Microsoft: Is the Master of Windows 10 Updates Really Beating Amazon in the Cloud?
November 7, 2018
How about that October 2018 Windows update? Does that give you confidence in Microsoft’s technical acumen? What? You are telling me that it is apples and oranges. Okay. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.
After reading a former Oracle executive’s analysis of Microsoft and Amazon cloud revenue, I suppose one could make that argument. I am not sure I buy the Forbes argument in “#1 Microsoft Beats Amazon In 12-Month Cloud Revenue, $26.7 Billion To $23.4 Billion; IBM Third.” The write up makes clear that the analyst is an award winning PR type at SAP and then a “communications officer” at Oracle before finding his true calling at Evans Strategic Communications LLC.
Is Microsoft #1?
From my point of view in lovely Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, there are several items of information omitted from the Forbes’ analysis; for example:
How does Microsoft calculate its cloud revenue? Does the number include enforced cloud services?
What part of Microsoft’s cloud revenue is generated by accounting methods such as reallocating revenue and thinking really hard about attributing certain revenue to the cloud line items?
Using these accounting methods, how has Microsoft’s cloud revenue tracked over the last 12 quarters?
Analyses require more than accepting the rolled figure. But that’s in rural Kentucky, the rules may be different for PR experts in a real technology hotbed.
Now Amazon is no Mr. Clean when it comes to reporting its financial data. For years, AWS revenue was expressed as weird stuff like the number of things a complex network of computers does to complete work. Now Amazon generally reveals some numbers, and I assume these can be tweaked by figuring in some of the Amazon ecommerce magic into the cloud.
The larger question for me is:
Why is a former Oracle guy writing a pro Microsoft and pro IBM story about the cloud race among three firms?
The write up included this bit of “let’s not talk about the October update” offered up by Microsoft’s big dog:
CEO Satya Nadella offered this perspective on the centerpiece of the Microsoft cloud: “Azure is the only hyperscale cloud that extends to the edge across identity, data, application platform and security and management. We introduced 100 new Azure capabilities this quarter alone, focused on both existing workloads like security and new workloads like IoT and Edge AI.”
Yep, I believe this. Every. Word.
Perhaps nailing down the inclusions in the gross cloud revenue numbers would be a useful first step? Would it be helpful to learn why an Oracle PR pro is dissing Amazon?
The capitalist tool’s presentation of this analysis might have caused Malcolm Forbes to crash his motorcycle on the way to brunch in Manhattan on Sunday morning.
Quite an “analysis.”
Stephen E. Arnold, November 7, 2018
Bing: Getting More Visual
October 27, 2018
Bing Gets Visual, But Stays Behind The Curve
Microsoft’s red-headed step child of the search world is slowly, and steadily attempting its next stab at greatness. While the little search engine that could has been trying valiantly to overtake Google for years, it is making concrete steps in the right direction with news we discovered in a recent Android Community story, “Bing Update Brings Text Transcription, Education Carousel, Visual Search.”
The update that has us most excited is its visual search:
“Bing also lets you copy and search the actual text that you see on your camera. For example, you take a pic of the menu in the restaurant, tap the text and search how to pronounce it and what it actually is. You can use it to take pictures of phone numbers, serial numbers, email addresses, navigate to an address, etc.”
As expected, Bing is a little behind the curve. While Bing is just beginning to blossom in the world of visual search, Google is already there and also adding greater visual cues aimed at retaining visitors. By incorporating more pictures and videos, and less text, the king of the mountain is looking to hold its grip on users. We would love to see Bing outduel Google someday, but we don’t see it on the horizon.
Patrick Roland, October 25, 2018
Microsoft Edges into AI Applications
October 26, 2018
If Microsoft’s history as a late bloomer in the search world with Bing is any indicator, we don’t think Uber and Lyft are too worried about the tech giant’s recent foray into ride hailing. However, some indications point to a novel idea that Microsoft might actually be able to disrupt an industry that is not so close to its vest. We learned more from a recent TechCrunch story, “Microsoft Invests In Grab to Bring AI and Big Data to On-Demand Services.”
According to the story:
“Microsoft has made a strategic investment in ride-hailing and on-demand services company Grab as part of a deal that includes collaborating on big data and AI projects.
We noted:
“Under the agreement, Singapore-based Grab will adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform Azure cloud computing service.”
We’re not saying this will never take off. In fact, there are a lot of optimistic signs that point to this partnership flourishing. For example, Microsoft India has begun to deploy its AI solutions into agriculture and healthcare fields with success. If this technology can help crop rotations, it might just streamline ride sharing apps. We’ll be monitoring this one closely.
Patrick Roland, October 26, 2018
Quote to Note: Microsoft and Scrutiny
October 11, 2018
“Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tech Industry Spotlight: ‘Having the Scrutiny Is Actually Good’” called my attention to an interesting idea. The article states:
Nadella told The Post that Microsoft learned from earlier cyberattacks during the Bill Gates era and has since designed products and services with revamped security protocols. He added that “having the scrutiny is actually good, I think,” in regard to the extra attention being placed on tech companies.
