The Moor Insights & Strategy team hopes you had a great week!

Last week, Will attended Extreme Networks Connect in Fort Worth.  Robert and Matt attended the San Francisco Oracle Analyst Database Summit.  Melody attended the Oracle Applications and Industries Analyst Summit.

This week, Anshel will be attending MediaTek Analyst Day in Scottsdale.

Next week, Will will be attending the RSA Conference.  Matt will be attending Red Hat Ansible Fest in Denver.

Our MI&S team published 10 deliverables:

• 1 Forbes Insight columns
• 3 MI&S Research Notes
• 3 MI&S blogs 
• 3 podcasts 
• 0 research papers

Last week, the press quoted us with 6 citations. They wanted to hear about Dell, Intel & TSMC, Meta, Micron earnings, Pure Storage, and Rubrik.

 

MIS Quick Insights: `

A.I./Machine Learning (Paul Smith-Goodson)

• N/A

AR/VR/XR (Anshel Sag)

• N/A

Carrier/Wireless (Will Townsend)

• N/A

Client Computing (Anshel Sag)

• N/A

CRM (Melody Brue)

• N/A

Datacenter:

Networking– (Will Townsend)

• N/A

Compute/Storage/Cloud (Matt Kimball)

• N/A

Data Security (Robert Kramer)

• N/A

ESG (Melody Brue)

• N/A

Enterprise Data (Robert Kramer)

• Rubrik begins the journey from a recent IPO to start trading on the NYSE with its stock up.
  • Rubrik priced its IPO at $32 a share, raising $752 million at a $5.6 billion valuation, above its expected range. 23.5 million shares were sold ahead of debut.
  • Rubrik ended trading on April 25 up 16% at $37, above the expected range of $28 to $31.
• IBM 1Q2024 | $14.5B Revenue, up 1%, $1.9B Free cash flow, up $0.6 billion ARR of $13.9 billion, +8% yr/yr – continued investment in innovation IBM will acquire HashiCorp for $35 per share – a total of $6.4 billion. IBM’s acquisition of HashiCorp is strategic – representing its position to strengthen hybrid cloud and AI management capabilities—strength in OpenShift, Apptio, and watsonx growth across Software and Consulting.
  • Continued strength in technology-driven transformations and growth in strategic partnerships and Red Hat practice. Infrastructure benefitting from AI across IBM Z and storage. IBM Z drove revenue growth as z16 remains ahead of prior cycles.
• Salesforce recently launched the Zero Copy Partner Network to connect outside data.
  The Zero Copy Partner Network’s goal is to improve Salesforce Data Cloud, and it has also aligned with AWS, Databricks, Google Cloud, Snowflake, and Microsoft. This ecosystem supports direct integration with data warehouses/lakehouses so that users can access data without copying or moving it. This promotes data security. The network includes Salesforce service integrator partners Accenture, Cognizant, Deloitte Digital, and PwC, who will help implement these integrations. Also, it expanded partnerships to enable zero-copy Data Cloud integrations with IBM watsonx.data and Microsoft Azure. Adding Zero Copy support to Data Kits gives access to datasets from partners Dun & Bradstreet, Moody’s, Own, com, Workday, and Zoominfo.

 

ERP/SCM (Robert Kramer)

• SAP has reported one of its strongest quarters, highlighting the growing momentum in the ERP market, which is projected to reach $700 billion by 2027. This demonstrates the critical role of data as a fundamental element for leveraging growth opportunities within your organization. Effective data management not only drives business impact but also provides a competitive edge for organizations that choose to prioritize it.
• Cloud revenue is up 24% and 25% at constant currencies, supported by 32% Cloud ERP Suite revenue growth at constant currencies. The current cloud backlog is €14.2 billion, up 27% and 28% in constant currencies. IFRS cloud gross profit is up 27%, non-IFRS cloud gross profit is up 27%, and up 28% at constant currencies. IFRS operating loss of –€0.8 billion due to a €2.2 billion restructuring provision
• Microsoft – no surprise on its Q32024 earnings.
  • Microsoft EPS is $2.94, and revenue of $61.9 billion, up 17% yoy
  • Wall Street estimated EPS of $2.83 and revenue of $60.88 billion
  • Microsoft Cloud surpassed $35b in rev, growing 23%
  • Azure rev grew 31%, driven by AI services
  • Approx 60% Fortune 500 using MS 365 Copilot
  • Strong gaming performance, helped by Activision Blizzard acquisition
  • Double-digit rev and operating income growth expected for FY2025
  • Higher FY2025 CapEx to support cloud and AI investment

Financial Tech (Melody Brue)

