The Amazon Digital Zeus: One Bezosverse with Many Clouds
November 3, 2020
I read “AWS Hearts Multi-Cloud? It’s Gonna Happen” because of the words “hearts” and “gonna.” Interesting. The main point of the write up is that Amazon has a digital planet. There will be one sky over the planet, and Amazon will provide the air conditioning and heating to make life comfortable.
The write up includes some nifty lingo; for example:
- Any cloud
- Cross cloud
- Multi cloud
- Poly cloud.
Consultants repurposing themselves from failed Covid and pandemic gigs are in business. The opportunities for analyses, studies, and reports are plentiful.
The write up contains an interesting factoid, which I have not been able to verify. Here it is in its naked glory:
In fact, when we [Cloud Irregular] surveyed 26,000 cloud builders this summer at A Cloud Guru, about 75% of them identified AWS as their company’s primary cloud. But basically the same number said they also have some workloads running on Azure or GCP. Again, nobody is doing this as a strategic choice, it’s just reality. 3 out of 4 cloud shops are cheating on AWS.
That is a heck of a sample: 26,000 developers!
Amazon wants to be the center of the Bezosverse, which makes sense from Mr. Bezos’ point of view I assume. The write up notes:
They are the velociraptors of cloud, and as long as they are willing to cannibalize their own offerings in the pursuit of customer value, they will remain hard to beat.
But is the future secure for the Bezosverse? The write up concludes with this Delphic observation:
“Multi-cloud is the killer value prop AWS just can’t compete with” is no longer the only safe bet in startup land. Every dinosaur in the virtual re:Invent expo hall is just asking to get hit with an asteroid. Brace for impact.
I am braced.
Stephen E Arnold, November 3, 2020
Gartner Heads for the Clouds with Silver Linings
October 5, 2020
Organizations are offloading their computing, because it saves on expenses and allows them to have endless storage space, maintenance, upgrades, and customer service. At least cloud computing is supposed to be the end all solution. The Register reported on a recent Gartner review of cloud computing services, “Gartner On Cloud Contenders: AWS Fails To Lower Its Prices, Microsoft ‘Cannot Guarantee Capacity’, Google Has ‘Devastating’ Network Outages.”
Gartner’s review faced criticism from the start, because it only covered seven cloud infrastructure and platform services, because they fit the definition of “hyper scale cloud providers.” The biggest players are not surprising: Google, Microsoft, and AWS. The other companies are smaller but specialize in niches: Alibaba, Oracle, IBM, and Tencent. Gartner separated its review criteria into magic quadrants, but failed to identify any movers or shakers.
AWS soars to the top of the report and Gartner warns Amazon wants to own more parts of the value chain that delivers cloud computing services. Microsoft placed second, because it is a good service for Microsoft-based systems and company has a good approach to open source.
Readers of the article were unhappy with it, because:
“It’s not random speculation, it’s paid propaganda.
In 2011 Gartner “predicted” that windows phone would leap ahead of iOS in market share by 2015…
Back in 2003 they said that windows mobile would dominate the smartphone market.
Microsoft paid Gartner for this “analysis”.
Other observations included:
- There are some people who actually consider Gartner reports to be worth something, and this did result in a few companies standardizing on Microsoft mobile devices for a time based on reading the Gartner reports – only to be forced to quickly move to android or ios devices when the devices they were using got dropped.
- They don’t actually use or test the products/services they write about, information published by Gartner is supplied by the vendors themselves – ie it’s “best case” marketing material and doesn’t reflect real world experience where advertised functionality is almost never as good as the marketing literature claims it to be.
- At most what they do, is compare the claimed feature sets of vendors… Only many vendors will exaggerate their claims, they may have features X Y and Z on paper but that doesn’t mean you as a potential customer would need or want those features, nor does it mean that they actually perform as expected.
When it comes to choosing products or services, there really is no substitute for actual experience. There are people who have used a product extensively and know its individual strengths and weaknesses. Every product/service has its own strengths and weaknesses, but which set is best for your individual use case can vary.
Ah, marketing.
Whitney Grace, October 5, 2020
Amazon and Halliburton: A Tie Up to Watch? Yep
September 11, 2020
DarkCyber noted “Explor, Halliburton, AWS Collaborate to Achieve Breakthrough with Seismic Data Processing in the Cloud.” The write up explains that crunching massive seismic data sets works. Among the benchmarks reported by the online bookstore and the environmentally-aware engineering and services companies are:
- An 85% decrease in CDP sort order times: Tested by sorting 308 million traces comprising of 1.72 TB from shot domain to CDP domain, completing the flow in an hour.
- An 88% decrease in CDP FK Filtering times: Tested with a 57 million-trace subset of the data comprising 318 GB, completing the flow in less than 6 minutes.
- An 82% decrease in pre-stack time migration times: Tested on the full 165 million-trace dataset comprising of 922GB, completing the flow in 54 minutes.
What do these data suggest? Better, faster, and cheaper processing?
