CAPRE’s Digital Infrastructure Round Up for January 16, 2020

Check out the latest in deals, development and disruptive technology in digital infrastructure for January 16, 2020:

• Huawei to Restructure, Double Down on Cloud & AI: Huawei has announced some changes to its organizational structure and management team. It will restructure, resulting in a fourth business group for its cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) divisions. Media is taking this as a sign that the tech behemoth plans to ramp up its efforts in these verticals. According to TechNode, “The changes echo Huawei’s “Cloud Only” strategy announced in April, in which the company pledged to invest more resources and funds to build a “full-stack cloud platform.” Technode also reported that Huawei has appointed Hou Jinlong as President for the cloud computing and AI business group.
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• Amazon to Sue to Halt Microsoft from Commencing JEDI Contract: CNN is reporting that according to court documents filed Monday, Amazon will ask a federal court to temporarily block Microsoft from working on a $10 billion cloud computing contract for the military. Microsoft is reportedly scheduled to begin its work on the contract on Feb. 11. But Amazon’s cloud computing division will seek a preliminary injunction to”prevent the issuance of substantive task orders under the contract,” the filing said. “The request is part of Amazon’s ongoing challenge to the Trump administration over the way the contract was awarded, which it argues was influenced by President Donald Trump’s dislike of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, which Bezos owns. Amazon was widely believed to be the front-runner to win the Pentagon’s business, before Trump vowed to take ‘a strong look’ at the deal. It lost the contract to Microsoft’s Azure cloud business in October,” writes Amazon. “The contract — called Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI — involves providing cloud storage of sensitive military data and technology, such as artificial intelligence, to the Department of Defense, and could result in revenue of up to $10 billion over 10 years.
• Google Cloud Broadcasts Retail Updates: Google Cloud will expand its retail acceleration program (RAP), among other initiatives designed to scale up retailers’ cloud projects. This according to Cloud Computing News, which covered these and other announcements from Google at NRF 2020, the biggest event in the retail space, very closely. CCN says this is a harbinger of Google doubling down on its message to accelerate retailers’ digital growth and customer experience – pinned together with its data expertise. “Alongside RAP, which is Google’s overarching term for services which help retailers optimize their websites as well as drive greater footfall, other tools were announced in various stages of availability. Google Cloud Search for Retail, in the pilot stage, aims to utilise the company’s AI and machine learning tools to provide higher quality product search results for websites and applications, while Google Cloud 1:1 Engagement for Retail, just launched, is a best practice guide to building out models and products in data analytics platform BigQuery,” CCN explained.
• Insight Partners to Acquire Veeam for ~$5 Billion USD:  Insight Partners will acquire Veeam Software, the leader in Backup solutions that deliver Cloud Data Management. Under the ownership of Insight Partners, Veeam will become a U.S. company, with a U.S.-based leadership team, while continuing its global expansion from offices in 30 countries and with customers in over 160 countries. The acquisition, which is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020, will enable Veeam to accelerate its Act II (Veeam’s evolution into Hybrid Cloud), expand into new markets and continue its growth trajectory. Following an investment from Insight Partners at the beginning of 2019, Veeam worked alongside Insight Partners’ business strategy and ScaleUp division, Insight Onsite, to expand its software-defined Veeam Cloud Data Management Platform. The company launched a number of new innovations over the last year, including Veeam Backup for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 v4, Veeam Universal License (VUL) and announcing Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure – growing its share of the U.S. market, as well as cementing its position in the global market. The acquisition and bolstering of U.S. leadership will accelerate Veeam’s already impressive growth trajectory and expansion into adjacent markets.
• Kingston Technology Releases Enterprise-Grade Data Center NVMe SSD Boot Drive: Kingston Digital, the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, has announced the availability of a new data center SSD, the DC1000B M.2 NVMe boot drive. The new drive is ideal for servers shipping with one or two M.2 NVMe slots dedicated for boot purposes and thus preserving valuable front-loading 2.5″ drive bays for additional data storage. DC1000B is designed in a 2280 form factor that includes onboard power-loss protection and is engineered with 0.5DWPD endurance for extended service life. Kingston’s DC1000B boasts incredible performance with speeds of up to 3.2GB/s and 205K IOPS and is designed for booting, as well as caching and logging applications.

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