Ah, Windows and security. Didn’t Microsoft’s update service fail again. Deleted data for some I heard.
Scrutiny is good as long as it doesn’t get in the way of what the company does best: Great quality processes and verbal arabesques seem to be scrutiny free.
Stephen E Arnold, October 11, 2018
Is Bing Stuck Like a 45 RPM Recording?
October 1, 2018
At least twice a year, Microsoft releases a press statement explaining how it has made Bing smarter. The questions are always,”how and in what way?” Bing pales in comparison to rivals DuckDuckGo and Google, but it also has its staunch supporters. Thurott has shared one of the prerequisite Bing cheerleading pieces, “Bing Just Got A Whole Lot Smarter.”
Bing has added a brand new list of features to enhance user experience. One of the new features is a hotel booking option that shows higher-ranked hotels with the same nightly rate to save you money, historical price trends, hotel comparisons, and other neat tools.
If you are frugal and/or always searching for a deal, Bing will now share information about details, such as if it is in stores or expiring soon. This augments Bing’s discount feature that displays different deals in search results.
“The last area where Bing is getting improved is an interesting one: home services. Bing is partnering with Porch, a service that helps you find professionals for home services, to help surface better results within search. It will now show you things like cost ranges, which are meant to help find a “fair” or the average cost for a certain service based on your location. It will also now let you get a quote for supported home service providers from within search.”
Word about whether advertisers will get priority in search results, but they are already labeled in search results. When it comes to making Bing smarter, this is not bad. Good job, Microsoft!
Whitney Grace, October 1, 2018
Amazon: Device Proliferation and One Interesting Use Case
September 21, 2018
The technology “real news” channels are stuffed with Amazon gizmo news. Interesting stuff if one considers that these devices may snap into the eCommerce company’s policeware subsystems.
Here in Harrod’s Creek, we noted one announcement almost lost in the flood of device announcements. “Skype Calling Coming to Amazon Alexa Devices Later This Year” indicates that the tension between the two companies may be lessening. Years ago Microsoft had database envy generated by the eCommerce giant’s innovations in data management and data wrangling. Then there were the skirmishes over staff and office space.
If the information in the ZDNet “real news” write up is accurate, this statement may be more interesting than using an Alexa gizmo as a telephone:
Alexa users will be able to make outgoing Skype voice and video calls, accept incoming Skype calls and make SkypeOut calls to most phone numbers around the world, according to Microsoft officials. Users will be able to say “Alexa, call Jimmy on Skype,” or to say “Alexa, answer” when a Skype call comes in.
But the “real news” continues with an admission from the author:
I have to admit at this point I am kind of lost as to how Microsoft hopes to differentiate and position Cortana. Granted, Microsoft execs said they want Cortana not to be just about convenience, but about built-in assistance, but Skype is a Microsoft service….
From my vantage point in Harrod’s Creek, the tie up in voice may be more than a test. In fact, the deal may signal another victim of the Amazon strategy. Microsoft may be losing without knowing that it is in a fight.
Stephen E Arnold, September 21, 2018
Deep Learning Helps Bing Spotlight Aggregate Breaking News
September 20, 2018
News aggregators sift through the vast number of news stories out there to focus on the content users want to see (and lead to filter bubbles, but that is another topic.) Now, Microsoft has built an aggregator for breaking content right into its browser. VentureBeat reports, “Bing Spotlight Uses AI to Highlight Developing News Stories.” Writer Kyle Wiggers informs us:
“A spokesperson told VentureBeat via email that Bing Spotlight is an ‘evolving feature,’ and that the team will evaluate options based on feedback. Bing Spotlight spots trending topics with the help of deep learning algorithms that ingest millions of search queries and news articles every day. Leaning on a web graph of ‘hundreds of millions’ of websites, it factors in signals such as browser logs, the number of publishers covering a story, and how prominently each publisher featured their respective stories on their sites.’ Articles have to be ‘original, readable, newsworthy, and transparent’ before they’re considered for a top spot, and must demonstrate ‘sound journalistic practices’ such as identify sources and authors, giving attribution, and labeling opinion and commentary.”
Wiggers reproduces a diagram that illustrates the sections of a Spotlight results page—a carousel at the top revolves through related stories; a section titled Perspectives offers various points of view on the topic; the Rundown presents the story’s development over time; and, of course, there’s a section that shares related social media posts. Notably, this development comes on the heels of a similar move from Google—that company recently retooled their Google News app for smartphones. I suppose all users must do is decide who they want assembling their news for them.
Cynthia Murrell, September 20, 2018
Bing: No More Public URL Submissions
September 19, 2018
Ever wondered why some Web site content is not indexed? Heck, ever talk to a person who cannot find their Web site in a “free” Web index? I know that many people believe that “free” Web search services are comprehensive. Here’s a thought: The Web indexes are not comprehensive. The indexing is selective, disconnected from meaningful date and time stamps, and often limited to following links to a specified depth; for example, three levels down or fewer in many cases.
I thought about the perception of comprehensiveness when I read “Bing Is Removing Its Public URL Submission Tool.” The tool allowed a savvy SEO professional or an informed first time Web page creator to let Bing know that a site was online and ready for indexing.
