Graph DB Makers Neo4J and TigerGraph Explore Bring Your Own Database Cloud Options

B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

• In order to do AI, IoT, and other big data-dependent projects right, companies are beyond the confines of traditional relational databases.

• Two recent, related partnerships between highly specialized “graph” database developers, Neo4J and TigerGraph, and public cloud platform providers, Amazon and Google, underscores the importance surfacing insights that would otherwise remain hidden within traditional database architectures.

Organizations anxious to put AI to work as a means of driving innovation must first invest in big data. AI algorithms and predictive models are nothing without a constant influx of high quality data. The trouble is that not all data is created equal, at least in terms of its ability to match the demands of a given initiative, be that AI, IoT, mobility, or edge computing.

Such specific demands in turn drive the adoption of highly specialized data architecture, extending down to the database itself. There are traditional relational databases as well as those specializing in key-values, document storage, in-memory processing, time-series evaluation, transaction ledgers, and graph analysis. Each in turn solves very specific problems – e.g., self-driving cars won’t work without an underlying database capable of performing time-series analysis.

NBN Co Stepping Up the Development of Services for Business Customers

S. Soh

Summary Bullets:

• NBN Co is developing capabilities to support business users, including providing higher QoS and enhanced customer support.
• With better connectivity, service providers have opportunities to offer more products and services (e.g., cloud, collaboration and networking) to businesses of all sizes.

NBN Co has been looking to the business segment to grow its revenue and has publicly discussed the aim to make $1 billion in revenue from this segment. While many small businesses are already using residential-grade NBN services, there is a demand for connections with higher service levels, lower contention ratios and better performance. In December 2018, NBN Co indicated that its network had reached half a million businesses. NBN Co is doubling down on developing products for business customers, and this will accelerate as it reaches more businesses across the country.

Amazon’s Cloud and E-Commerce Businesses Could Both Benefit from New Moves to Harness Satellite Communications

Summary Bullets:

• Amazon plans to apply its cloud computing business model to the provision of satellite communications infrastructure, while separately unveiling plans for a new satellite broadband Internet offering.

• Potential hurdles to Amazon’s new satellite business include the need to secure regulatory approval and intensifying competition from rival ventures such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX initiative.

Having established itself as a global e-commerce and cloud computing giant, Amazon is now looking to extend its technological prowess into space. A couple of projects, one of which is already underway, will see Amazon harness the power of satellite communications to unlock new commercial opportunities.

Meet the New BlackBerry: Unique Potential Wrapped in the Enigma of AI, Smothered with Cybersecurity Sauce

B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

• Surprise! BlackBerry is no longer a languishing phone company struggling to remain relevant opposite powerhouse consumer hardware manufacturers Apple, Samsung, Google, et al.
• Now a pure software developer with positive revenue numbers, the firm is embarking on an AI-powered journey of trusted and safe communications across a small number of very distinct but highly lucrative markets.

I have always had a soft spot for aging technology. I miss my clear case Apple Newton (stolen) and regret that I can no longer fire up my IBM ThinkPad 701 (the one with the butterfly keyboard). In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Nintendo Game Boy this past week, I even pulled out my Game Boy Pocket (also clear case) for a few rounds of Asteroids and Mortal Kombat II. And even though I never owned a BlackBerry phone, I miss the company’s long-standing dedication to the highly effective but now outdated concept of an actual, qwerty keyboard.

The Technologies Flashing the Green Light at the Intersection of VM and Kubernetes

Charlotte Dunlap – Principal Analyst, Application Platforms

Summary Bullets:          

• Key technologies promote management and isolation of untrusted containerized workloads on par with VM security
• Watch for new operational management technology supporting advanced ALM capabilities

I’ve been moving outside my comfort zone and attending OpenStack conferences, including next week’s Open Infrastructure Summit in Denver, to gain insight into what enterprise operations teams are up against as they shift from a virtualized world into modern app development scenarios. The success around containerizing applications (by running them on an operating system’s kernel versus hardware) is finally prompting interest in microservices, a new app architecture which breaks cumbersome monolithic apps into smaller, composable services.

