What has been happening in the tech and vendor world over the past month? We compiled the latest vendor news and trending topics. It takes just a few minutes to be up to date.
AWS plans to invest €8.8 billion in its cloud infrastructure in Germany, contributing an estimated €15.4 billion to Germany’s GDP and supporting over 15,200 jobs annually from 2024-2026. AWS also announced plans to invest €7.8 billion from 2024-2040 in the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.
AWS is launching a new region in Taiwan by early 2025, providing customers with the ability to run workloads and store data within the country. The new AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) region will consist of three physically independent availability zones, connected through high-bandwidth, low-latency network connections.
AWS IoT TwinMaker's Dynamic Scene feature enables the automatic updating and rendering of 3D objects based on Knowledge Graph queries, simplifying the creation and modification of 3D scenes. Users can programmatically update the 3D scene and its structure using Knowledge Graph queries, allowing for efficient modifications to existing assets and the addition of new data overlays.
AWS has opened a new Direct Connect location within the Coresite CH1 data centre in Chicago, providing private, direct access to all public AWS regions, GovCloud regions, and local zones.
The Direct Connect service enables the establishment of private, physical network connections between AWS and data centres, offices, or colocation environments.
AWS has introduced a new feature in CloudTrail Lake that uses generative AI to create SQL queries from natural language questions. This allows users to analyse AWS activity without needing to write complex SQL queries. The feature is designed to simplify and speed up the exploration and analysis of AWS activity, making it easier for non-experts to work with CloudTrail events. The feature is currently in preview in AWS US East.
AWS has introduced a new feature called Service Insertion for AWS Cloud WAN, making it easier to integrate security and inspection services into global networks. This feature allows users to steer network traffic between different locations and services for security inspection without needing complex routing configurations.
The AWS Audit Manager generative AI best practices framework now includes Amazon SageMaker, providing visibility and automation for auditing generative AI implementations. The framework offers 110 controls across various areas, allowing customers to customise automated assessments and mitigate biases in their AI models.
Microsoft announces the launch of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Centre, a Copilot-first contact centre solution that incorporates generative AI to enhance customer service. Dynamics 365 Contact Centre leverages generative AI to enhance self-service experiences, streamline human-assisted service, and improve operational efficiency in contact centres.
Microsoft and G42 are making a $1 billion investment in Kenya to build a state-of-the-art green data centre and a new East Africa Cloud Region to support economic development across the region. The partnership aims to develop local-language AI models, launch an East Africa Innovation Lab, and provide digital and AI skills training to support Kenya's unique cultural and economic needs.
Microsoft pledges to make its data centres carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030, as part of its commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Azure Bastion Developer provides low-cost, zero-configuration, and secure access to Azure Virtual Machines, simplifying connectivity for developers. The new SKU addresses common issues of discovery, usability, and cost, making secure access more accessible and affordable.
The company aims to deliver significant local economic, social, and environmental benefits to the communities where its data centres operate, including job creation, skills training, and infrastructure improvements.
Adobe has introduced new AI-powered features in Acrobat, allowing users to create and edit visuals within PDFs. The new Acrobat AI Assistant supports multiple document types and enables users to ask questions, get insights, and create content across PDFs, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and text documents. The new features include generative image editing capabilities and enhanced meeting transcript capabilities.
IBM has released a new AI-powered application management tool called IBM Concert, which aims to address the challenge of application sprawl and improve business operations efficiency. The tool uses generative artificial intelligence to provide insights into connected apps and simplify compliance processes.
WPP and IBM have collaborated to launch a new business-to-business (B2B) solution, WPP Open for B2B, powered by IBM's watsonx AI and data platform. This solution aims to help B2B marketers identify and engage buying groups, improve return on investment, and deliver personalised and consistent experiences across channels.
Oracle plans to open two public cloud regions in Morocco to accelerate digital transformation in the region and provide enterprise cloud services to local and regional organisations across Africa. The new cloud regions will offer a wide range of cloud services to help organisations modernise their applications, innovate with AI, data, and analytics, and comply with local regulations.
Oracle and Google Cloud have partnered to offer customers the option to combine Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and Google Cloud technologies for streamlined application migrations and modernisation. The partnership will provide customers with the flexibility to use multiple clouds, seamless integration of Google Cloud services with the latest Oracle Database technology, and access to high-performance Oracle database services running on OCI within Google Cloud datacentres.
Oracle plans to invest over $1 billion to open a third cloud region in Madrid, aiming to meet the growing demand for AI and cloud services in Spain. The new cloud region will enable Spanish organisations to migrate workloads, modernise applications, and innovate with data, analytics, and AI, addressing regulatory requirements such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act and European Outsourcing Guidelines.
Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI are partnering to expand Microsoft Azure AI to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, enhancing capacity for OpenAI. OCI's advanced AI infrastructure is attracting leading AI innovators like OpenAI, offering high-speed and cost-effective AI capabilities.
The latest release of Oracle APEX introduces new AI innovations, including the APEX AI Assistant, which simplifies application development by enabling developers to use natural language prompts to specify desired capabilities and automatically generate SQL statements.
Oracle Payments Cloud Service is now available for businesses in the UK. The integrated payments platform and consolidated data empower merchants to enhance customer experience, manage business operations more efficiently, and realise cost savings.
Oracle Autonomous Database is now available on the Oracle database in Azure in the Microsoft Azure East U.S. region, providing a fully automated and managed Oracle database service integrated with the Azure portal and APIs. This marks the second Oracle database service to run on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in Azure datacentres.
