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If you look at a multiple-year chart of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock, youll see a very pretty geometric shape known as a parabola. More accurately, youll only see the part of the parabola that goes vertically upwards, as the other side of the parabola (the one that goes down) is completely missing.

Source: VDB Photos / Shutterstock.com

Thats all fine and good, but does it make sense to buy Microsoft stock at this lofty price? If you want reasons I can give them to you, but the most compelling reason might be Microsofts progress in cloud computing; this alone could justify ignoring the sky-high MSFT stock price and taking a position anyway.

If youre looking for a company that will pose a threat in the cloud race, you wont find anything much better than Microsoft. In the first fiscal quarter of 2020, Microsofts Intelligent Cloud revenue advanced by 27%, with the Azure division expanding by an astonishing 59%. Thats quite an achievement considering the companys fourth-quarter cloud segment growth was 19% and its fiscal year 2019 cloud division growth was 21%.

You can feast your eyes on those encouraging stats, but its more important to appreciate how pivotal cloud computing will be in the coming years. Just as Microsoft was a desktop-computing pioneer in the 1980s and 1990s, the companys reminding stakeholders than an old dog can do new tricks as it continues to rivalAmazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the cloud-computing space.

How big is Microsofts footprint in this market? Put it this way: the companys Azure platform is currently being used in 54 global regions, while Amazons AWS could-computing platform is only being used in 25. Again, investors only need to look at the numbers and the choice is crystal clear.

The characters in the mob filmThe Godfather talked about how youre supposed to separate your business from your personal matters, but Amazon founder Jeff Bezos might have forgotten that lesson. At least, he seems to be taking it personally that the Pentagon awarded Microsoft a coveted $10 billion cloud computing contract.

The fact is, the Pentagon needed a provider with hybrid-cloud experience, and Microsoft trumps Amazon in that respect. Microsofts Azure platform allows for on-premise servers as well as pure cloud computing; during the Pentagons contract negotiations, surely the government took into consideration that Microsoft has a sizable head start in the hybrid-cloud space.

This head start has clearly paid off, as 95% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using the Azure platform. The flexibility of the hybrid approach is indubitably the differentiator here: as one Fortune 500 client observed, Microsoft didnt ask us to bend to their vision of a cloud.

As you may have already heard, there have been suggestions that the Pentagons choosing Microsoft was politically motivated. Theres no need to explore that here, but we can say with confidence that the storys not likely over. I fully expect Jeff Bezos to strike back against the government, Microsoft, and any other perceived antagonist.

Whether Microsoft won the Pentagon contract fair and square is immaterial for the time being, though; what matters to investors is that the companys miles ahead and will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Your best strategy as an investor is to avoid the flashy headlines and the accusations and just stick to the facts. In this case, the facts are evident: MSFT stock had a strong year and the cloud had something to do with that. I expect another exciting and prosperous year to await Microsoft shareholders the share price is high, but the cloud can take it even higher.

As of this writing, David Moadel did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Microsoft Stock Is Floating on a Cloud - Investorplace.com

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Smart home appliance maker Wyze has responded to what it calls an "alleged" data breach against its production databases by logging all users out of their accounts and has strengthened security for its servers. Customers endured a lengthy reauthentication process as the company responded to a series of reports claiming that the company stored sensitive information about people's security cameras, local networks, and email addresses in exposed databases.

Texas-based Twelve Security, a self-described "boutique" consulting firm, posted the claim of a breach against Wyze's two Elasticsearch databases on Medium yesterday. The unsecured data is said to have come from 2.4 million users. A plurality of them are located on the east coast of the United States, though data was sourced from across the country as well as in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and parts of Malaysia.

The dataset included any email addresses that have been registered to or shared access to a camera, the models, firmware versions, and assigned names of every cameras in a household, time of devices' last activation, times of users' last login and logout, account login tokens for users' Android and iOS devices, camera access tokens for users' Alexa devices, Wi-Fi SSID, and internal subnet layout. A particular subset of users who gave or have had tracked their height, weight, gender, bone health, and protein intake information may have had those data exposed as well. Twelve Security also noted that there were "clear indications" that data was being trafficked through Alibaba Cloud servers in China.

Video surveillance news blog IPVM followed up with Twelve Security and was able to spot accounts and devices linked to its staff who reviewed Wyze products.

