IT insights, October

What has been happening in the tech and vendor world in October? We compiled the latest vendor news and trending topics of the past month. It takes just a few minutes to be up to date.

SoftwareOne news

Worldreader, an international nonprofit, turned to SoftwareOne for guidance when exploring the use of GenAI to quickly and easily create digital activities that encourage child readers to read more. Read the full case study here.

SoftwareOne has launched a new SoftwareOne Cloud Competency Centre in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The centre expands SoftwareOne's global delivery network and will drive digital modernisation for businesses across Southeast Asia. With local expertise and support in AWS cloud services, including generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Q, our team of experts are ready to help businesses innovate and grow. Read the full announcement here.

Vendor news

Amazon Web Services

AWS and UAE-based e& have signed a $1 billion cloud agreement to offer cloud services in the Middle East, targeting the public sector and heavily regulated industries. The six-year agreement will focus on cloud services including storage, computing, networking, cybersecurity, AI, and machine learning, with e& deploying AWS technologies to enhance its AI capabilities and modernise its services.

AWS plans to invest over US$500 million in nuclear energy, joining Google and Microsoft in exploring this energy source. This venture is a strategic response to AWS's increasing power demands for its data centres, particularly as it expands its services in GenAI.

The AWS Mainframe Modernisation service now offers new integrations for managed runtime environments running modernised mainframe applications. The new capabilities include integrations with LDAP, LRS print and output management, AWS Health events, and support for Amazon EC2 M7i instances.

Availability updates:

• AWS Console Mobile App now allows seamless opening of links to AWS services and resources, providing a convenient on-the-go experience for customers.
• AWS Storage Gateway expands availability to the AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region enabling customers to deploy and manage hybrid cloud storage for their on-premises workloads.
• AWS WAF Bot and Fraud Control RuleGroup is now available in 6 additional AWS regions.
• AWS Storage Gateway is now available in AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region.
• Research and Engineering Studio (RES) on AWS Version 2024.10 introduces new features like virtual desktop instance auto-stop, project level home file systems, and customisable DCV permissions.

Microsoft

Microsoft has announced a major update to Copilot, transforming it into a personalised AI companion. The update introduces voice and vision capabilities, making the AI assistant more integrated and hands-free. Also, additional 12 languages are now supported in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Microsoft is investing €4.3 billion in Italy to expand its hyperscale cloud and AI data centre infrastructure and provide digital skills training to over 1 million Italians by 2025. The aim is to support Italy's economic growth, address demographic challenges, and foster innovation in strategic sectors through the adoption of AI.

Azure Cobalt 100-based Virtual Machines are now generally available. These VMs offer up to 50% better price performance than previous generations, delivering improved performance across various workloads.

Microsoft and SAS have reached an agreement to host SAS software and managed services in Microsoft's local hyperscale cloud region in New Zealand, enabling local data hosting for SAS customers for the first time. The partnership will provide SAS customers with advanced resiliency, latency, security services, and improved green credentials, meeting the growing demand for cloud-native apps and data residency requirements.

Adobe

Adobe announces the general availability of Adobe GenStudio for Performance Marketing, a generative AI application that helps brands and agencies accelerate the creation of global advertising and marketing campaigns. The application addresses the growing demand for personalised and high-quality content across various channels. It empowers users to create content variations at scale while ensuring compliance with brand standards.

Adobe's new free web app, Adobe Content Authenticity, aims to help creators protect and receive attribution for their digital work by using Content Credentials as secure metadata.

The web app addresses concerns over misinformation and unauthorised use of content, offering creators a reliable method to attach attribution and protect their work from misuse.

IBM

IBM has launched its first Quantum Data Centre in Europe, expanding its quantum computing capabilities in the region and signalling a commitment to collaboration with European industry, academia, and policymakers. The new data centre in Ehningen, Germany, features advanced IBM Quantum systems with increased performance and reduced error rates, catering to the needs of European-based enterprises and research institutions seeking to advance quantum algorithm discovery.

IBM Cloud now offers NVIDIA H100s Tensor Core GPU instances globally, providing powerful AI processing capabilities for enterprises. IBM Cloud's AI and HPC platform provides advanced capabilities for building custom AI applications, managing data, and ensuring security and compliance.

IBM has been recognised as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for API Management. IBM ranked #1 in 4 out of 6 key Use Cases for API management, showcasing its strong capabilities in areas such as Mobile/Web Backend APIs and Productising APIs.

IBM Consulting Advantage now leverages the advanced Granite 3.0 large language models as the default, empowering 160,000 consultants worldwide to deliver enhanced client value with AI. The platform's expansion introduces domain-specific capabilities for Cloud Transformation, Cloud Management, and Business Operations, enabling clients to achieve tangible value from their investments and reinvent their business operations with AI.

Oracle

Oracle plans to invest over US$6.5 billion to open a public cloud region in Malaysia, aiming to boost the country's digital economy and drive AI-fuelled innovation. The upcoming cloud region will offer a wide range of AI infrastructure and services, including OCI Generative AI Agents, accelerated computing, and 150+ other services such as Oracle Autonomous Database and OCI Kubernetes Engine.

