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

Last week, Will attended Fortinet Accelerate in Las Vegas.

This week, we will be attending several events: Intel Vision (Matt), Software AG IUG Dublin (Robert), Google Cloud Next (myself, Matt, Melody, and Robert), and NTT Upgrade (Will).

Next week, Robert will be attending Appian World 2024 in DC.  Matt will be attending Datacenter World. Melody will be attending the Avaya Analyst Conference in LaJolla.

Our MI&S team published 15 deliverables:

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

Last week, the press quoted us with 6 citations. They wanted to hear about Google, HPE, and OnePlus.

 

MIS Quick Insights: `

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

• N/A

AR/VR/XR (Anshel Sag)

• N/A

Carrier/Wireless (Will Townsend)

• I’ve speculated that the collaboration between AT&T and AST SpaceMobile for direct-to-cellular low earth orbit satellite communications could be used for first responder communications. This use case was recently validated as both companies announced testing using FirstNet low-band spectrum frequencies. From my perspective, satellite will complement mobile radio access network infrastructure in national disaster situations and do so much more quickly and cost-effectively.

Client Computing (Anshel Sag)

• N/A

CRM (Melody Brue)

• N/A

Datacenter:

Networking– (Will Townsend)

• At GTC 2024, NVIDIA announced two X800 network switches and accompanying acceleration software designed to support connectivity at scale for AI workloads. The company claims that its two initial switch offerings are the first to support 800Gb/s throughput, representing a significant overall improvement in performance. They include both InfiniBand and Ethernet flavors, which is a wise move on the company’s part to provide its customers with a choice based on budget and use case.

Compute/Storage/Cloud (Matt Kimball)

• (CLOUD) What is the runway for the new GPU cloud providers on the virtual horizon? Lambda Labs, a hot GPU cloud provider that secured $320 million in Series C funding in February, just secured another $500 million to continue building its GPU cloud offerings. Do you think that’s a lot? One of Lambda’s chief rivals, CoreWeave, secured about $3 billion in mid-2023 to do the very same thing – build out its GPU infrastructure. The value these cloud providers bring is delivering the same rich GPU offering as the more prominent players (AWS, Azure, etc) at a fraction of the price. Here’s the question – will these customers ever recover from the debt generated to fund their businesses? It kind of feels like 2000 all over again.
• (Si): If you didn’t get a chance to read Patrick Moorhead’s blog on Broadcom’s AI investor day, you should do so now (here). It does an excellent job of showing how this company has turned semi-custom chip design into a very profitable and sustainable business. It makes one wonder if this is a model that other chip design houses could follow to meet the particular needs of the largest hyperscalers. Companies like AWS and MSFT don’t become first-party chip designers because it’s fun; they do so because it’s directly and indirectly profitable. If a company like Broadcom could deliver the same range of profitability without the burden of managing such a process, I believe there would be a lot of customers lined up to partner. If not these two, there are many other cloud providers.
• (CLOUD): The OpenInfra Foundation recently released the OpenStack Caracal update, positioning it as an alternative to VMware in the enterprise. I will be candid – it doesn’t make sense to me. VMware customers looking to move are looking for an alternative that aligns with simplicity, features, services, support, etc. The logical alternative is Nutanix. Perhaps a SoftIron or Scale for some – but mainly Nutanix. I’d rather see the good folks at OpenInfra focus on delivering value in their sweet spots – not trying to gain attention by jumping on the “let’s bash VMware” bandwagon.

Data Security (Robert Kramer)

• Rubrik officially filed for an IPO with the SEC on April 1, 2024, reporting an ARR of $784 million as of the end of January 2024, showing a 47% growth in subscriptions despite net losses of $354.2 million for fiscal 2024. Founded by Bipul Sinha in 2014, Rubrik is positioned for its next chapter. Following the successful IPOs of the social media platform Reddit, Inc. and semiconductor supplier Astera – Rubrik’s IPO enters a positive investor environment. Its competitors, including Cohesity, Veeam, Dell, and Commvault, seek advantageous opportunities in this environment. Let’s see what silver linings are exposed.

