Archives: Trends

Technology

FTC digs deeper into Microsoft’s bundling and licensing practices

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seems to be doubling down on its investigation of Microsoft and the tech giant’s potentially shady bundling and licensing practices. According to a Bloomberg report, the federal agency has been issuing civil investigative demands (CIDs) to companies that compete with Microsoft in the business software and cloud computing markets. CIDs are powerful, subpoena-like mandates…

Networking

Network jobs watch: Hiring, skills and certification trends

Network and infrastructure roles continue to shift as enterprises adopt technologies such as AI-driven network operations, multicloud networking, zero trust network access (ZTNA), and SD-WAN. Here’s a recap of some of the latest industry research, hiring statistics, and certification trends that impact today’s network professionals, infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders, and data center teams. Check back for regular updates. Automation threatens…

AI

AI will likely shut down critical infrastructure on its own, no attackers required

With a new Gartner report suggesting that AI problems will “shut down national critical infrastructure” in a major country by 2028, CIOs need to rethink industrial controls that are very quickly being turned over to autonomous agents. Gartner embraces the term Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) for these technologies, which it defines as “engineered systems that orchestrate sensing, computation, control, networking…

Networking

Nokia predicts huge WAN traffic growth, but experts question assumptions

Nokia’s 2023 Mobile Networks report projects wide area network (WAN) traffic to explode by 25-30% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2030, potentially reaching 10 times current levels. This bold forecast attributes the surge to escalating demands from AI applications, 5G proliferation, and cloud migrations. For network engineers grappling with bandwidth constraints, this means rethinking...

AI

NetBrain’s new AI agents automate network diagnosis

Network downtime costs enterprises an average of $5,600 per minute, according to a 2023 Gartner report, putting immense pressure on IT teams to resolve issues swiftly. Enter NetBrain’s latest innovation: AI agents that automate network diagnosis, slashing resolution times from hours to minutes. This development comes at a critical juncture, as global networks handle 328.77...

AI

IBM Flash Systems gain AI-assisted telemetry, analytics

IBM’s latest update to its FlashSystem storage lineup integrates AI-assisted telemetry and analytics, promising to cut unplanned downtime by 40% through predictive insights. According to IBM’s Q3 2023 report, enterprises using these enhanced systems have already seen a 25% improvement in storage efficiency, directly addressing the pain points of data center managers overwhelmed by escalating...

Networking

Cisco: Latest news and insights

Cisco reported a 10% year-over-year revenue increase in its fiscal Q4 2024, driven largely by surging demand for AI-integrated networking solutions. This growth underscores the company’s pivot toward intelligent infrastructure, with software subscriptions jumping 12% to $7.2 billion. For network engineers and IT leaders, these figures signal a shift: Cisco is no longer just a...

AI

What hyperscalers’ hyper-spending on data centers tells us

Microsoft, Amazon, and Google collectively invested $187 billion in data center infrastructure during 2023, marking a 50% surge from 2022 levels, according to Synergy Research Group. This hyperscalers’ spending spree underscores the explosive growth of AI workloads, which demand unprecedented computational power and storage. For network engineers and IT leaders, this signals a shift toward...

Technology

Musk’s million data centers in space won’t fly, say experts

Elon Musk’s ambitious plan to deploy a million data centers in space by 2030 has sparked intense debate, with SpaceX filings revealing projected costs soaring to $500 billion for initial launches alone. Analysts at Gartner estimate that current satellite infrastructure handles just 1% of global data processing needs, highlighting the massive gap between vision and...

Technology

Nvidia: Latest news and insights

Nvidia reported a staggering $26 billion in revenue for its fiscal first quarter of 2025, marking a 262% year-over-year increase driven by explosive demand for AI accelerators. This surge underscores the company’s pivotal role in powering data centers worldwide, where IT professionals are scrambling to integrate high-performance computing for machine learning workloads. For network engineers...