• Paystand, a blockchain-enabled B2B payments company, has acquired Teampay, a spend management platform, to transform B2B payments by leveraging blockchain technology to enhance expense and AP management capabilities. The combined company is creating a next-gen, smart B2B payment network, offering better economics for businesses aiming to revolutionize the office of the CFO. Blockchain has gotten less attention in the past 18 months since the Crypto craze died down, but Paystand has been building an industry-wide decentralized finance (DeFi) network that could change B2B payments. Blockchain can enhance B2B payments by driving efficiency, transparency, and trust. It addresses challenges like unauthorized transactions and complex cross-border payments, offering businesses a secure and more streamlined process. FIs such as JP Morgan Chase are using Blockchain for business payments to provide less static “if this then that” type payment triggers that offer more flexibility than the traditionally relatively static rules and conditions that have guided payments in large corporations.
• TrustCommerce has partnered with PayPal to introduce PayPal and Venmo as payment options for healthcare providers. Through this integration, patients can use their PayPal digital wallet for online payments, aligning with healthcare providers’ goal to enhance payment flexibility and streamline the checkout process. This collaboration aims to improve collections for healthcare providers, and a study commissioned by PayPal showed that 50% of PayPal users and 42% of Venmo users agree that they would pay their bills more quickly if PayPal and Venmo were available payment options. Having a PayPal or Venmo button in a payment portal makes paying more straightforward and eliminates having to fill out forms to make a payment. It is unclear if PayPal will eventually offer Pay in Four (its BNPL option) through this partnership, but this would likely increase usage for delinquent people because they are unable to pay their complete bills.

HCM (Melody Brue)

• SAP released its Q1 2024 results, slightly exceeding Wall Street’s expectations. The company’s total revenue for the quarter was €8.04 billion, an 8% increase from the previous year. Cloud revenue recorded a 24% increase, reaching €3.93 billion; software revenue reached €3.03 billion, slightly above estimates. Profit fell short of consensus at €0.81 a share; SAP reconfirmed its 2024 financial outlook, forecasting continued cloud and software revenue growth. CEO Christian Klein said he is confident the company can achieve its goals for the year and called out its growth drivers. “Looking ahead, we have powerful growth drivers in place—business artificial intelligence, cross-selling across our cloud portfolio, and winning new customers, particularly in the mid-market,” Klein said. Klein outlined the company’s plans for RISE and GROW with SAP, which have significant expansion potential in CRM, HCM, and others.
  • Regarding sustainability solutions, SAP gained an additional 100 customers in Q1, adding to its existing base of over 1,000 clients. Notable additions include Ericsson, a prominent player in wireless technologies, and [Weiland], a leader in energy-saving technologies. These companies opted for SAP’s sustainability control tower to aid their regulatory ESG reporting efforts.

IIoT and IoT (Bill Curtis)

• N/A

Modern Work (Melody Brue)

• Zendesk AI unveils a comprehensive service solution offering autonomous AI agents, workflow automation, Agent Copilot, Workforce Management, and Quality Assurance. Zendesk says it automates 80% of support requests, triples immediate resolutions, and boosts agent productivity by 10%. AI agents handle simple and complex inquiries, while Agent Copilot can streamline workflows and enhance resolution speed and accuracy. Additional features include personalized intents, advanced generative AI tools, and new AI reporting for tracking KPIs and predictions, facilitating impact measurement and operational optimization. Predictive Workforce Tools provide real-time deployment control, while Voice QA and QA for AI Agents ensure call quality and intervention identification.
• Microsoft reported robust performance in the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, which ended March 31, 2024, showing notable growth across key financial metrics. Productivity and Business Processes revenue reached $19.6 billion, up 12% YoY, driven by growth in Office Commercial, Office Consumer, LinkedIn, and Dynamics products and cloud services. Copilot Studio, for customizing Copilot for Microsoft 365 or building your own Copilot, is up 175% QoQ and has over 30,000 customers across industries. More details about Microsoft’s innovations and pressures are coming this week in an earnings research note.
• Alphabet, Google’s parent company (GOOG, GOOGL), delivered another strong quarter of top and bottom-line growth in its first reporting quarter 2024. Search, YouTube, and Cloud led the performance. ·Q1 2024 Google Cloud revenue was $9.6 billion, up 28%, fueled by growth in GCP with “an increasing contribution from AI and strong Google Workspace growth.” The company says the Workspace growth came primarily from increases in ARPU. I will dig deeper with a research note published this week on the earnings and announcements from Google Cloud Next.