Salesforce is making significant climate investments, including a $25 million commitment to carbon removal technologies and a new 27-megawatt solar portfolio in Italy. The company is focused on supporting clean energy solutions and has awarded $3.95 million in philanthropic grants to organisations advancing the just energy transition.
Salesforce opened its first AI centre in London to address the critical digital skills gap in the UK and equip developers with the skills needed for generative AI applications. The new Salesforce UK AI Centre aims to play a key role in AI innovation, global collaboration, and skill development in London's thriving AI hub.
Salesforce has introduced the world's first LLM benchmark for CRM, providing businesses with a comprehensive evaluation framework to measure the performance of large language models. The benchmark focuses on accuracy, cost, speed, and trust and safety, enabling organisations to make informed decisions about incorporating generative AI into their CRM systems.
Salesforce's new Revenue Lifecycle Management enables businesses to automate the entire quote-to-cash sales process, scale across distribution channels, and deploy various revenue models. The platform offers capabilities such as AI-guided quoting, omni-channel selling, and flexible monetisation models to enhance seller experiences and drive more revenue.
Salesforce has been named a leader in The Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions for B2B, Q2 2024. Commerce Cloud was recognized with the highest score in the Strategy category of the report.
Salesforce has introduced new capabilities to help field service organisations proactively manage and maintain their physical assets, such as manufacturing equipment and vehicles. The new features include real-time data integration, AI-powered asset health scoring, mobile access to asset information, and predictive maintenance.
Salesforce has announced service cloud digital engagement enhancements that will enable contact centres to unify conversational data from various digital channels, departments, and devices within one platform. These enhancements, built on the Einstein 1 Platform, aim to provide a more comprehensive view of customers, leading to improved personalised service and new revenue opportunities.
Salesforce has announced the general availabilities of
The RISE with SAP Migration and Modernisation programme focuses on enabling smooth migration of SAP ERP systems to the cloud, with a key pillar being the RISE with SAP Methodology. SAP is training and validating partners to use this methodology and has introduced a new RISE with SAP Validated Partner recognition for partners with expertise in large enterprise engagements.
SAP is acquiring WalkMe, a digital adoption platform leader, for approximately $1.5 billion to enhance user support and maximise IT investments. The acquisition will complement SAP's Business Transformation Management portfolio and expand WalkMe's market reach and product offerings.
SAP is integrating advanced AI models like Meta Llama 2 and Meta Llama 3 into its generative AI hub to create solutions that are relevant, reliable, and responsible for its customers. The integration of AI capabilities into SAP Analytics Cloud, such as Joule and Llama 3, aims to enhance planning and analytics workflows, enabling users to work more efficiently and drive better business outcomes.
VMware Tanzu Platform offers developers a consistent experience across Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes, eliminating tradeoffs and providing simplified app development processes.
The platform delivers speed and simplicity for developers while ensuring governance and cost efficiency for enterprises, with a focus on multi-cloud and Spring framework optimisation.
The Trustworthy & Responsible AI Network (TRAIN) has expanded to Europe to help healthcare organisations implement responsible AI practices. The European consortium includes leading healthcare institutions and Microsoft as the technology partner. The network aims to improve the quality, safety, and trustworthiness of AI in healthcare, while ensuring patient privacy and data security.
SAP unveiled generative AI innovations and partnerships at its annual Sapphire conference, aiming to transform business operations in the AI era. The company is infusing Business AI into its cloud portfolio and collaborating with technology leaders such as Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and NVIDIA to drive innovation. These partnerships expand the capabilities of SAP solutions, empowering users with AI-generated insights and enhancing automation.
Microsoft and SAP are collaborating to integrate AI capabilities from both platforms, enabling users to access information from SAP and Microsoft 365 seamlessly. Customers can leverage Microsoft Azure's AI services to enhance RISE with SAP, including utilising OpenAI and Microsoft Copilot for productivity enhancements.
Hitachi and Microsoft announced a multibillion-dollar partnership to accelerate social innovation with generative AI, focusing on industry solutions and productivity improvements.
Hitachi will embed Microsoft cloud services and AI solutions into its Lumada business to deliver better outcomes for energy, mobility, and other industries.
Salesforce is introducing new data and AI solutions for Consumer Goods Cloud to enhance planning, execution, and customer insights, aiming to drive profitable growth for consumer goods companies. The integration of Data Cloud for Consumer Goods and Einstein AI tools empowers account reps to optimise retail planning at a hyper-local level and handle customer inquiries more efficiently.
Adobe and TikTok have announced an integration that allows Adobe Express users to access TikTok's Commercial Music Library via the Symphony Assistant add-on. This collaboration enables users to quickly create, score, and publish TikTok content using a vast music library pre-cleared for commercial use.
IBM watsonx AI platform enhances the Wimbledon tennis experience by providing AI-generated player summaries and match insights, saving time for the editorial team and engaging fans. Ongoing collaboration between IBM and AELTC leads to the development of new fan-favorite features like the enhanced SlamTracker, showcasing generative AI capabilities.
IBM and Pasqal are partnering to develop a common approach to quantum-centric supercomputing for applications in chemistry and materials science. The collaboration aims to define a software integration architecture for a quantum-centric supercomputer that orchestrates computational workflows across multiple modalities of quantum computers and classical compute clusters.
Discover the future of AI and data from this year's AI Summit. Uncover the top five key themes that captured our team's attention. Dive in now!
Discover the future of AI and data from this year's AI Summit. Uncover the top five key themes that captured our team's attention. Dive in now!
