Talent Updates
Paul Christensen
Mark de Viser19. Database Talent: Splice Machine, developers of the open-source RDBMS powered by Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark, has hired Mark de Visser as VP of marketing. The appointment comes at a key inflection point for Splice, following the announcement of the open-source 2.0 edition of its scale-out ANSI-SQL database. Among the products he has helped launch in his career are Borland C++, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Zend Framework, Sonatype Nexus, Sauce Labs Test Cloud and iText 7.
18. Cincinnati Bell Talent: Cincinnati Bell Inc. has named Leigh R. Fox as the company's president and chief operating officer, and Andrew R. Kaiser as CFO. They will both report to CEO Ted Torbeck. The moves come as the telco company pushes deeper into end-to-end IT solutions. 17. IT Hiring: IT hiring across the U.S. economy rebounded after several months of sluggishness, according to CompTIA's analysis of a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. An additional 205,000 IT professionals reported employment during August, raising the total base of core IT occupation employment to more than 4.6 million.While hiring was strong in computer systems design, software and services, there were net job losses in telecom and computer and electronic products, CompTIA said. The IT job growth rate in 2015 was 3.1 percent, and conditions suggest the 2016 growth rate will be on par with that figure, according to CompTIA Senior VP Tim Herbert.Mergers and Acquisitions
16. Government Consulting Acquisition: LMI is acquiring FourWinds Limited Company, a management consulting firm advising national security customers. Financial terms were not disclosed. LMI, launched more than 55 years ago, has more than 1,000 consultants-- many of whom specialize in IT security, enterprise architecture and data analytics.15. GoDaddy Acquires WordPress Expertise: GoDaddy has acquired ManageWP, a Serbian WordPress management firm. ManageWP, headquartered in Belgrade, has 30 employees and revenues were about $1 million in 2015, according to multiple reports. Roughly 250,000 customers run their WordPress services atop ManageWP. GoDaddy has a range of WordPress skill sets. Financial terms for this deal aren't expected to be announced. Meanwhile, GoDaddy's buyout of FreedomVoice -- a hosted PBX and VoIP specialist -- still awaits regulatory approval.
14. Data Centers Acquisition?: Asia investors may buy a stake in Global Switch, a data center operator owned by Britain's billionaire Reuben brothers. The brothers are in advanced talks to sell about half the company for about US$6.7 billion, Reuters reported. Dozens of data centers across the globe potentially are up for sale -- including infrastructure owned by CenturyLink and Verizon. In some cases, the data center giants have failed to effectively compete against Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. 13. Intel Acquires Movidius: Intel late Monday confirmed plans to acquire Movidius, a startup that makes vision chips for drones and virtual reality. Financial terms were not disclosed.Cloud Infrastructure
12. HPE Eucalyptus Private Cloud: Eucalyptus once hoped to be a private cloud alternative to Amazon Web Services -- even boasting compatibility with AWS along the way. But HP (now the HPE business) acquired Eucalyptus in 2014 and the business hasn't made much noise since that time. Fast forward to present day and HPE is finally announcing Managed Eucalyptus Private Cloud Services. Basically, HPE will build and manage Eucalyptus clouds for customers -- perhaps even linking them to AWS for hybrid cloud capabilities...
11. Huawei Cloud Platforms: Huawei, the Chinese networking giant, has rolled out a range of hardware platforms for building public and private clouds. True believers include Accenture, which jointly verified Oracle and SAP applications running atop the Huawei hardware stacks.
Continue to page two for the exciting, concise conclusion to this blog -- featuring items 10 to 1.
Welcome to page two of this blog. Here, as promised, is the exciting, concise conclusion to this blog. 10. Apple iPhone 7, Apple Watch: Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 7 and perhaps the Watch 2 during a September 7 event. 9. Google Fiber Rollout Problems: Google, AT&T and Comcast are locked in a broadband battle that involves a low-tech issue. Indeed, Google Fiber claims it is suffering from "pole access problems" in Nashville, Tenn. The search giant blames AT&T and Comcast for the problems. 8. Sony and the Internet of Things: Keep an eye on Sony's Xperia, Xperia Agent and Xperia Projector initiatives. Some of the technology will likely emerge in November, essentially giving Sony some key building blocks in the IoT market. 7. OpenOffice Dead?: OpenOffice, a Microsoft Office alternative, may shut down due to lack of developer interest. Many developers and users have shifted to another open source alternative called LibreOffice. 6. Staples Re-Defines Mid-Market: In its quest to remain relevant, Staples has shifted its business focus to mid-market customers. The major twist? Staples defines the mid-market as businesses with 10 to 200 employees. Hmmm... sounds like mid-market shrinkage to us. 5. GE Buying 3D Printing Technologies: General Electric announced plans today to buy two European 3D printing groups -- Sweden's Arcam and Germany's SLM Solutions -- for a total of $1.4 billion to tap into manufacturers' growing demand for digital technologies, Reuters reported. While 3D printer makers -- particularly in the consumer market -- have seen ups and downs, a company like GE could leverage the technology to design and sculpt light aircraft parts and more. 4. Who Owns McAfee (And the Name?): As Intel strives to potentially sell its security business (a.k.a. McAfee), the chip giant also is working to protect the business name from its founder -- blocking John McAfee from using his surname on future startups. The result is a court battle between Intel and the famed security expert. 3. This Week's Earnings: Stay tuned for quarterly financial results from SecureWorks (later today, Sept. 6); Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Sept. 7) and Violin Memory (Sept. 8). In particular, we wonder if HPE will offer any statements about the potential sale of the company's software business. 2. Kaseya Talent: Hush hush. One or more key moves are coming, and they could further bolster the company's hybrid cloud management tools...
Teanna Spence
Paul Dippell