Quantum Computing (Paul Smith-Goodson)

• N/A

Security (Will Townsend)

• N/A

Sports Technology (Melody Brue)

• We are all seeing the impact of technology in sports – how the game is changing, the influence of sports data management, how the fans experience games, helping to prevent and diagnose injuries, and maintaining the fairness of competitions. Technology impacts wearable devices such as fitness watches and heart rate monitors, which let athletes track their physical performance and health in real-time. Helmets have also evolved to provide both safety and communication features. Data tracking tools offer detailed insights into athletes’ movements for performance. Technology plays a role in injury prevention, with smart mouthguards that monitor head impacts and helmets designed to prevent injuries. Diagnostic tools identify athletes at high risk of injuries, allowing for preventive measures. These technological advancements are making sports safer and more interactive. Look for an upcoming article from Mel and me detailing how the games are changing with technology.

Sports Technology (Robert Kramer)

• Amazon has secured a new sports rights deal with the Seattle Kraken hockey club for Prime Video subscribers to stream games. This is important as it is the first time an NHL team has partnered directly with Prime Video for game broadcasts. The collaboration is great for professional sports, giving fans various options to watch games at home or on the go. This deal is part of Amazon’s broader coverage from its Seattle base, including multiple technologies such as e-commerce, AWS, Amazon Prime, Alexa, logistics, devices, and more.

Sustainability (Melody Brue)

• Verizon has joined RE100, a global initiative promoting 100% renewable electricity among influential businesses. This aligns with Verizon’s goal to achieve 100% renewable energy for its annual electricity usage by 2030, with a milestone target of 50% by 2025. The move underscores Verizon’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and transitioning to renewable energy sources. Verizon’s participation in RE100 is part of its broader responsible business plan, Citizen Verizon, to address environmental and social issues. Verizon’s recent ESG report also highlights its efforts to minimize carbon emissions through emissions and energy management, leveraging AI, IoT, and electric fleet solutions. The company also announced the issuance of its sixth $1 billion green bond since 2019. Verizon’s issuance of green bonds supports renewable energy purchase agreements, facilitating the transition to greener electrical grids across the U.S.

Columns Published 

1. NTT Research Brings Innovation To Networking And Security, by Will Townsend

Research Notes (MI&S)

1. RESEARCH NOTE: Appian World 2024 Recap from Washington D.C., by Robert Kramer
2. RESEARCH NOTE: Dell UltraSharp 32-Inch 6K Monitor — Good for Creativity, Shaky for Collaboration, by Anshel Sag
3. RESEARCH NOTE: Commvault Reshapes Cyber Resilience with Appranix Acquisition, by Robert Kramer

 

Blogs Published (MI&S)    

1. Apollo Wearable Review: Better Sleep Is Possible, by Anshel Sag
2. Google Introduces Axion, Its First Arm-Based, Homegrown CPU, by Matt Kimball
3. Apple’s DoJ Lawsuit Was Inevitable And Will Change The Company Forever, by Anshel Sag

Research Paper(s):

• N/A

 

Podcasts:

The G2 on 5G by Moor Insights & Strategy, with Anshel Sag and Will Townsend

• The G2 on 5G Podcast – T-Mo Fiber, AT&T and T-Mobile Earnings, FCC Net Neutrality, Intel Earnings

The Six-Five Podcast by Moor Insights & Strategy and Futurum Research, with Patrick Moorhead and Daniel Newman

• 214: We are Live! Talking Google, Microsoft, ServiceNow, SAP, Meta, Intel

Moor Insights & Strategy Podcasts, with Patrick Moorhead, Melody Brue, CP Smith-Goodson, Matt Kimball, and Will Townsend. 

• The Hot Desk Pod Ep 23: Oracle Analyst Summit, MSFT & GOOG Earnings, Healthcare Tech’s Moment

 

Citations: 

1. Dell / PC / Patrick Moorhead / https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/manila-standard/20240420/282041922181247
2. Intel & TSMC / Chips / Patrick Moorhead / https://wccftech.com/intel-embrace-of-high-na-euv-lithography-and-tsmc-reluctance-threatens-to-flip-the-prevailing-paradigm/
3. Meta / AR/VR / Anshel Sag / https://www.computerworld.com/article/2094996/meta-opens-its-mixed-reality-horizon-os-to-other-headset-makers.html
4. Micron / Earnings / Patrick Moorhead / https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/indices/TXCX/pressreleases/25668137/25668137/
5. Pure Storage / AI / Patrick Moorhead / https://www.cdotrends.com/story/3951/flash-storage-ai-connection-explained
6. Rubrik / IPO / Patrick Moorhead / https://www.theinformation.com/articles/inside-rubriks-pitch-for-its-high-stakes-software-ipo

