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News

• Defence calls on partners to join landmark IT services panel

  ​Australia’s Department of Defence has officially opened its incoming IT services procurement panel to bids from the country’s IT providers.

• Microsoft's Power BI visualization service will be generally available July 24

  Microsoft's Power BI data visualization and business intelligence service will be generally available in two weeks, marking a major milestone for the new product.

• IBM, Deloitte bring Big Data to risk management

  IBM and Deloitte are betting that computers can understand reams of financial regulatory guidelines more thoroughly, and speedily, than humans.

• Salesforce leads $41M investment in 'quote to cash' firm Apttus

  Salesforce's investment arm has led a major funding round that delivered $41 million in fresh cash to Apttus, a maker of cloud software that helps companies manage price quotes and sales contracts.

• Dropbox buys Pixelapse to add version control for visual designers

  Cloud sync-and-share company Dropbox, never one to shy away from an acquisition, has snapped up startup Pixelapse, which provides a GitHub-like version control service for "tens of thousands" of visual designers. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

• IBM takes on enterprise Cloud security

  As organizations increasingly move their operations to the cloud, they need to remain vigilant against security breaches. IBM had this in mind as it prepared a new portfolio of services designed to help secure an enterprise's cloud operations with the same rigor that has come to be expected with in-house operations.

• SDN start-up reaches for its "Wedge"

  Pluribus Networks, the SDN start-up with the server/switch combination and network hypervisor/operating system, is looking to make a gradual exit from the hardware end of that market. Pluribus this week said distributor Arrow Electronics will now supply the Pluribus-branded, 1RU E-68 Server-Switch that combines Broadcom Trident II chips with Intel Xeon server-class, multi-core processors.

• Amazon CTO says business unaffected by Snowden revelations

  Breaking with other players in the IT industry, Amazon's CTO has downplayed any impact of the Edward Snowden revelations on its international business.

• IBM customizes cloud services for the enterprise

  Hoping to jump out in front of providers of generic cloud services, IBM has launched a portfolio of cloud packages, called IBM Cloud Business Solutions, designed to run specific business processes such as asset management and customer care.

• SAP users hail upcoming support services upgrade

  SAP's recently announced plans to overhaul its support services have user groups giving the thumbs up, although it may be some time before many customers feel a big difference.

• Oracle wants an illegal monopoly on Solaris support, company alleges

  An independent Solaris OS support provider has countersued Oracle for unfair competition and violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

• Feds slam both Oracle, state officials for problems with troubled health care exchange

  Both Oracle and Oregon officials bear some blame for the widespread problems with the state's troubled heath insurance exchange website, according to a scathing investigative report on the project that surfaced this week.

• Oracle merging its marketing software into a tighter-knit suite

  After spending billions to acquire a series of marketing-related software companies, Oracle is now undergoing the process of creating a unified suite it can take to battle against competing offerings from the likes of Salesforce.com and Microsoft.

• Lenovo to open up consumer Cloud service this quarter

  Lenovo will open its Reach consumer Cloud service beta to anyone who wants to sign up later this quarter in North America, which could boost the Chinese company's hardware sales by tying that portfolio to the cloud service.

• CIOs bemoan lock-in and the 'false flexibility' of the Cloud

  Despite the promise of portability from service providers, the reality of the Cloud for big customers is a similar type of lock-in as they experience with on-premise apps vendors such as Oracle and SAP, two CIOs said Tuesday.