Category: Analysis

EMC IT’s evolving financial transparency model is letting IT users see more than costs and billing details for the IT services they use. It is also opening their eyes to the opportunity to take control of those costs and free up funds for more strategic IT investments that will result in operating efficiencies, increase profitability and enhanced growth. For nearly four years, EMC IT has been transitioning our IT operation from a traditional centralized, cost-center based IT budget— where users had little or no information on the cost and value…

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Big data is an ill-defined term. Everyone has his or her own definition and rationale why that definition is the best. From the perspective ofcustomer relationship management (CRM) systems, big data is best thought of as massive amounts of information not in the CRM database or the normal connections to other business applications. Big data systems include social media Web sites, product movement through radio-frequency tag tracking, machine performance at customer locations, and many other massive data stores that are difficult to access. There is a disconnect between big data and CRM. CRM systems are old—most…

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It was a closely-fought contest, but Europe’s crucial telecoms package has passed through its first European Parliament vote, as have amendments that remove loopholes that would have clashed with the open internet. European fans of the open internet can breathe a sigh of relief: the European parliament has passed a major package of telecoms law reform, complete with amendments that properly define and protect net neutrality. The amendments (PDF) were introduced by the Socialist, Liberal, Green and Left blocs in the European Parliament after the final committee to tweak the package –…

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What is the difference between BYOD and CYOD and why should your organisation be sitting up and paying attention? The bring your own device (BYOD) phenomenon is sweeping the nation thanks in no part to an increasing array of shiny consumer products tempting the average business user. Whether it’s the latest tablet or all-singing-all-dancing smartphone, in our consumer lives we are spoilt rotten. As such, it’s no surprise we want and expect the business world to keep pace. This consumerisation of IT and tendency for the tech peeps to be…

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According to IDC’s EMEA Quarterly Server Virtualization Tracker, 33.0% of all new servers shipped in EMEA in the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13) were virtualized, a moderate increase from 30.0% in 4Q12. Physical server shipments were flat this quarter, showing only a 0.3% decline year-over-year, totaling 606,400 units. At the same time 200,300 server units were virtualized at the point of initial shipment in 4Q13, which is an annual increase of 9.6%. Virtualization licenses distributed this quarter grew year-over-year by 12.0% to 282,300, while EMEA virtualization software revenue increased even…

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All those acquisitions paid off! Oracle is now the second largest software company in terms of revenue, according to new Gartner numbers. New Gartner’s research finds that Oracle has surpassed IBM as the second largest software vendor in the world in 2013 as measured by annual revenue. Last year, Oracle weighed in with $29.7 billion of total software revenue, up 3.4 percent from $28.7 million in 2012  IBM’s revenue grew as well, but more slowly: It was $29.1 billion in 2013, up 1.4 percent from $28.7 billion in 2012. It’s safe…

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Max Cooter explains that business intelligence is a simple concept, but not one that’s always understood. It’s not easy to put your finger on the true meaning of business intelligence. For a start, it sounds like something that should be already part of a business strategy – after all, it’s hard to contemplate a company thinking about business stupidity. While stupidity is a strong word, there certainly has been a reluctance to take on board information supplied by customers. There is a rich crop of data to be harvested from…

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Worldwide combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) are projected to reach 2.5 billion units in 2014, a 6.9 percent increase from 2013 (see Table 1), according to Gartner, Inc. Device shipments grew 4.8 percent in 2013. Sales of traditional PCs will continue to hamper the overall growth of devices, and substitution from PC to tablet will decline.  “Tablet substitution of notebooks will start to dissipate from this year onwards as consumers and businesses align the right device with the right usage pattern. As they do this,…

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As Cisco’s “Internet of Everything Value Index” (loD5 confirms, the Internet of Things is creating more and more jobs: 47 percent of those surveyed on a global basis expect to see higher salaries due to new careers that result and require specialized know-how. At the same time, companies will become more competitive due to automated business processes and the increased speed of innovation that this is accompanied by, but also how companies comply with rules. German companies are discovering these chances for themselves. As the index indicates, they are most…

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It was a loony week in Silicon Valley. Four major technology companies announced expensive and risky programs to become less like themselves and more like their competitors. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the corporate campus fence. This week was a loony one for tech news. Four major technology companies announced expensive and risky programs to become less like themselves and more like their competitors. Twitter wants to be Facebook One of the reasons Twitter is the favorite social site for influential singers, actors, technology influencers…

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