Zoom Stock Finds a Bright Spot in Coronavirus Fears

Zoom stock has found a bright spot in coronavirus outbreak fears. The company reports more active users in the first 55 days of 2020 than in all of 2019, increased in sessions per day and session length. As companies (and their employees) hunker down, curtail travel, work remotely, and try to forge ahead, it’s not really a bad time to be in the video collaboration platform business.

Here’s a look at the math involved here and what that might mean when earnings are reported next week.

Poly’s Poly Lens Aims to Increase Collaboration Space Adoption, Simplify IT Ops

The launch of Poly’s Poly Lens offering was announced earlier this month in Amsterdam at Integration Systems Europe (ISE) 2020, the world’s largest show focused on AV and systems integration. The Poly Lens service is designed to increase collaboration space adoption and simplify IT ops. Since adoption of technology within the workplace is the key to successful digital transformation, this service is a no-brainer. I believe digital adoption platforms are quickly becoming the new normal — with good reason.

Microsoft’s ElectionGuard Software Could Have Far-Reaching Impact

Microsoft’s ElectionGuard software could have far-reaching impact. After a beta test in local elections in Wisconsin yesterday, here are my thoughts on what’s ahead—the goals, opportunities, and challenges. This could well be one of the most important products Microsoft has ever developed—at least so far. Equally important, it’s an example of Big Tech doing more, because it can.

Amazon, the US Government and the JEDI Contract–Futurum Tech Podcast

In this week’s episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast, we explore the situation between Amazon and the U.S. Government as it relates to the award of the $10Bn JEDI cloud services contract for the Department of Defense to Microsoft. We also talked about some security breaches in the wild that might threaten national security, the latest updates in the case of the FTC v. Qualcomm, the government trying to regulate Big Tech, and why makers of devices that use Bluetooth Low Energy chips should probably be paying attention to some security concerns. All that and a whole lot more in this week’s episode — tune in (or read the transcript if you prefer) when you can.

Cloud Wars: Amazon Scores as Judge Blocks Microsoft’s JEDI Cloud Contract Award

The cloud wars continue to be exciting. Amazon scored today as a judge blocked the Department of Defense $10Bn JEDI cloud services contract award to Microsoft pending decisions on Amazon’s request to depose the President and other government officials with regard to the award of this contract. But in the big scheme of things, will it matter? Here’s what I think.

The Rise of the Technologist in Enterprise Leadership–Futurum Tech Podcast

In this week’s episode of Futurum Tech Podcast, we cover news of IBM’s CEO Ginni Rometty stepping down and the rise of the technologist in enterprise leadership roles. We explore what’s ahead for IBM, the other enterprise giants helmed by technologists, and the fact that Arvind Krishna and Jim Whitehurst have some work ahead of them, but there are interesting opportunities on the horizon for IBM. We also cover the news that cyberattacks and e-skimming on the rise, Huawei beating Apple’s socks off in the Chinese smartphone market, investments in EVs and what that signals for the automotive industry, what the UK’s move on Huawei means from an expense standpoint for British telcos, apps tracking location data of U.S. based college students and the dangers of normalizing that behavior — and much more. If you’ve not yet tuned into the FTP, we invite you to do so now.

Epic Systems Moves Away From Google Cloud Citing Security Concerns — The Healthcare Industry Should Take Note

Major medical records vendor Epic Systems moves away from Google Cloud, citing security concerns, and indicating plans to rely Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft Azure. This is big news in the healthcare market, and likely something that hospitals and healthcare providers can’t help but take note of—especially if they are current customers of Google Cloud for medical research, data storage, or other IT operations.

Google’s partnership with Acension Healthcare has recently been in the sights of privacy advocates and in the news—now the subject of a federal probe, instigated by the HHS Office for Civil Rights, a federal agency that enforces patient privacy under HIPAA. Other partnerships with healthcare providers across the U.S. have experts questioning whether the potential commercialization of patients’ personal health data is something Google can be, or should be, trusted to refrain from.

Let’s Call CES 2020 the “Connected Ecosystem Showcase” Shall We?–Futurum Tech Podcast

Is CES better called ‘The Connected Ecosystem’? Our thoughts on that post-show, the good and the bad about AI being the dominant focus of CES this year, along with highlights from Intel and its third generation CPU-based edge AI, Deeplite’s automation of neural networks that are the heart of machine learning, exciting things to expect this year from Android (and Samsung), stats on the state of the wearables market, and more good stuff in this week’s episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast.

Visa’s Acquisition of Plaid is a $5.3Bn Bet on the Future of Finance

Visa’s acquisition of Plaid is a $5Bn bet on the future of finance, and it’s a smart bet at that. With some 11,000 bank and financial services company clients, covering 200 million consumer accounts, Plaid is currently providing connections for 80 percent of the largest U.S. fintech apps. That’s no small market share — and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Today, Plaid’s APIs are used by one in four people in the U.S. with a bank account — there’s tremendous opportunity for growth. In addition, this acquisition provides multiple opportunities for Visa. Here’s a look at some of those opportunities, thoughts on what’s ahead for Visa and for Plaid, as well as what we expect in the fintech market in the months ahead.

Always On Surveillance By Way Of That Phone In Your Pocket–Futurum Tech Podcast

Always on surveillance by way of that phone in your pocket (and some creepy data visualizations that’ll give you pause), the bias that’s inherent in facial recognition systems, and a discussion around the Apple, Amazon, Google partnership on smart-home protocols are just a few of the topics covered in the latest Futurum Tech Podcast. Check it out — it might be the most interesting thing you’ve listened to all week.

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