Microsoft to acquire Metaswitch Networks, ramping up Azure 5G push

Microsoft is to acquire Metaswitch Networks, a provider of virtualised network software, as the company's strategy towards binding cloud and communications continues.

The rationale is straightforward: leading cloud vendors are looking to enable telecom operators in deploying and maintaining 5G networks more efficiently. Technologies such as those which Metaswitch builds will be invested into Azure to provide its infrastructure with 'specialised software required to run virtualised...

By | 14 May 2020 | Industry

Enabling a more holistic approach to SD-WAN adoption: A guide

Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) has been all the rage for a number of years. We’ve all heard about the benefits: Optimising transport cost with Internet connectivity instead of MPLS. Application visibility. Simplified network management. To be sure, they are real. According to Gartner, by the end of 2019, more than 50% of new managed WAN deployments incorporated SD-WAN and IDC expect that 80% of enterprises will define their SD-WAN strategy within the next 24...

By | 14 April 2020 | Enterprise

Microsoft to acquire Affirmed Networks to get onto AWS’ wavelength

Microsoft has announced it is to acquire Affirmed Networks, a provider of network functions virtualisation (NFV) software – as the telecoms space heats up for the biggest cloud players. 

As 5G is becoming more of a reality, cloud vendors see their role as enabling telecom operators to deploy and maintain next-generation networks more efficiently.  

“At Microsoft, we intend to empower the telecommunications industry as it...

By | 27 March 2020 | Adoption

The rise of obfuscated VPN servers and their use cases: A guide

VPNs continue to be used extensively as tools to protect data security and user privacy. Yet, as to be expected, there are many providers available, and many options within those providers – so buyer confusion can reign.

A virtual private network, by itself, is the secure, private connection between your device and your intended destination. When dealing with VPN servers, the options start to...

By | 24 October 2019 | Privacy

VMworld 2019: Going big on Kubernetes, Azure availability – and a key ethical message

VMware has kicked off its 2019 VMworld US jamboree in San Francisco with a series of updates, spanning Kubernetes, Azure, security and more.

The virtualisation and end user computing giant issued no fewer than five press releases to the wires alone today, with CEO Pat Gelsinger and COO Sanjay Poonen continuing to emphasise the company's 'any cloud, any application, any device, with intrinsic security' strategy.

Chief of these on the product side was around VMware...

By | 26 August 2019 | Applications

VMware stokes VMworld fires with Pivotal and Carbon Black acquisitions

Next week is going to be a busy one for VMware as the company’s VMworld event kicks off in San Francisco. There will be plenty of talking points – and the virtualisation and end user computing provider has opted to add two more with the acquisitions of Pivotal Software and Carbon Black for a combined $4.8 billion (£3.93bn).

Pivotal, at $2.7bn, edged out endpoint security provider Carbon...

By | 23 August 2019 | M&A

The cloud in 2020: Enterprise compatibility with edge computing, containers and serverless

In the future, as we speed down the motorway in our self-driving vehicles, historians will mark the 2010s as the decade of the cloud. Some would argue that the tenets of cloud computing were established in the 1960s, when U.S. government scientist J.C.R. Licklider planned an “intergalactic computer network”. In 2006 the cloud experienced a seminal moment, when Amazon entered the space with EC2. However, it is in the 2010s that cloud forged...

By | 21 February 2019 | Containers

The four barriers between your business and global connectivity – and how to break them down

Throughout 2018, many global enterprises turned to networking technologies such as software defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) to cost-effectively meet burgeoning bandwidth demands without having to sacrifice simplified WAN management and better application performance.

This trend will continue into 2019 as enterprises with a global presence embrace networking technologies such as SD-WAN as a key...

By | 28 January 2019 | Infrastructure

Born in the cloud or cloud-enabled? For virtual desktops, there’s a world of difference

In its Voice of the Enterprise: Cloud Transformation survey, 451 Research analysts found that 90 percent of organizations surveyed are using some type of cloud service. Last year, the cloud market was worth $28.1 billion; by 2021, it will almost double in value at $53.3 billion. And by next year, 69 percent of respondents intend to have some type of multi-cloud environment.

This is just one of the many...

By | 17 August 2018 | Software