Twelve Security opted not to notify Wyze before going public with its claims on suspicion of either the company's gross negligence or a concentrated espionage effort, based on the alleged Alibaba Cloud link as well as a previous security blunder where Alexa users could view camera feeds from devices they've resold to other people that vulnerability has since been patched.

In a bulletin on its community forums, Wyze stated that it was notified by IPVM late yesterday morning and has failed to verify a breach. It also denied any association with Alibaba Cloud.

The company said it decided out of caution to adjust access permissions for its databases and wipe all active login tokens this also cleared users' Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT integrations as well. Customers who employed two-factor authentication complained shortly after the token refresh that their login attempts were denied due to various errors. Wyze updated its bulletin late last night to report it had fixed the 2FA login process.

The Seattle-based Wyze sells smart plugs, lights, security cameras, and the like at prices well below its competition. It's able to do so by turning to vendors for advanced software features Xnor.ai recently canceled its contract with Wyze to provide its cameras with subject detection and vesting a number of resources, including manufacturing, in China. While we'd like to see more details come along, Twelve and IPVM's reporting to this point may cast doubt, at the very least, on how Wyze handles its resources.

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Privacy scare leads Wyze to unpair all devices from Google Assistant and Alexa, you'll need to add them back - Android Police

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A recent report from analyst research firm Aite estimates that the majority of global tier-one financial institutions have less than ten per cent of their total technology stack hosted in a public cloud environment. A startling statistic considering how large institutions such as Bank of America, which has been running cloud since 2013, has saved $2.1 billion in infrastructure costs. The financial sector has been slow to move to a cloud-based environment. Understandable concerns around data security are often cited as a key reason, but those financial institutions that do take the step towards the cloud can expect to realise a number of huge business benefits.

Cloud migration offers demonstrable business benefits for banks and financial institutions. A Chief Technology Officer at a tier-one global bank, explains this better when he says: The transparency that the cloud offers around costs - getting that understood with folks who are responsible for finance and forecasting is an important piece. The CTO added that cloud-enabled IT departments are able to deliver solutions in a faster timeframe. Furthermore, he states that the IT department can also work on DevSecOps models, giving them a lot more automation around their software development, data quality, software development and test quality.

The technology that allows systems to run in a cloud environment has been around for a long time. The bigger challenge for CTOs and CIOs is often getting the business approvals to be able to do what they want to do with cloud technology. Organisations should not underestimate the length of time it can take to implement a cloud infrastructure. Each system that's being moved into the cloud needs to be judged on its own merits; there might be legacy systems or the organisation might already have the existing infrastructure it needs and it makes sense to actually continue to use it for a period of time.

Risk and security understandably are among the biggest challenges faced by banks and financial institutions when migrating their organisation towards a cloud environment. Firms need to be assured that, in the cloud, both the institutions and its customers data are well protected. One of the main challenges financial institutions face is actually moving data to the public cloud. Security teams and regulators have strict requirements that need to be met, such as data location and encryption. These need to be understood and addressed upfront, rather than waiting for the project to be implemented.

Ensuring that we had the right risk and security controls that are approved and agreed on from an enterprise perspective was essential, said a CTO from a tier-one bank. With the cloud, like any environment, its essential to manage the security and risk associated with that environment, which should be a foundational piece of your strategy.

Cloud technology offers all financial institutions and banks the opportunity to have greater control over their workloads and, even with out-of-the-box cloud solutions, they can enjoy greater insights into those workloads and budgets associated with them. In a world of shrinking budgets for both people and resources, the cloud offers a lot of additional tooling at very competitive prices, whether that comes via a third-party or as part of the native toolset.

Other benefits of the cloud include stability and scalability as well as disaster recovery. In the cloud, stability means reliability. Financial firms can rest assured that in the event of a problem in one location, they have business continuity as other servers in the cloud will scale, and act as backup providing the correct deployments architectures are in place. CTOs and CIOs can also add new functionality without disruption. Financial institutions reputations rely on 24/7/365 reliability. With the cloud, there is no downtime, if one site is down another will pick up the slack, so the business can continue to function in the case of a disaster in one location.

Adopting cloud technologies is a key strategic business decision and firms looking to start their cloud programs can look to engage with experts early in order to help them formulate and implement strategies. This is where managed service providers can really add value as well as help save time, money and resources over the long term. Working with external managed service providers can help to accelerate migration and so that IT departments can start to realise the benefits quickly while focusing on other business critical tasks.

