At a time when ensuring effective data storage, management and
analytics is so pressing, businesses are prioritising developer operations to
make informed business decisions.
Kim argues that DevOps not only helps organisations’ bottom
line; it is the new bottom line.
A focus on empowering developers, Kim says, will undoubtedly reward companies with unprecedented freedom and agility.
When it comes to all things enterprise technology, these are the principal platforms that make up the Microsoft Technology Stack.
When it comes to enterprise technology, the Microsoft Technology Stack reaches almost as far as the eye can see. From operating systems and development tools to cloud computing, the company owns an extremely diversified portfolio of solutions that can be hard to keep track of as an IT professional.
Don’t get lost in the clutter. These are the principal platforms that make up the Microsoft Technology Stack.
.NET
An open-source,
cross-platform development framework used to build all sorts of applications.
.NET, allows developers to choose among a wide variety of programming
languages, code editors and libraries, giving users the flexibility and
scalability to build solutions for everything from web and mobile to IoT.
It is these broad
capabilities that make .NET one of the world’s most popular developer
platforms. As such, it benefits from the support of a vast community and an
extensive repository of libraries.
GitHub
GitHub has been part
of Microsoft since the company acquired it in 2018. The platform is used by
both amateur and expert developers to host code, review it and collaborate by
focusing on version control and following a continuous integration, continuous
delivery (CI/CD) philosophy.
Its impressive
community is what really fuels GitHub. Millions of programmers upload their
work and review each other’s code through the platform. As such, GitHub is one
of the world’s largest open-access repositories and collaborative projects
platforms.
Furthermore, the fact
that is used by hobbyists, corporations and top professionals alike has turned
GitHub into a sort of LinkedIn for developers and tech enthusiasts. A place to
showcase one’s talent and concrete achievements.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is one
of today’s leading cloud-based productivity platforms. It combines the
traditional MS Office suite with a set of collaboration tools and features like
cloud-based storage and Teams to provide organizations and individuals with the
means to get things done wherever they are located.
It is a mix of software like Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, with flexible and scalable cloud storage and security and world-class security. From an IT perspective, it requires companies to deploy, maintain and update an infrastructure that is adapted to business needs while preserving security and a nimble spirit.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are all-encompassing software toolsets with capabilities extending across marketing, sales and customer service. As a leading CRM, Dynamics 365 allows organisations to easily plan and execute operations from a single platform. The speed, efficiency and cohesiveness derived from its use have made CRM a staple of today’s business management – as well as one of the most profitable specialisations in the IT world.
Dynamics 365 is a scalable solution that allows for advanced customization, making it adaptable to the needs of each company. It is the job of technical MS experts to set up, customize and maintain this environment in a way that maximizes efficiency, user satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Microsoft Azure is the
company’s public cloud computing platform. A competitor to Amazon Web Services
(AWS), Google Cloud, and IBM Cloud, Azure provides companies with a wide range
of cloud services, including computing, storage, analytics and networking.
Azure is an
open-source-friendly, adaptable and scalable platform that fits the needs of
every customer. Furthermore, Azure is industry-specific, providing dedicated
tools to sectors like healthcare, e-commerce or retail. It offers 4 different
types of cloud computing: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a
service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS) and serverless.
A whole army of professionals is needed to design, deploy and maintain such cloud ecosystems.
The Microsoft Power
Platform enables businesses to create and deploy custom-made workflow apps and
reports that help them easily extract, process, and analyse data. The Power
Platform is integrated with the rest of Microsoft’s ecosystem of platforms as
well as with other third-party apps.
It is a key tool in
today’s data-driven business world, providing actionable insights in real time.
It requires a team of technical experts to deploy, maintain and expand, as well
as to train end-users and offer them support on a daily basis.
Microsoft SQL
Server
SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) by Microsoft. Also called MSSQL, it serves as the backbone to data registering, accessing and manipulation for its enterprise customers.
It is protected by high-grade encryption and caters to a variety of businesses depending on size and data needs.
Microsoft Visual
Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that can be used to build
anything from the ground up. In a way, IDEs are the word processors of the
programming world, allowing developers to create applications for a multitude
of platforms from a single place.
Visual Studio includes debugging, automation and
team collaboration features, creating a holistic environment to conceive and
deliver high-quality applications.
