Microsoft secures $43.1bn Q2 revenues with Azure growth at 50%

Another quarter, another Microsoft cloudy earnings release which knocks it out of the park. The Redmond giant posted total revenue of $43.1 billion (£31.4bn) for the quarter, a year on year increase of 17%, while Azure growth was at 50%.

While specific Azure revenue figures remain elusive, the three primary buckets continued to see growth. Productivity and business processes hit $13.4bn at an increase of 13% year on year; intelligent cloud, which covers the majority of Azure, saw...

27 January 2021 | Economy

Atos and OVHcloud team up as European cloud race gains pace

Atos and OVHcloud have announced a strategic partnership to 'create a trusted, 100% European cloud solution' - in another sign of Europe-based vendors looking to stronger data sovereignty and security.

The two companies, who both signed up to an initiative last week to make data centres in Europe climate neutral by 2030, will offer a 'market-leading multi-cloud solution.'

This will involve combining OVHcloud's expertise in cloud solutions based on sovereign...

26 January 2021 | Data & Analytics

AWS, Google Cloud, Equinix among Europe climate neutral data centre pact founders

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Equinix are among the founding members of a new initiative to make data centres in Europe climate neutral by 2030.

The Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, alongside the Self Regulatory Initiative, has been formed by 25 companies and 17 associations in what is described as 'an historic and unprecedented commitment by an industry to proactively lead the transition to a climate neutral economy.'

The move comes one year after the...

21 January 2021 | AWS

Cockroach Labs 2021 Cloud Report: Google wins on throughput, AWS network latencies ‘unbeatable’

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is the best hyperscale performer across all areas of throughput while Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains the standard for lowest network latency, according to the latest report from database provider Cockroach Labs.

The study, the company's third annual Cloud Report, evaluated the performance of AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud with regard to online transaction processing (OLTP) applications. In total, 54 machines were assessed and almost 1,000...

19 January 2021 | Architecture

Google Cloud and Nokia extend partnership for cloud-native 5G services

Google Cloud has extended its partnership with Nokia to build cloud-native 5G core services for communication service providers (CSPs) and enterprise customers.

The two companies previously announced their five-year commitment in October - which was more around the customer win side. Nokia was utilising Google Cloud to design a migration approach from its IT data centres, with a timeline for full deployment expected at between 18 and 24 months.

This time around, the...

15 January 2021 | Applications

Gaia-X ‘like King Canute stopping an incoming tide’ as European clouds struggle, analyst warns

An analyst has warned that efforts from European cloud providers to wrest market share from US-based hyperscalers is 'like King Canute attempting to stop an incoming tide'.

John Dinsdale, a chief analyst at Synergy Research Group, said that initiatives such as Gaia-X, a collaboration between the European Commission (EC), Germany, France, and various organisations within the continent, were 'laudable'.

Yet figures from Synergy show that while, since 2017, the European...

15 January 2021 | Data & Analytics

Microsoft launches Cloud for Retail in latest industry cloud targeting

Microsoft has announced the launch of Microsoft Cloud for Retail, in another sign of the largest cloud providers targeting specific industries and sectors.

The announcement, which was made at NRF 2021, the annual retail jamboree, aims to help brands enable what Microsoft calls 'intelligent retail'.

As Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president for worldwide retail and consumer goods at Microsoft noted, this involves "using digital solutions to help better know customers,...

14 January 2021 | Applications

Why public cloud is ‘essential for survival’ post-Covid as working patterns are transformed

More than a quarter of US-based IT leaders say large-scale public cloud migration is 'essential for business survival' post-Covid-19, according to a new report from cloud services provider Cloudreach.

The study, titled 'US Businesses Become Future-Ready With Large-Scale Cloud Migration' and which was put together by IDC InfoBrief, polled 200 US IT leaders on their experiences of digital transformation during the pandemic.

Two thirds (66%) of those polled said Covid-19 -...

12 January 2021 | Infrastructure

Parler sues Amazon alleging act of ‘political animus’ after AWS, Twilio, Zendesk suspensions

Updated 13 Jan Parler, the social network popular with supporters of President Trump, has found itself silenced after various technology and hosting providers cut ties following the riots on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), on whose cloud Parler was hosted, told the company in an email, first reported by BuzzFeed, that it planned to suspend its account because it '[could not] provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove...

11 January 2021 | AWS

Google Cloud advertises for blockchain sales manager in China

Google Cloud is looking for a business development manager based in China focused on blockchain technologies.

According to a LinkedIn job advert posted a week ago, the ideal candidate is expected to have a decade of experience selling infrastructure software, databases, analytic tools or applications software, and knowledge of C-suite dealings, among other qualifications.

The word 'blockchain' itself, perhaps wisely, does not appear in the posting itself, only noting...

7 January 2021 | Blockchain