ESG (Melody Brue)

• N/A

Enterprise Data (Robert Kramer)

• Rubrik officially filed for an IPO with the SEC on April 1, 2024, reporting an ARR of $784 million as of the end of January 2024, showing a 47% growth in subscriptions despite net losses of $354.2 million for fiscal 2024. Founded by Bipul Sinha in 2014, Rubrik is positioned for its next chapter. Following the successful IPOs of the social media platform Reddit, Inc. and semiconductor supplier Astera – Rubrik’s IPO enters a positive investor environment. Its competitors, including Cohesity, Veeam, Dell, and Commvault, seek advantageous opportunities in this environment. Let’s see what silver linings are exposed.
  • Details:
    S-1 filed (NYSE: $RBRK)
    Raising $500-700M, TAM $36B, with a 3-year 13% CAGR ($53B by 2027)
    $627M in revenue, which grew 4% y/y, 133% net dollar retention
    Subscription ARR $784M (as of Jan 31, 2024) rev growth 47% YoY
    5% with a 4-year CAGR, Net loss $354m ($277m previously), 6,100 customers
    https://www.rubrik.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/24/rubrik-files-registration-statement-for-proposed-initial-public-offering
• DATA BECOMES AN ESSENTIAL RESOURCE FOR THE NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
  In the NCAA basketball championship, data plays a crucial role in team management, acting as an essential tool for game planning, strategizing, making player decisions, and facilitating in-game adjustments.

• Let’s look at a few ways data can be an influence:
  Data Analytics – Data quantifies each player’s contribution in the NCAA tournament, providing coaches detailed breakdowns of every game, such as analyses of each team’s possession throughout the season, detailing the plays executed, the dynamics of ball passing, and specifics of shots taken.
  2. Player Performance Evaluation – Coaches use real-time analytics to track player movements during matches, enhancing player performance assessment.
  3. Matchup Assessment – Analytical data helps coaches evaluate player matchups and identify complementary skills, which helps target the correct substitutions and player pairings.
  4. Strategy Adjustment – Through data analysis, coaches discover the effectiveness of different plays, guiding them to make data-driven strategic decisions for upcoming games.
  5. Injury Prevention – By wearing sensors, players provide data on heart rate, speed, and distance covered during games and practice. This data can then be used to identify areas where players need to improve and to help prevent injuries by identifying when a player might be overworked.
  6. Video Data – Converting game footage into data reports shortly after matches is vital for teams, especially when facing a tight schedule to prepare for NCAA Tournament opponents.
  7. Play Diagrams and APIs – Provide detailed diagrams of every opponent’s play calls and supply APIs to more expert-level coaching staff with their analytic departments for additional game planning.
  8. Player Tendency Analysis – Offers comprehensive data on players’ natural tendencies. i.e., a player’s preferred spin direction towards the basket.
  9. Ranking Coaches – Utilizes data to gather information on the 68 NCAA Tournament head coaches, including their strategies, achievements, and career successes, offering a ranking based on their professional accomplishments.
  https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2023/03/27/Technology/march-madness-college-basketball-synergy-analytics.aspx

• HERE COMES WATSONX TO THIS YEARS MASTERS!
  IBM and the watsonx platform bring data to new heights at this year’s legendary Masters Golf Tournament. Fans in Augusta, GA, watching from afar, will witness how IBM watsonX enhances the tournament and the fan experience.
• AI and Data will provide analyses of the risks and rewards for player shots at every hole of the Masters, providing detailed information on shots and insights throughout the tournament. IBM’s insights on holes, with “Track Shots,” will offer in-depth data about current and historical plays, including projections and more. This encompasses recaps driven by data on how particular holes are being played, predictions regarding the performance of each hole, and historical insights into how each hole has performed under specific conditions. IBM watsonx platform not only highlights the advancements in sports technology but also demonstrates the role tech companies are impacting sports and the fan experience.
  https://newsroom.ibm.com/2024-04-02-IBM-watsonx-Brings-New-Generative-AI-Capabilities-to-Masters-Tournament-Digital-Platforms?utm_medium=OSocial&utm_source=Linkedin&utm_content=BTDWW&utm_id=LI-TheMasters-04-02-2024&sf187477073=1
• Data’s increasing volume and importance in today’s digital landscape highlights the need for an effective Data Management Strategy.
• High-quality data—characterized by accuracy, consistency, and reliability—is essential for leveraging the full potential of GAI and effectively using SaaS applications.
• A successful data management strategy involves understanding the available data, identifying its sources, ensuring its quality, and utilizing it to drive value. As data grows in volume and strategic importance, focusing on data management becomes necessary for organizations to achieve their business objectives.
  • Please see the details of my Forbes EDT series, which includes five articles:
    1- Provides an overview of internal and external data sources
    https://moorinsightsstrategy.com/research-notes/enterprise-data-technology-part-1-internal-and-external-data-sources/
    2- Highlights key data components and benefits to get the most out of your data.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2023/10/27/enterprise-data-technology-part-2-harnessing-data-for-success/?sh=5c386c24200c
    3- Discusses change management.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2024/02/23/enterprise-data-technology-part-3—change-management/?sh=26e9b41c1bec
    4- Focused on sustainability data.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2024/03/12/enterprise-data-technology-part-4—sustainability-data/?sh=758a5ac5150b
    5- Details the importance of data quality, then key points from my recent discussion with John Case, CEO of the enterprise software company Acumatica, with his viewpoints on the importance of data quality to the success of his customers.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2024/03/21/enterprise-data-technology-part-5—data-quality-with-acumatica/?sh=46ab8be96110