So, in general, the tide is turning - senior executives are starting to champion the move to the cloud. But the reality is that it's an education exercise. There is no one single cloud infrastructure model for financial institutions - every organisation is different. The key thing is that firms adopt a cloud infrastructure that works for them and gives them scope to scale as required.

Colin Sweeney, VP Client Operations, Fenergo

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The silver lining in cloud for financial institutions - ITProPortal

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According to a new market study, the Server Microprocessor Market is projected to reach a value of ~US$XX in 2019 and grow at a CAGR of ~XX% over the forecast period 2017 2027. The presented study ponders over the micro and macro-economic factors that are likely to influence the growth prospects of the Server Microprocessor Marketover the assessment period.

The market report throws light on the current trends, market drivers, growth opportunities, and restraints that are likely to influence the dynamics of the Server Microprocessor Market on a global scale. The Five Force and SWOT analysis included in the report provides a fair idea of how the different players in the Server Microprocessor Market are adapting to the evolving market landscape.

ThisPress Release will help you to understand the Volume, growth with Impacting Trends. Click HERE To get SAMPLE PDF (Including Full TOC, Table & Figures) at https://www.futuremarketinsights.co/reports/sample/REP-GB-5216

Analytical insights enclosed in the report:

The report splits the Server Microprocessor Marketinto different market segments including, region, end-use, and application.

The report provides an in-depth analysis of the current trends that are expected to impact the business strategies of key market players operating in the market. Further, the report offers valuable insights related to the promotional, marketing, pricing, and sales strategies of the established companies in the Server Microprocessor Market. The market share, growth prospects, and product portfolio of each market player are evaluated in the report along with relevant tables and figures.

The study aims to address the following doubts related to the Server Microprocessor Market:

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key players, and development of workload-specific server microprocessor designs is the growing trend in the global server microprocessor market.

Server Microprocessor Market: Market Dynamics

Expanding cloud infrastructure coupled with increasing adoption of cloud based solutions by organizations across various industries is the prominent factor drives the growth of global server microprocessor market. Increasing interest on hyper cloud solutions due to dynamic workload of organizations, emerging 5G networks and expanding internet of things (IoT) applications, accelerates the growth of global server microprocessor market. Also rising focus on exploring wide range of chip technologies by top internet giants such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, with the objective to enhance their artificial intelligence capabilities, fuels the growth of global server microprocessor market. Increasing focus on reducing data centre volume coupled with increasing investment in commercializing quantum computing, and complexity in upgrading server processors, are the factors identified as restraints likely to deter the progression of global server microprocessor market.

Server Microprocessor Market: Market Segmentation

The global server microprocessor market is segmented on the basis of number of cores, operating frequency, and by region.

On the basis of number of cores, the global server microprocessor market is segmented into

Six-core & less

Above six-core

On the basis of operating frequency, the global server microprocessor market is segmented into

1.5GHz 1.99GHz

2.0GHz 2.49GHz

2.5GHz 2.99GHz

3.0GHz and higher

Regionally, the global server microprocessor market is segmented into

In terms of revenue, the above six-core segment is expected to dominate the global server microprocessor market, due to expanding cloud infrastructure.

Server Microprocessor Market: Regional Outlook

Among all regions, server microprocessor market in North America is expected to dominate the market, due to increasing enterprise cloud data volumes. In terms of revenue, Asia Pacific is identified as the fastest growing server microprocessor market, due to adoption to software as a service (SaaS) based business models.

Server Microprocessor Market: Competition Landscape

In July 2017, Intel Corporation a U.S. based multinational technological company, launched Xeon Scalable an energy efficient server processor, with the objective to expand its portfolio.

In June 2017, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.- a U.S. based multinational semiconductor company, launched EPYC 7000 series a high performance processor for datacentre, with the objective to cater the increasing demand for lower energy high computing efficiency server processor.

Prominent players in the global server microprocessor market includes Intel Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., Cavium, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Applied Micro Circuits Corporation., and Marvell.

The report covers exhaustive analysis on:

Server Microprocessor Market segments

Server Microprocessor Market dynamics

Historical Actual Market Size, 2015 2016

Server Microprocessor Market size & forecast 2017 to 2027

Ecosystem analysis

Server Microprocessor Market current trends/issues/challenges

Competition & Companies involved technology

Value Chain

Server Microprocessor Market drivers and restraints

Regional analysis for Server Microprocessor Market includes

The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.