We noted this paragraph in the write up:
“The collaboration with AWS and Explor demonstrates the power of digital investments that Halliburton is making, in this instance to bring high-density surveys to market faster and more economically than ever before. By working with industry thought leaders like Explor and AWS, we have been able to demonstrate that digital transformation can deliver step-change improvements in the seismic processing market.” – Philip Norlund, Geophysics Domain Manager, Halliburton, Landmark
Keep in mind that these data are slightly more difficult to manipulate than a couple hundred thousand tweets.
Stephen E Arnold, September 11, 2020
No Return of the JEDI for Amazon
August 31, 2020
i read “Conflict of Interest? We’ve Heard of It. AWS on Selection Panel to Choose UK.gov’s Chief Digi [sic] Officer.” The main point of the article, which I assume is accurate, is that AWS UK top dog Doug Gurr will sit on a committee responsible for choosing the UK’s next chief digital officer. The Register article provides links and contextual information. Helpful.
However, the write up does not address what DarkCyber’s research team is the reason for the SugarDaddy.com approach to providing input. Is it possible that Amazon’s top dogs remember the significant and somewhat humiliating defeat delivered right between the eyes of the tag team of Jeff Bezos and Teresa Carlson, world’s richest human and former head of Microsoft governmental sales respectively?
Losing that work has already had a negative impact on Amazon’s policeware business and dims its hoped for incursions into adjacent services; for example, processing IRS tax returns to identify possibly fraudulent claims. Microsoft has had the original idea of stepping up competitive pressure in Middle Eastern countries which AWS has worked hard to move to these nation states’ technological futures. Yikes.
Net net: Amazon is doing what it can to make sure there will be no return of the JEDI.
Stephen E Arnold, August 31, 2020
Cloud Data: Clear with Rain Predicted for On Premises Hardware
August 21, 2020
I like surveys which provides some information about sample size. “Survey: How the Pandemic Is Shaking Up the Network Market” says that 2,400 information technology decision makers participated. How were these individuals selected? How was the survey conducted? When was the survey conducted? are questions not answered. Nevertheless, some of the findings seemed interesting.
One of the surprising factoids was the shift from a license for a period of time to a “subscription.” How many outfits are subscribing to cloud services? The write up reports:
The average proportion of IT services consumed via subscription will accelerate by 38% in the next two years, from 34% of the total today to 46% in 2022, and the share of organizations that consume a majority (over 50%) of their IT solutions ‘as a service’ will increase by approximately 72% in that time.
Automatic monthly payments and probably tricky cancellation policies will be part of the subscription business, but that’s just a hunch, not a survey finding.
Other items of interest included these factoids:
77% [of those responding to the survey] said that investments in networking projects had been postponed or delayed since the onset of COVID-19, and 28% indicated that projects had been cancelled altogether.
35% of ITDMs globally are planning to increase their investment in AI-based networking technologies, with the APAC region leading the charge at 44% (including 60% of ITDMs [the acronym which few probably know means “IT decision-makers”] in India and 54% in Hong Kong).
just 8% [of the sample] globally plan to continue with only CapEx investments.
Net net: Pricing and curtailing capital expenditures may be trends. If these data are accurate, the data suggest that companies targeting on premises sales of hardware may face some headwinds. Of course, I believe everything I read on the Internet, particularly objective surveys.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2020
Which Cloud Is Better?
August 20, 2020
DarkCyber noted “AWS Vs. Azure: Key Differences and Business Benefits.” This is a free analysis. The write up offers some interesting points, and we suggest that you consult the original for the nuances and additional details.
Key points we noted:
- A cloud is mostly neutral. The developer and tech team’s experience and knowledge make the difference.
- Migration is easier if the technology professional has experience with a particular cloud.
- More advanced cloud features cost more money; for instance, machine learning.
- Prices are about the same regardless of cloud vendor.
- AWS is better with open source technology.
- Cloud providers are becoming adept at matching other cloud vendors’ offerings. But in the hybrid cloud game, Microsoft is number one.
The write up includes a league table. What’s interesting is that the Alibaba cloud business is within spitting distance of Google’s market share.
Stephen E Arnold, August 20, 2020
Chinese Clouds Move In: The Data May Be Wonky But the Message Is Clear
August 12, 2020
I am not a big fan of data generated by mid tier consulting firms. I call these outfits azure-chip consulting firms. Overall these firms are not able to attract and retain the type of individual who works at Bain, BCG, Booz Allen, and McKinsey. That’s a generalization, but it is one with which I am comfortable.
I read “Amazon Continues to Dominate Global IaaS Market: Report.” The data come from the estimable outfit Gartner, and the report involves real numbers. Some of the Gartner reports are what I would call subjective, but this report includes percentages.
The main point is that Amazon is the Big Dog for infrastructure as a service. The idea is that instead of have hardware in a closet and a couple of pizza eaters on the payroll to maintain the gear, one uses the cloud. It is magical and, best of all, does not involve capital expenditures and those pizza lovers.
The Gartner study explains that Alibaba, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and TenCent dominate the market. That means Hewlett Packard and IBM are doing what they know how to do: Disappoint in fast growing market sectors.