No more.
How do “free” Web indexes find new sites? Now that’s a good question, and the answers range from “I don’t know” or “Bing and Google are just able to find these sites.”
A couple of thoughts:
- Editorial or spidering policies are not spelled out by most Web indexing outfits
- Users assume that if information is available online, that information is accurate
- “Free” Web indexing services are not set up to deliver results that are necessarily timely (indexed on a daily basis) or comprehensive.
Bing’s allegedly turning off public url submissions is a small thing. My question, “Who looked at these submissions and made a decision about what to index or exclude from indexing?” Perhaps the submission form operated like a thermostat control in a hotel room?
Stephen E Arnold, September 18, 2018
Microsoft: Becoming a Socially Focused Giant
September 6, 2018
US citizens have a love-hate relationship with Microsoft. Microsoft’s technology powers most of the country’s infrastructures, businesses, personal lives, and more. At the same time, however, Microsoft’s technology is prone to problems, causing an endless amount of headaches. Microsoft also has a reputation about caring more about a profit than its customers. Has it suddenly had a change of heart? According to a new post on Microsoft’s blog, the company is now interested in participating and/or protecting democracy, “We Are Taking New Steps Against Broadening Threats To Democracy.”
Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote the post about how the Internet is being used by foreign entities to disrupt governments, steal information, and spread disinformation. Smith cites the 2016 US election and the 2017 French elections. Smith and by proxy Microsoft says that the tech sector has a responsibility to defend democracy against further security threats:
“We’re concerned that these and other attempts pose security threats to a broadening array of groups connected with both American political parties in the run-up to the 2018 elections. That’s why today we are expanding Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program with a new initiative called Microsoft AccountGuard. This initiative will provide state-of-the-art cybersecurity protection at no extra cost to all candidates and campaign offices at the federal, state and local level, as well as think tanks and political organizations we now believe are under attack. The technology is free of charge to candidates, campaigns and related political institutions using Office 365.”
The post goes on to explain how Microsoft’s crime unit tracked six web sites associated with Strontium, a group associated with the Russian government and known for interference. These web sites were designed to mimic real US non-profit political organizations and other political groups with the goal to spread disinformation. The blog post also advertises Microsoft’s new AccountGuard and advocates its Microsoft Defending Democracy Program started in 2018.
Microsoft is interested in protecting the US electrons from interference, but it also interested in protecting its reputation and political supporters. Does Microsoft have stakes in social media companies? Facebook, maybe?
Whitney Grace, September 6, 2018
Some Happy, Some Sad in Seattle Over Cloud Deal Review
July 12, 2018
I know little about the procurement skirmishes fought over multi billion dollar deals for cloud services. The pragmatic part of my experience suggests that the last thing most statement of work and contract processes produce is efficient, cost effective contracts. Quite a few COTRs, lawyers, super grades, and mere SETAs depend on three things:
- Complex, lengthy processes; that is, work producing tasks
- Multiple vendors; for example, how many databases does one agency need? Answer: Many, many databases. Believe me, there are many great reasons ranging from the way things work in Washington to legacy systems which will never be improved in my lifetime.
- Politics. Ah, yes, lobbyists, special interests, friends of friends, and sometimes the fact that a senior official knows that a person once worked at a specific outfit.
When I read, “Deasy Pauses on JEDI Cloud Acquisition,” I immediately thought about the giant incumbent database champions like IBM Federal Systems and Oracle’s government operations unit.
Department of Defense CIO Dana Deasy wants a “full top down, bottom up review” of the JEDI infrastructure acquisition.
But there was a moment of reflection, when I realized that this procurement tussle will have significant impact on the Seattle area. You know, Seattle, the city which has delivered Microsoft Bob and the Amazon mobile phone.
Microsoft and Amazon are in the cloud business. Microsoft is the newcomer, but it is the outfit which has the desktops of many government agencies. Everyone loves SharePoint. The Department of Defense could not hold a briefing without PowerPoint.
Let’s not forget Amazon. That is the platform used by most government workers, their families, and possibly their friends if that Amazon account slips into the wild. Who could exist in Tyson’s Corner or Gaithersburg without Amazon delivering essential foods such as probiotic supplements for the dog.
Microsoft is probably thrilled that the JEDI procurement continues to be a work in progress. Amazon, on the other hand, is likely to be concerned that its slam dunk for a government cloud game home run has been halted due to procedural thunderstorms.
Thus, part of Seattle is really happy. Another part of Seattle is not so happy.
Since I don’t’ have a dog in this fight, my hunch is that little in Washington, DC changes from administrative change to administrative change.
But this Seattle dust up will be interesting to watch. I think it will have a significant impact on Amazon and Microsoft. IBM Federal Systems and Oracle will be largely unscathed.
Exciting procurement activity is underway. Defense Department CIO Deasy Deasy’s promise of a “full top down, bottom up review” sounds like the words to a song I have heard many times.
With $10 billion in play, how long will that review take? My hunch is that it will introduce the new CIO to a new concept, “government time.”
Stephen E Arnold, July 12, 2018
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