Report Highlights:

Detailed overview of parent market

Changing market dynamics in the industry

In-depth market segmentation

Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

Recent industry trends and developments

Competitive landscape

Strategies of key players and products offered

Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth

A neutral perspective on market performance

Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.

NOTE All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in reports are those of the respective analysts. They do not necessarily reflect formal positions or views of Future Market Insights.

Request Customized Report As Per Your Requirements athttps://www.futuremarketinsights.co/customization-available/REP-GB-5216

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Server Microprocessor Market Projected to Grow at an Impressive CAGR Of XX% Between 2017 2027 Bulletin Line - Bulletin Line

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Innovation is the cornerstone of technology. In IT, if youre not experimenting with a steady stream of emerging technologies, you risk disruption. Moreover, you can find yourself challenged when it comes to luring top talent and keeping ahead of competitors.

But knowing which bets to place when it comes to adopting emerging technologies can seem impossible. After all, most fizz out, and even those that do prove worthwhile often fall a little short of their hyped potential. Plus, most of what has most recently been considered cutting-edge today, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, is already finding its way into production systems. You have to look far ahead sometimes to anticipate the next wave coming. And the farther out you look, the more risky the bets become.

Still, sometimes a great leap forward is worth considering. In that light, here are seven next-horizon ideas that might prove to be crackpot or a savvy play for business value emerging along the fringe. It all depends on your perspective. William Gibson used to say that the future is already here, its just not evenly distributed yet. These ideas may be too insane for your team to try or they may be just the right thing for moving forward.

Of all the out-there technologies, nothing gets more press than quantum computers and nothing is spookier. The work is done by a mixture of physicists and computer scientists fiddling with strange devices at super-cold temperatures. If it requires liquid nitrogen and lab coats, well, its got to be innovation.

The potential is huge, at least in theory. The machines can work through bazillions of combinations in an instant delivering exactly the right answer to a mathematical version of Tetris. It would take millions of years of cloud computing time to find the same combination.

Cynics, though, point out that 99 percent of the work that we need to do can be accomplished by standard databases with good indices. There are few real needs to look for strange combinations, and if there are, we can often find perfectly acceptable approximations in a reasonable amount of time.

The cynics, though, are still looking through life through old glasses. Weve only tackled the problems that we can solve with old tools. If youve got something that your programmers say is impossible, perhaps trying out IBMs Q Experience quantum cloud service may be just the right move. Microsoft has also launched Azure Quantum for experimentation. AWS is following suit with Bracket as well.

Potential first adopters: Domains where the answer lies in the search for an exponentially growing combination of hundreds of different options.

Chance of happening in the next five years: Low. Google and IBM are warring with press releases. Your team will spend many millions just to get to the press release stage.

Many of the headlines continue to focus on the dramatic rise and fall in value of bitcoin but in the background developers have created dozens of different approaches to creating blockchains for immortalizing complex transactions and digital contracts. Folding this functionality into your data preservation hierarchy can bring much needed assurance and certainty into the process.

The biggest challenge may be making decisions about the various philosophical approaches. Do you want to rely on proof of work or some looser consensus that evolves from a trusted circle? Do you want to fret over elaborate Turing-complete digital contracts or just record transactions in a shared, trustworthy ledger? Sometimes a simple API that offers timely updates is enough to keep partners synchronized. A few digital signatures that guarantee database transactions may just be enough. There are many options.

Potential first adopters: Industries with tight, synchronized operations between businesses that dont want to trust each other but must. These frenemies can use a shared blockchain database to eliminate some of the disputes before they happen.

Potential for success in five years: High. There are dozens of active prototypes already running and early adopters can dive in.

For the past few decades, the internet has been the answer to most communications problems. Just hand the bits to the internet and theyll get there. Its a good solution that works most of the time but sometimes it can be fragile and, when cellular networks are involved, fairly expensive.

Some hackers have been moving off the grid by creating their own ad hoc networks using the radio electronics that are already in most laptops and phones. The bluetooth code will link up with other devices nearby and move data without asking mother may I to some central network.

Enthusiasts dream of creating elaborate local mesh networks built out of nodes that pass along packets of bits until they reach the right corner of the network. Ham radio hobbyists have been doing it for years.