Learn more about the Microsoft Technology Stack and the various roles within Microsoft Technologies in our comprehensive Microsoft Technologies Careers Guide
How brain-like should AI be? Cloud and clear, Microsoft… News from the frontlines… Discover our Tech & IT weekly news.
How brain-like should AI be?
What constitutes intelligence and how do we
replicate it? Computer experts and neuroscientists have long been after a
universal theory of intelligence. The idea is simple — the more we understand
how the brain works, the better our AI will be.
Well, not exactly.
Kelly Clancy, a neuroscientist working with
Google’s DeepMind, delves deep into the issue in this WIRED article. Her
main point? Two different roads often lead to the same place.
AI developers should keep in mind that what works for our brain might not work in machines, and vice versa.
Speaking of AI – during its annual Built
conference, Microsoft unveiled a new partnership
with OpenAI to develop an Azure-hosted AI supercomputer.
The computer will be among the 5 most
advanced supercomputers in the world. It will be deployed to test large-scale
models and advance towards general artificial intelligence.
Microsoft also announced its first industry-specific cloud offering for the healthcare sector. The solution, which is now available in public preview, connects products like Microsoft 365 for marketing and customer service and Azure IoT.
Use cases include the development of a “patient journey” that helps manage patient care and maximises positive outcomes.
News from the frontlines…
One more week means one less week until
things start looking normal again. This is what the tech world is doing to help
in the fight against COVID-19…
If the pandemic has taught us anything about
retail IT is that, unlike larger companies, SMEs don’t always have the means to
shift to digital operations when needed. In what is big news for e-commerce,
Facebook has launched Shops, a new
service that will allow companies to sell products on its platforms.
The debate over the effectiveness of contact tracing technology rages on. Industry competitors and researchers are teaming up against all odds to create apps that respect user privacy, but poor adoption could undermine all these efforts. Nature magazine takes an in-depth look at the issue.
Plenty going on with tech these days. Even Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, used his keynote speech at this year’s Build to congratulate the tech industry’s response to the global crisis.
Microsoft’s Momentum: we look at the most recent developments and headlines involving the U.S. company. Things change quickly, especially in IT.
Microsoft’s Momentum. It was not that long ago that Microsoft seemed on track to take a more secondary role in the future of enterprise technology. Software sales had been sluggish for some time, and the company seemed unable to keep up with the pace of innovation of its competitors. Well, things change quickly, especially in IT.
To the surprise of some, Microsoft has managed to bounce back in just a few years. It has delivered its finest OS to date, Windows 10, created a new line of successful hardware products like the Surface, and become one of the top contenders in the cloud wars.
We look at the most recent developments and headlines involving the U.S. company.
Microsoft’s Momentum
Global lockdown and cloud momentum
We have recently discussed how the surge in remote work caused by COVID-19 has helped the cloud industry. Microsoft is, of course, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the current situation. Finding itself incredibly well-positioned with cloud collaboration tools ranging from Azure to Microsoft Teams.
The Redmond, Virginia company just posted its Q3 2020 earnings, delivering 59% growth for Azure sales and taking its share of the global cloud market up to a 17%. The second place after Amazon. This steady expansion is forcing Microsoft to grow their overall cloud infrastructure.
Microsoft is betting big not only on cloud infrastructure and third-party support. But also on cloud security – a major concern for the modern digital enterprise. The company revealed this week a new hacking challenge for Azure Sphere. Promising a total of $200K in bounty for those who can break into the system.
Software consolidation
Although it’s been almost a year since Microsoft released its last big update for Windows 10. The company announced no major upgrades or changes for the upcoming May 2020 update. Furthermore, and in response to the global pandemic, as of May 1st, the company will limit the scope of its updates to security fixes. For how long? We don’t know exactly. Altogether, this makes analysts and industry experts think that Windows 10 has reached a maturity state. And that it will not change much more.
Ironically, this consolidation comes at the same time that Microsoft is shifting its strategy for Windows 10X. What was going to be the dual-screen variant of the OS is now being redirected towards a more simplified, one-screen version. The move signals Microsoft’s intention to compete more head-on with Google’s Chromebook. Which holds a big share of the business and education market.