 

ERP/SCM (Robert Kramer)

• Data drives everything – but there is a common misunderstanding about its impact. This information from SAP details why data is your organization’s source code, and its effectiveness is contingent on a solid data management strategy. Without effective data management, it will be challenging to fully utilize the features and capabilities of enterprise and business applications.
  Read more from SAP about the importance of ERP data, which is where the foundational data resides. https://www.sap.com/india/products/technology-platform/what-is-data-management.html#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20ones%20include,memory%20databases%2C%20and%20columnar%20databases
• Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) Racetrack picked SAP S/4 HANA Cloud Public Edition for its Cloud ERP technology platform to help organize its data better and make smarter decisions. CDI plans to use this system to improve how they manage employee experiences and analyze business data. The goal is to combine information from different acquisitions into one clear view of the company’s operations. https://news.sap.com/2024/04/churchill-downs-cloud-grow-with-sap/

Financial Tech (Melody Brue)

• N/A

HCM (Melody Brue)

• N/A

IIoT and IoT (Bill Curtis)

• Cars are much too complicated, and NXP is doing something about it. Today, low-end vehicles have about 25 electronic control units (ECUs), and high-end models have 150 or more. Each ECU has tens to hundreds of components, a unique software stack, a multi-ECU integration architecture, a physical location in the car, a wiring harness, connectors, parts inventory, software updates, diagnostics, and more. This week, NXP announced a comprehensive solution to this problem – the S32 CoreRide Platform for software-defined vehicle (SDV) development. The platform is an architecture for virtualizing ECU functions within a powerful S32-class “super-integrated” central computer with scalable application processors and real-time cores. A central processor system with isolated execution environments replaces dozens of ECUs, all car peripherals share the same network, and functionality is software-defined rather than hardwired. The CoreRide platform dramatically reduces vehicle hardware complexity, simplifies software development, replaces miles of multiconductor wire with standard network cables, and enables manufacturers to add features after the car is delivered. Tesla and other legacy-free OEMs are already building SDVs. NXP CoreRide lets the rest of the industry catch up fast.

Modern Work (Melody Brue)

• N/A

Personal Computing (Anshel Sag)

• SpaceX successfully launched its Starlink satellites with D2C capabilities, allowing its partner T-Mobile to test Direct to Cell capabilities on its network and devices.
• AT&T’s data breach has affected nearly 73 million customers, although less than 10% are current customers. AT&T has not explained how this data was discovered or how it leaked, but some lawsuits allege that AT&T knew this data had leaked and kept it quiet.
• Apple says it will allow emulator apps on the AppStore now for as long as those emulators don’t infringe on any copyrights. While this demonstrates Apple is trying to open up, it won’t change much since so many emulators are in legal grey areas.
• The DoD’s report on 3GHz may open the possibility for some sort of dynamic spectrum sharing with military users to free up a few hundred megahertz of spectrum.