Potential early adopters: Highly localized applications that group people near each other. Music festivals, conferences, and sporting events are just some of the obvious choices.

Potential for success in five years: High. There are several good projects and many open source experiments already running.

If the buzzwords green and artificial intelligence are good on their own, why not join the two and double the fun? The reality is a bit simpler than doubling the hype might suggest. AI algorithms require computational power and at some point computational power is proportional to electrical power. The ratio keeps getting better, but AIs can be expensive to run. And the electrical power produces tons of carbon dioxide.

There are two strategies for solving this. One is to buy power from renewable energy sources, a solution that works in some parts of the world with easy access to hydro-electric dams, solar farms or wind turbines.

The other approach is to just use less electricity, a strategy that can work if questions arise about the green power. (Are the windmills killing birds? Are the dams killing fish?) Instead of asking the algorithm designers to find the most awesome algorithms, just ask them to find the simplest functions that come close enough. Then ask them to optimize this approximation to put the smallest load on the most basic computers. In other words, stop dreaming of mixing together a million layered algorithm trained by a dataset with billions of examples and start constructing solutions that use less electricity.

The real secret force behind this drive is alignment between the bean counters and the environmentalists. Simpler computations cost less money and use less electricity which means less stress on the environment.

Potential early adopters: Casual AI applications that may not support expensive algorithms.

Potential for success in five years: High. Saving money is an easy incentive to understand.

The world has been stuck on the old QWERTY keyboards since someone designed them to keep typewriters from jamming. We dont need to worry about those issues anymore. Some people have imagined rearranging the keys and putting the common letters in the most convenient and fastest locations. The Dvorak keyboard is just one example and it has some fans who will teach you how to use it.

A more elaborate option is to combine multiple keys to spell out entire words or common combinations. This is what the court reporters use to keep accurate transcripts, and just to pass the qualifying exam, the new reporters must be able to transcribe more than 200 words per minute. Good transcriptionists are said to be able to handle 300 words per minute.

One project, Plover, is building tools for converting regular computers to work like stenotypes. If it catches on, there could be an explosion in creative expression. Dont focus on the proliferation of inter-office memos and fine print.

Potential first adopters: Novelists, writers, and social media addicts.

Potential for success in five years: Medium. Two-finger typing is a challenge for many.

Wait, werent we supposed to be rushing to move everything to the cloud? When did the pendulum change directions? When some businesses started looking at the monthly bill filled with thousands of line entries. All of those pennies per hour add up.

The cloud is an ideal option for sharing resources, especially for work that is intermittent. If your load varies dramatically, turning to the public cloud for big bursts in computation makes plenty of sense. But if your load is fairly consistent, bringing the resources back under your roof can reduce costs and remove any worries about what happens to your data when its floating around out in the ether.

The major clouds are embracing solutions that offer hybrid options for moving data back on premises. Some desktop boxes come configured as private cloud servers ready to start up virtual machines and containers. And AWS recently announced Outposts, fully managed compute and storage racks that are built with the same hardware Amazon uses in its datacenters, run the same workloads, and are managed with the same APIs.

Potential first adopters: Shops with predictable loads and special needs for security.

Potential for success in five years: High. Some are already shifting load back on premises.

The weak spot in the world of encryption has been using the data. Keeping information locked up with a pretty secure encryption algorithm has been simple. The standard algorithms (AES, SHA, DH) have withstood sustained assault from mathematicians and hackers for some years. The trouble is that if you want to do something with the data, you need to unscramble it and that leaves it sitting in memory where its prey to anyone who can sneak through any garden-variety hole.

The idea with homomorphic encryption is to redesign the computational algorithms so they work with encrypted values. If the data isnt unscrambled, it cant leak out. Theres plenty of active research thats produced algorithms with varying degrees of utility. Some basic algorithms can accomplish simple tasks such as looking up records in a table. More complicated general arithmetic is trickier and the algorithms are so complex they can take years to perform simple addition and subtraction. If your computation is simple, you might find that its safer and simpler to work with encrypted data.

Potential first adopters: Medical researchers, financial institutions, data-rich industries that must guard privacy.

Potential for success in five years: Varies. Some basic algorithms are used commonly to shield data. Elaborate computations are still too slow.

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7 crackpot technologies that might transform IT - CIO East Africa

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