New Gear or Software We are Using and Testing that is Public Knowledge

• Dell 40″ Curved Ultrawide 5K Thunderbolt Monitor
• HP Z6 Threadripper Workstation

 

Events MI&S Plans on Attending In-Person or Virtually (New)

• May 2024
  • MediaTek Analyst Day, Scottsdale, May 1-3 (Anshel Sag)
  • RSA Conference, San Francisco, May 6-9 (Will Townsend)
  • Red Hat Ansible Fest, Denver, May 7-9, (Matt Kimball)
  • International Super Computing, Hamburg, May 12-16 (Matt Kimball)
  • Blue Yonder, Dallas, May 13-15 (Robert Kramer)
  • Avaya ENGAGE, Denver, May 13-15 (Melody Brue)
  • HF Convention, Dayton, May 17 – May 19 (Paul Smith-Goodson)
  • Microsoft Build 2024, May 16 (Anshel Sag, Matt Kimball)
  • Informatica World, Las Vegas, May 20-23 (Robert Kramer)
  • IBM Think, Boston, May 20-23 (Patrick Moorhead, Paul Smith-Goodson, Robert Kramer)
  • Dell Tech World, Las Vegas, May 20-23 (Anshel Sag, Patrick Moorhead, Matt Kimball, Will Townsend)
  • Zoom Perspectives, NYC, May 20 -23 (Melody Brue)
  • Microsoft Build, May 21-23 (Melody Brue – virtual)
  • Nutanix .NEXT, May 21-24, Barcelona (Matt Kimball)
  • Canva, Los Angeles, May 23 (Melody Brue)
  • Computex 2024, May 31-June 5 (Anshel Sag)
• June 2024
  • Cisco Live US, Las Vegas, June 2-6 (Will Townsend)
  • SAP Sapphire, Orlando, June 3–5 (Melody Brue, Robert Kramer)
  • Snowflake, San Francisco, June 3-5 (Robert Kramer)
  • Zoho Analyst Day & Zoholics, Austin, June 4-6 (Melody Brue, Robert Kramer)
  • Broadcom Mainframe Analyst Summit, June 5-6, Boston (Matt Kimball)
  • Zscaler Zenith Live, Las Vegas, June 11-13 (Will Townsend)
  • Databricks, San Fran, June 10-13 (Robert Kramer)
  • Infocomm, Las Vegas, June 12-14 (Melody Brue)
  • HPE Discover, June 17-20, Las Vegas (Matt Kimball)
  • Augmented World Expo, Long Beach, June 18 – 20 (Anshel Sag)
  • Pure Storage Accelerate, June 18-21, Las Vegas (Matt Kimball)
• September 2024
  • Intel Innovation, Sep 23-26 (Matt Kimball)
  • Infor Annual Summit, Las Vegas, Sept 30-Oct 2 (Robert Kramer)
• October 2024
  • LogicMonitor, Austin, Oct 2-4 (Robert Kramer)
  • Zoomtopia, San Jose, October 8-9 (Melody Brue)
  • Lenovo Global Analyst Summit & Tech World, 14-17 Oct, Bellevue, WA (Matt Kimball, Paul Smith-Goodson)
  • IBM Analyst Summit, NYC, Oct 16-18 (Robert Kramer)
  • WebexOne, Miami, October 21-24, (Melody Brue)
  • SAP SuccessConnect, October 28-30 (Melody Brue – virtual)
• November 2024
  • Dell Tech Analyst Summit, early November, Austin, TX (Matt Kimball)
  • IBM, NYC, Nov 6 – 8 (Paul Smith-Goodson)
  • Microsoft Ignite, Chicago, November 18 – 22 (Robert Kramer – virtual)
• December 2024

 

Subscribe

• Sign up here to get specific AI/ML/GAI, Datacenter, Cloud Services, Client Computing, IIoT, and Semiconductor content.

The Team

Analysts

• Patrick Moorhead, Founder, CEO, Chief Analyst; Broad technology coverage plus deep insights into Cloud, Enterprise SaaS & Semiconductors.
• Melody Brue, Principal Analyst, Modern Work, HR Tech, Marketing Tech/CRM, Sustainability
• Bill Curtis, Analyst In-Residence, IIoT, and Deep IoT Technology
• Matt Kimball, Principal Analyst, Datacenter Compute & Storage, AI Semiconductors
• Robert Kramer, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Data Technologies, ERP/SCM
• Anshel Sag, Principal Analyst; Personal Computing
• Paul Smith-Goodson, Principal Analyst; Machine AI Frameworks, Models, Tools and Quantum Computing
• Will Townsend, Principal Analyst; Security, Carrier Services, Networking