Oct 28 2022
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Andy Jassy Named AWS CEO

By Harry

Andy Jassy, a long-standing leader at Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), has been promoted to CEO. Jassy, who previously held the title of senior vice-president, has helped AWS become one of three notable success stories that Amazon, its parent company, has chosen, alongside Prime and Marketplace. Amazon stated in a blog post last week that…

Oct 28 2022
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Analysts debate whether AWS should be spun off. In the wake Amazon.com’s earnings report, last week, which included earnings for Amazon Web Services (AWS), analysts are pondering whether the retail giant should sell its cloud business. Amazon.com investors have become increasingly frustrated with the impact that AWS has had on Amazon.com’s profits over recent quarters. Amazon.com has been under pressure from investors to provide a more detailed breakdown on AWS revenues and profitability. Investors were pleased with Amazon.com’s first quarter earnings report last week. AWS is now a $5 billion company and growing. The cloud subsidiary reported $1.57 billion in revenue in Q1, an increase of 49 percent year-overyear. According to analyst estimates, this would put AWS at a $6 billion annual run rate. Amazon.com’s earnings report revealed that AWS is profitable with a margin 17 percent. The Wall Street Journal was told by Ben Schachter, a Macquarie analyst, that AWS is “significantly more profitable than we anticipated.” Finro Equity analyst Lior Rozen was one of many to suggest that Amazon.com be spun off AWS. Ronen stated in a blog post for Seeking Alpha that AWS’ Q1 revenues indicate that the segment has a $6.9 Billion annual revenue rate. This is based on 11% quarterly growth. Ronen estimated that AWS’ value is between $48 billion to $69 billion based on a price-tosales ratio of 7-10. He stated that Amazon could spin AWS to create two tech giants, one focused on ecommerce and online retail and the other on cloud computing or IaaS services. Amazon could use the two companies to create an entire company that is greater than the sum of its parts. AWS could concentrate on its niche, develop new revenue streams and invest further in technology, while Amazon could do similar on its ecommerce platform. This is the only way Amazon can sustain its long-term growth and use the advantages it holds in both its businesses. James Brumely, an Equity analyst, was skeptical about AWS’ long term prospects. Brumely also stated that cloud services will become more commoditized, which will impact future AWS margins. Brumely also stated that Amazon will continue to be under pressure from Microsoft and Google. He stated that even though unexpected operating profits were exciting for Amazon Web Services (AWS), it doesn’t change that the company lost money last quarter. It also doesn’t change that margins for AWS will likely continue to shrink rather that widen as cloud computing continues to become more commodityized. Brumely also said that the margin of 17 percent is not as impressive as it appears. He cited the fact that 291 companies in the Fortune 500 have operating profit of 15 percent or more. He said that AWS’ 17% margin is more alarming than last year’s profit, which was 23 percent, during the same quarter. “What happened?” He asked. “In its simplest form, Amazon has decided to be and remain the low-price leader in cloud-storage and didn’t care about making much, if any, profit. It turned out that it still made an operating profit as a cloud computing provider, but it is making less and less each day. Although the AWS stats from Amazon.com may not be clear, it is a significant step for both investors and buyers of cloud infrastructure services. They are looking for the best deal, but don’t want their provider to lose money indefinitely. Related:

By Harry

What’s next for AWS after IaaS Doubters are silenced? Amazon Announces AWS Cloud Ear

Oct 28 2022
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Analysts: IaaS Market Bound to AWS-Azure “Duopoly”

By Harry

For some time, the signs have been there for vendors of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), but Gartner Inc.’s new research confirms that it is. Gartner stated in a Wednesday research note that “By 2019, 90% of native cloud IaaS provider will be forced out this market by Amazon Web Services (AWS-Microsoft duopoly.” AWS has…

Oct 28 2022
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Analysts: Amazon’s Cloud Infrastructure Market is Still Amazon’s to Lose

By Harry

According to two recent studies, Amazon Web Services (AWS), despite showing slower than usual growth in its most recent quarter, is still the leader of the public cloud market. According to new data released by Synergy Research Group, AWS’ market share was just over 40% in the fourth quarter 2016. This is almost double the…

Oct 28 2022
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Analyst sees 2016 as a ‘Street Battle” between AWS and Microsoft Azure Clouds

By Harry

Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), a long-standing leader in public cloud space, is now under attack from upstart challengers like Microsoft and Google. According to a recent financial analyst research report, Microsoft’s Azure cloud will be the main protagonist in the new year. According to Business Insider, FBR Capital Markets predicted that Azure would see…

Oct 28 2022
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Analyst: Microsoft Takes AWS Cloud Market Share in Q4 2017.

By Harry

According to KeyBanc research analysts, Microsoft’s Azure cloud surpassed Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), in the fourth quarter 2017. According to a CNBC article, AWS ended the fourth quarter 2017 with a 62 percent market share. This is down from the 68 per cent reported a year ago. “Microsoft Azure jumped 16 percent to 20%,…

Oct 13 2022
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Book Review: Acting up brings everyone down

By Harry

(This post contains affiliate hyperlinks. Please read my full disclosure. Nick McCormick’s new book, Acting Up Brings Everybody Down, is subtitled The Effects of Childish Behavior at Work. McCormick’s favorite piece of advice is “Don’t be a Jerk” which summarizes the contents. The book examines how workplace behavior often mirrors what you would expect to…

Oct 13 2022
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Book Review: A Guide for Facilitating Risk Management

By Harry

(This post contains affiliate hyperlinks. Please read my full disclosure. Although they don’t have the right to be boring, I have found that many risk meetings can be very enjoyable. This month’s publication, A Short Guide to Facilitating risk Management, focuses on how to get the most out of your risk management meetings. Ruth Murray-Webster,…

Oct 13 2022
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Book Review: 101 Project Management Problems and How To Solve Them

By Harry

(This post contains affiliate hyperlinks. Please read my full disclosure. AMACOM is known for producing excellent books. 101 Project Management Problems & How to Solve Them by Tom Kendrick is no exception. It is similar in concept to Project Management in the Real World in that it offers practical advice for dealing with real-world project…

Oct 13 2022
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Blockchain 101 – Overview & Use Cases. In this Blockchain overview webinar, we will discuss blockchain and the value it can bring to organizations. We will also show you how organizations around the globe are using it to create transformative organizational change. View the slide deck >> **Free On-Demand Course** Blockchain Overview – Business Foundations

By Harry

Instructor: Kris Bennett, Chief Learning Officer – Blockchain Training Alliance Kris is excited about Web 3.0, and he wants you too! We’ve seen the internet revolutionize content distribution and social interaction over the past 20 years. We are now poised to witness the same transformation in commerce and consumer-to–consumer business models. Kris has a background…