 

This intersection of virtualization and Kubernetes, where VMs and application containers are being managed together is not without its security concerns. Vendors have therefore realized a need for technologies which provide an extra level of management and isolation for those untrusted workloads running in containers in order to reduce risk levels. Some examples include Google’s gVisor, which provides secure isolation for containers, and Amazon’s Firecracker, micro-VM technology which leverages modified KVM and manages and secures serverless infrastructures such as Lambda.

Of particular interest to hyperscale providers is Kata Containers, an OpenStack Foundation project which standardizes lightweight VMs that perform like containers but support workload isolation and retain the security benefits of VMs.  

Microsoft Unveils Bosque, Throwing Yet Another Stone Into an Ocean of Programming Languages

B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

• Microsoft’s new Bosque programming language may never rival top-tier options like Python or JavaScript; it might even fail miserably as an active language, drowning amid a sea of available options.
• But, if that failure improves the state of software development, Bosque will have succeeded admirably.

What’s wrong with JavaScript, Java, C++, C#, Python, Ruby, and the two hundred-plus active programming languages available in the market today? Do we really need one more programming language? Apparently, the folks in Redmond, Washington think so.

IoT Connection Forecasts Point to a Need for New Operator Strategies

K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

• According to new forecasts from GlobalData, the global number of Internet of Things (IoT) connections will reach 4.5 billion by 2023, dominated by short-range and cellular connections and with a five-year CAGR of 28%.
• This is only moderately good news for mobile operators, which will see cellular connections grow by only a CAGR of 16% over five years. More importantly, connectivity is only expected to generate 5-10% of total IoT revenues predicted by GlobalData at $317 billion by 2023.

It has been clear for a long time that operators need to move beyond connectivity to make any serious money in IoT. According to new forecasts from GlobalData, the global number of Internet of Things connections will reach 4.5 billion by 2023, dominated by short-range and cellular connections but with especially strong growth from LPWANs. The five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for all IoT connectivity types is moderate, at 28%.

Amazon Catches Heat for Alexa’s Dependence on Human Intellect

A. DeCarlo

Summary Bullets:

• Amazon Alexa is relaying recorded consumer speech for analysis by Amazon staff and contractors for product improvements.
• There is a simple workaround to turn off the default communications between Alexa and Amazon employees.

Alexa apparently needs a little help from human sources to better decipher user requests. Amazon acknowledged that individual staff and contractors in a number of countries including Romania, India, Costa Rica, and the U.S. each evaluate as many as 1,000 recorded requests to Alexa during their nine-hour shift. The staffers feed notes into software that provides better context to requests, which Amazon said will ultimately produce a better user experience.

When Thinking About UC, Don’t Lose Your Voice

G. Barton

Summary Bullets:

• Despite the growing popularity of video and messaging, voice remains a key communication tool for colleagues and customers.
• ‘Voice’ now covers multiple platforms and technologies – all of which need managing.

Lost Voice

It is understandable that companies such as Google and Facebook will promote marketing lines suggesting text- and video-based forms of communication are the future while traditional and cloud/IP voice-only services are old hat. And, to a certain extent, they are correct. There is no doubt that as the millennial generation enters the workplace, the preferred methods of communication and collaboration are changing. The change is also not confined to the youngest people in the workplace. RingCentral Glip and Microsoft Teams groups are a standard part of many peoples’ daily work routines. But, this doesn’t mean that the humble voice call is a thing of the past.

WiFi 6 and Its Benefits to Enterprises

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• WiFi 6 is entering the market and will offer higher capacity, better security, and more efficient resource/device management.
• As a successor to the current WiFi standard, it will be widely adopted in the mass market. There are also several benefits to enterprises.

What’s New

WiFi 6, which is based on the IEEE802.11ax standard, is a logical progression of the current WiFi technology (IEEE802.11ac). It comes with various new features and updated technologies to offer higher network capacity and security as well as better device management. WiFi 6 has a theoretical peak speed of 9.6 Gbps, almost triple that of its predecessor (WiFi 5). This is achieved through updated wireless technologies such as orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) and multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) antenna systems. However, the gain in capacity is not just about offering a higher speed, but also about addressing the larger number of WiFi devices served by an access point (AP).