The ITAM Roundup: 4/29/24
IBM doubles down on hybrid cloud with $6.4B HashiCorp acquisition
IBM is acquiring HashiCorp, known for its Terraform product, for $6.4 billion, aiming to strengthen its position in the hybrid cloud market by addressing infrastructure automation needs in multicloud environments. The move reflects IBM's deep focus on hybrid cloud and AI, aligning with the growing complexity of managing hybrid and multicloud environments for enterprises. The acquisition is expected to bolster IBM's portfolio, attract a wider developer base, and position the company as a comprehensive player in managing hybrid and multi-cloud environments, addressing both traditional infrastructure and emerging AI-driven workloads.
Gyana Swain
CloudBolt and StormForge Partner to Bring a Comprehensive Kubernetes Solution to FinOps
CloudBolt Software and StormForge have partnered to offer a comprehensive Kubernetes solution focused on enabling FinOps practitioners to optimize container costs and maximize cloud ROI. The integration aims to provide full Kubernetes cost visibility, detailed cost allocation, and automated optimization, addressing the challenges faced by organizations in managing Kubernetes expenditure effectively. The joint solution will empower users with continuous rightsizing, improved cloud ROI, and complete shared cost distribution, aligning CloudOps and FinOps teams for accurate cost attribution.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Price Increases: What to Expect Between Now and October
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is set to undergo price increases starting October 1st, 2024, impacting both new customers and existing ones upon renewal. The increases, averaging around 17%, are aimed at boosting Microsoft's cloud revenue and average revenue per user (ARPU), aligning with their strategy to drive adoption of Dynamics 365 products and compete with rivals like Salesforce and SAP. Customers can prepare for negotiations by assessing their current product utilization, emphasizing the value received, and seeking renewal term price protections to mitigate the impact of these price hikes.
Adam Mansfield
Oracle adds AI capabilities to its Fusion Cloud CX
Oracle has enhanced its Fusion Cloud CX with new AI capabilities aimed at sales, marketing, and service teams, including generative AI-assisted answer generation, assisted scheduling for field service, opportunity quality scoring, and seller engagement recommendations. These features are designed to improve customer response times, optimize field service schedules, and assist marketing and sales teams in identifying the right contacts for engagement. Oracle's move is seen as a competitive response to offerings from rivals like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and SAP, who have been adding similar AI capabilities to their CRM software to boost efficiency and productivity.
Anirban Ghoshal
AWS plans to invest $11 billion in Indiana, the largest capital investment in the state's history
Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to invest $11 billion in Indiana, creating 1,000 jobs and marking the state's largest capital investment. This initiative includes building new data centers in St. Joseph County and contributing up to $7 million for road infrastructure improvements. Additionally, AWS is launching the AWS InCommunities St. Joseph County Community Fund, committing $100,000 to support initiatives focused on education, sustainability, economic development, workforce development, inclusion, diversity, and equity, and homelessness and hunger.
Written by Amazon Staff
Adobe to bring full AI image generation to Photoshop this year
Adobe announced plans to integrate a full artificial intelligence image generation tool into Photoshop later this year, aiming to enhance the creative workflow of its users. The tool, named Firefly, will leverage user-uploaded images as references for generating fully featured images in various styles, streamlining the design process. This move by Adobe comes amidst increasing competition from startups like Microsoft-backed OpenAI, prompting Adobe to develop its own AI system to avoid copyright infringement claims against users.
Microsoft and Cognizant team up to boost enterprise Copilot adoption
Microsoft and Cognizant are joining forces to promote the adoption of generative AI, with Cognizant acquiring 25,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot seats to streamline workflows and improve customer experiences internally. The partnership aims to extend the reach of Copilot across Cognizant's client base, targeting a million users among its global customers in 11 different industries, and includes training initiatives to upskill more individuals with AI skills by 2026.
Sascha Brodsky
Microsoft must stop selling security as a premium offering
Microsoft's practice of selling security features as premium offerings is criticized for contributing to escalating costs and inhibiting broader access to crucial security tools. While some organizations opt for the pricier all-inclusive Microsoft 365 E5 subscription to access core security capabilities, others cobble together add-ons to complement less expensive subscriptions, though this approach may no longer be cost-effective due to recent price increases.
Mary Jo Foley
Tips for how to approach modernizing your Active Directory environment
The article provides comprehensive guidance on modernizing Active Directory environments, addressing both technical and non-technical considerations. It emphasizes the importance of assessing existing directory structures and cleaning up clutter, particularly focusing on forest and domain structures, identity and access management, Group Policy, trusts, legacy applications, and devices. Additionally, it highlights the human aspect of the process, including the need for IT skill development and alignment with business stakeholders' goals, before outlining planning considerations and migration paths for achieving successful modernization.
Julian Stephan
Java thriving after 30 years
Java remains a vital programming language after nearly 30 years, crucial for various applications like cloud services, big data, and e-commerce. Oracle's recent pricing changes for Java licensing prompted a significant reaction from the Java community, leading many to consider open-source alternatives like OpenJDK. Companies like Azul Systems provide alternatives to Oracle's JVM, with many enterprises switching to non-Oracle distributions for cost savings and improved performance.
Chris J. Preimesberger
State-Sponsored Hackers Exploit Two Cisco Zero-Day Vulnerabilities for Espionage
A sophisticated state-sponsored actor, identified as UAT4356, orchestrated the ArcaneDoor malware campaign targeting Cisco networking gear, exploiting two zero-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-20353 and CVE-2024-20359) to deploy custom malware, including backdoors named Line Runner and Line Dancer. The campaign, detected in January 2024, demonstrated meticulous evasion techniques and targeted edge devices, highlighting the significance of promptly patching and monitoring perimeter network devices to prevent intrusion and espionage. While the specific country behind ArcaneDoor remains unclear, the incident underscores the increasing focus on exploiting vulnerabilities in critical network infrastructure.
Apr 25, 2024Newsroom