Quantum Computing (Paul Smith-Goodson)

• N/A

Security (Will Townsend)

• I recently attended Fortinet Accelerate 2024. My big takeaway is that the company is leaning broadly into custom silicon, offering a unified FortiOS fabric that can manage security and network functionality. Furthermore, I like its “Swiss army knife” approach, which also allows devices such as firewalls to serve SD-WAN and SASE functionality. The latter is compelling, considering the operational and capital expense savings opportunity.

Sustainability (Melody Brue)

• N/A

Columns Published 

1. Broadcom Scales Connectivity And Performance For Advanced AI Workloads, by Patrick Moorhead
2. Apple’s DoJ Lawsuit Was Inevitable And Will Change The Company Forever, by Anshel Sag
3. Hands-On With Sony’s New Spatial Content Creation System, by Anshel Sag

Research Notes (MI&S)

• N/A

 

Blogs Published (MI&S)    

1. HP Amplify Partner Conference Touts AI, Hybrid Work, And Supply Chain, by Patrick Moorhead
2. Enterprise Data Technology Part 5 — Data Quality With Acumatica, by Robert Kramer
3. John Deere Accelerates Manufacturing Innovation With Private 5G, by Will Townsend
4. Oracle Launches Globally Distributed Autonomous Database, by Matt Kimball
5. Spatial Computing Battle Lines Have Been Drawn, Alliances Are Forming, 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 Episode 187 – Casa Systems, DoD 3GHz, Airspan, Huawei Earnings, Reliance Jio

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

1. 211: We are Live! Talking Intel, Oracle & Palantir, Groq, Apple, Rubrik, Tesla
2. The Future of Customer Experience in the Era of AI – The Six Five On the Road
3. Exploring AI-Driven Customer Service Innovations with Salesforce’s Ryan Nichols and AWS’s Randy Hand
4. Outside-In Perspective – The Six Five – On the Road

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

1. 21: MI&S Datacenter Podcast: Fortinet, Broadcom, AI, NVIDIA, Nutanix & Cisco, Quantum Computing
2. Episode 20 of the Hot Desk Podcast – Adobe Summit and Enterprise Connect Wrap-ups!

 

Citations: 

1. Google / Gemini AI / Patrick Moorhead / https://www.wired.com/story/apple-google-gemini-iphone/
2. HPE / AIOps / Will Townsend / https://disruptivetechnews.com/big_news/hpe-enhances-aruba-networking-ai/
3. HPE / AIOps / Will Townsend / https://www.futureofworknews.com/topics/futureofwork/articles/459164-hpe-enhances-aiops-with-genai-aruba-networking-central.htm
4. HPE / AIOps / Will Townsend / https://www.hi-network.com/hpe-integrates-genai-for-aruba-networking-central-to-offer-innovative-aiops-solutions.html
5. HPE / Acquisition of Juniper / Will Townsend / https://www.networkworld.com/article/2076082/hpe-junipers-ai-story-resonates-but-customer-concerns-linger.html
6. OnePlus / Smartphone / Anshel Sag / https://www.inkl.com/news/ten-years-later-oneplus-is-still-trying-to-find-its-footing-in-the-us

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)

• April 2024
  • Intel Vision, Phoenix, Apr 8-9 (Matt Kimball)
  • Google Cloud Next, Las Vegas, April 9-11 (Matt Kimball, Melody Brue, Robert Kramer, Patrick Moorhead)
  • Software AG IUG April 9-11 Dublin, Ireland, April 8-12 (Robert Kramer)
  • NTT Upgrade, San Francisco, April 10-11 (Will Townsend)
  • Appian World, Wash DC, April 15-17 (Robert Kramer)
  • Datacenter World, DC, Apr 15-18 (Matt Kimball)
  • Avaya Analyst Conference, LaJolla, April 16-18 (Melody Brue)
  • Extreme Networks Connect, Fort Worth, April 22-25 (Will Townsend – virtual)
  • Oracle Analyst Database Summit, San Francisco, April 24 (Robert Kramer, Matt Kimball)
  • Oracle Applications and Industries Analyst Summit, Redwood Shores, CA April 24-25 (Melody Brue)
• 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)
  • HF Convention, Dayton, May 17 – May 19 (Paul Smith-Goodson)
  • Microsoft Build 2024, May 18-20 (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)
  • 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 & Zoholoics, Austin, June 3-5 (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)
  • 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)
• 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)
  • 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)
• December 2024

 

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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