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Today’s topics include Salesforce’s waning interest in buying Twitter, HP cutting jobs as the PC market slows, Docker bringing containers to China and Microsoft’s new Cloud Services Due Diligence Checklist.
Twitter, the mass messaging company, has famously been losing tens of millions of dollars annually for nearly a decade. But its popularity had valued it around $15 billion several weeks ago when it seemed as though Salesforce was primed to purchase Twitter.
However, Salesforce has backed down, deciding not to pursue the deal. Two other corporations, Disney Company and Google, have also shown interest in buying Twitter despite its financial challenges. Salesforce is the only one to publicly withdraw interest. Both Twitter and Salesforce, although technically still in the red, are considered to be in “growth mode,” which is likely to draw investors and future purchasers.
PC sales have slowed since the introduction and rise of smartphones and tablets. HP Inc. is combatting some of that industry slackening through a large restructuring effort, which will include cutting another 3,000 to 4,000 jobs over the coming two years. Company officials say that the restructuring, including the job cuts, could save HP as much as $300 million by fiscal year 2020. To help make up for the slumping PC market, HP will also continue its focus on commercial mobile systems and services, as well as the copier space and 3D printing market.
Docker Inc., a major software containerization platform, will be partnering with Alibaba Cloud to bring Docker technologies to China. Alibaba Cloud is the cloud division of the Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group—which bills itself as the world’s fourth largest web hosting provider.
Alibaba Cloud will host a distribution of the Docker Hub, a central image repository, through a local mirror managed by Docker itself. According to Docker representatives, this means faster image downloads and a smoother user interface experience for Chinese developers.
Companies facing the task of comparing cloud service providers may find help from Microsoft’s new Cloud Services Due Diligence Checklist. It’s designed to enable customers to make better cloud procurement decisions.
Cloud computing is growing, and its benefits are clear, but that doesn’t mean organizations should contract with cloud service providers without asking key strategic questions such as: How will data be secured? Where will it be located? How will customer and employee data be protected? Microsoft’s checklist should help companies answer these questions by identifying their own objectives and requirements, while allowing for service provider comparisons.