Oracle's new AI-powered capabilities enhance service efficiency, reduce resolution time, and elevate the customer experience in the Oracle Fusion Cloud Service and Oracle Fusion Cloud Field Service. The automated service agent, call and chat summarisation, and field service knowledge search augmentation are key AI-powered features that empower service teams to deliver improved customer service.

Oracle has been named a leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud HCM Suites for 1,000+ Employee Enterprises for Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM). Also, leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Strategic Cloud Platform Services and the Distributed Hybrid Infrastructure.

Oracle Financial Services has been recognised as the category leader in AI innovation and deployment in risk technology by Chartis Research's RiskTech AI 50 report. The report highlights Oracle's success in delivering powerful AI solutions for financial services, particularly in retail banking, finance, and accounting.

Salesforce

Salesforce announced Connected Assets, a new suite of capabilities for Manufacturing Cloud that gives manufacturers with a real-time, unified view of their assets, enabling them to minimise downtime, improve performance, and increase customer satisfaction.

Salesforce (MuleSoft) has been named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for API Management for the ninth consecutive year, highlighting its consistent recognition in the industry. API sprawl poses significant challenges for organisations, leading to data breaches, and MuleSoft's API Management on Anypoint Platform addresses this issue by providing full lifecycle API management capabilities.

Salesforce has introduced ecommerce storefronts to its Starter and Pro Suites . The move empowers growing businesses to build direct-to-consumer online stores and manage sales, service, marketing, and commerce in a unified interface. The integration of ecommerce capabilities within Salesforce's CRM suite enables businesses to streamline operations, personalise buyer experiences, and drive revenue growth across digital channels.

Salesforce has introduced Government Cloud Premium, a Software-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service offering with top Secret authorisation from the U.S. Government. This allows U.S. national security and intelligence agencies to access a dedicated environment for developing applications, automating workflows, and integrating government systems.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement has been recognised as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for B2B marketing automation platforms for the seventh consecutive year.

Salesforce has launched the Tableau Einstein Alliance to create AI solutions and analytical agents, with exclusive benefits for partner organisations. The Alliance is set to launch with 25 initial members, including Atrium, Capgemini, Deloitte, IBM, and Slalom, to deliver solutions on the Salesforce AppExchange and Tableau Marketplace.

SAP

SAP users can now leverage IBM Watson and IBM Granite's generative AI capabilities through the AI hub on SAP Business Technology Platform, optimising business efficiency and enabling Q&A, chatbots, and insight extraction. IBM's collaboration with SAP extends to embedding Watson AI into SAP solutions and building an extensive portfolio of AI solutions across various industries, with a focus on leveraging the power of Granite models.

The release of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 FPS02 introduces advanced AI-assisted capabilities that automate routine tasks, provide predictive insights, and streamline decision-making processes. The revolutionary digital assistant, Joule, is designed to enhance user interactions and boost productivity across the SAP ecosystem by offering context-sensitive suggestions and shortcuts.

SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite introduces embedded AI to enhance talent intelligence, career development, and employee experience. The integration of third-party partners into the talent intelligence hub enables organisations to have a centralised system for skills and career planning.

Tech news

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare unveils AI-powered innovations to enhance patient care, streamline workflows, and empower healthcare professionals. New healthcare AI models in Azure AI Studio enable organisations to rapidly build and deploy tailored AI solutions for diverse data types, from medical imaging to genomics and clinical records.

Microsoft and Rezolve AI have partnered to bring advanced AI solutions to retailers through Microsoft Azure Marketplace, with extensive go-to-market and co-sell support. The collaboration aims to empower retailers with scalable AI solutions that address friction in eCommerce and digital channels, providing personalised customer interactions and operational efficiencies.

Siemens and Microsoft have enhanced the Siemens Industrial Copilot to handle challenging industrial environments at scale, with over 100 customers in Europe and the US already benefitting from its efficiency improvements. thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering plans a global rollout of the Copilot in 2025, empowering over 120,000 engineers with Gen AI.

IBM has launched the Guardium Data Security Centre, which provides unified data security capabilities for hybrid cloud, AI, and quantum-related risks. The centre includes AI Security and Quantum Safe software to protect AI deployments and encrypted data from potential cyberattacks.

Adobe announced a global initiative to provide AI literacy, content creation, and digital marketing skills to 30 million learners by 2030 through the expansion of the Adobe Digital Academy. The programme will offer training, certifications, and access to Adobe Express, collaborating with Coursera, NGOs, K-12 schools, colleges, and alternative education organisations.

Analyst predictions

Gartner

• Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending to grow 9.3% in 2025.
• Only 48% of digital initiatives meet or exceed their business outcome targets.
• Generative AI will require 80% of engineering workforce to upskill through 2027.

IDC

• European spending on Artificial Intelligence to reach $133 Billion by 2028.
• Almost 90% of Asia/Pacific enterprises embrace Multi-Cloud, but cloud skills and performance gaps persist.
• Asia/Pacific cybersecurity market to reach $6 billion by 2027 with strong growth from SMB/Midmarket security spending.
• Asia/Pacific edge spending expected to hit $84 billion in 2028.
• Shared Cloud Infrastructure continues to lead infrastructure spending in the second quarter of 2024, fuelled by investments in AI-related projects.