The write up states:
These top five providers accounted for 77% of the total market in 2018, and in 2019 this number swelled to 80%. Throughout all IaaS providers in the market, 75% saw growth in 2018.
Okay, but to DarkCyber the main point is that two Chinese companies are now nosing into territory once dominated by US firms. As in the artificial intelligence market, the increased presence and success of these outfits from the Middle Kingdom is the big story. Even with squishy numbers, the change is evident.
Stephen E Arnold, August 12, 2020
Softies and SASers Team to Deliver Bigly Solutions
July 24, 2020
Microsoft and SAS are two of the biggest names in technology. They have decided to combine their powers to form a strategic, technological partnership. IT-Online shares the news in the report, “SAS, Microsoft Partner On Analytics And AI.”
SAS specializes in analytics software, while Microsoft popularized the personal computer. With this new partnership, their customers can expand SAS business solutions across Microsoft’s veritable product array. This specifically means:
“As part of the partnership, the companies will migrate SAS’ analytical products and industry solutions on to Microsoft Azure as the preferred cloud provider for the SAS Cloud. SAS’ industry solutions and expertise will also bring added value to Microsoft’s customers across health care, financial services and many other industries.”
The ultimate goal for Microsoft and SAS is to bolster their bottom dollar, but both clientele sets will gain many advantages. SAS will have easier access to the cloud and Microsoft gains access to powerful analytics software. The analytics software is of particular interest for Microsoft, because they want to integrate SAS technology into Azure and Dynamics 365 for new solutions.
Is this Cloud babble? You know: Blah, blah, flexibility. Blah, blah, scalability. It is a fancier way for both companies to enrich their product offerings for large organizations with inertia and a desire to move to the future of computing. Too bad Amazon.
Whitney Grace, July 24, 2020
The Cloud Becomes the New PC, So the Cloud Becomes the Go To Attack Vector
July 24, 2020
Cloud providers are not Chatty Cathies when it comes to some of their customers’ more interesting activities. Take malware, for example. Bad actors can use cloud services for a number of activities, including a temporary way station when deploying malware, delivering bogus or spoofed Web sites as part of a social engineering play, or just launching phishing emails. Major cloud providers are sprawling operations, and management tools are still in their infancy. In fact, management software for cloud operators are in a cat-and-mouse race. Something happens, and the cloud provider responds.
“Hackers Found Using Google Cloud to Hide Phishing Attacks” provides some information about the Google and its struggles to put on a happy face for prospects and regulators while some Googlers are reading books about dealing with stressful work.
The article reports:
Researchers at cybersecurity firm Check Point on Tuesday cited an instance when hackers used advanced features on Google Cloud Platform to host phishing pages and hide them. Some of the warning signs that users generally look out for in a phishing attack include suspicious-looking domains, or websites without a HTTPS certificate. However, by using well-known public cloud services such as Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure to host their phishing pages, the attackers can overcome this obstacle and disguise their malicious intent, improving their chances of ensnaring even security-savvy victims…
What’s the fix?
Obviously vendors of cloud management software, hawkers of smart cyber security systems, and bright young PhD track cyber specialists have ideas.
The reality may be that for now, there is no solution. Exposed Amazon S3 buckets, Google based endeavors, and Microsoft (no, we cannot update Windows 10 without crashing some machines) Azure vectors are here to stay.
Perhaps one should tweet this message? Oh, right, Twitter was compromised. Yeah.
Stephen E Arnold, July 24, 2020
And Microsoft Wants Its Partners to Support Government Entities?
July 16, 2020
The article “Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Web Sites Exposes Personal Data of 700,000 Cops” troubles me for two reasons.
First, the loss of the data increases risk for the professionals listed in the data files. Not good.
Second, the write up asserts as “real” news:
All of the hacked websites were hosted and built by the Texas web development firm Netsential on Windows servers located in Houston. They were all running the same custom (and insecure) content management system, developed using Microsoft’s ASP.NET framework in the programming language VBScript, using Microsoft Access databases. Because they all run the same software, if a hacker could find a vulnerability in one of the websites that allowed them to download all the data from it, they could use that vulnerability to hack the rest of the websites without much additional effort.
DarkCyber believes that much of the 21st century cyber software jabber is marketing speak.
If the statement about Microsoft’s infrastructure and software is accurate, there are some questions to answer:
- How did the Microsoft partner program allow “experts” certified by Microsoft to create a system with some interesting security issues?
- Where did the Netsential Web site go? Why did its content disappear?
- What does this incident mean in the context of the Department of Defense JEDI contract?
DarkCyber is concerned when a giant corporation cannot update its own Windows 10 operating system and fail to ensure that its partners are qualified to perform sensitive work in a careful manner.
Is there some useful code on Microsoft Github? Snap. Github fell over again just as I was looking.
Another troubling US technology lapse it seems for a company wanting to provide cloud services to the US government and law enforcement.
Stephen E Arnold, July 16, 2020
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
