Financial Highlights

Microsoft’s Q2 2025 earnings were nothing short of stellar. The company reported revenue of $69.6 billion, marking a 12% increase year-over-year. This growth was underpinned by significant gains in its cloud business, particularly Azure, and its burgeoning AI sector. Earnings per share stood at $3.23, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a healthy profit margin despite the massive investments in AI infrastructure.

• Microsoft Cloud: With a total revenue of $40.9 billion, up 21%, Microsoft’s cloud services are the backbone of its financial success. Azure alone saw a 31% growth, with AI services contributing 13 percentage points to this figure. This is a testament to the company’s strategic focus on cloud computing and AI integration.
• AI Revenue: The AI business has been highlighted as one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing areas, with an annual revenue run rate now exceeding $13 billion, up 175% year-over-year. This figure underscores Microsoft’s position as a leader in the AI revolution, integrating AI into products like Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure AI services.

Market Reaction

Despite the positive earnings report, Microsoft’s shares experienced a downturn in after-hours trading, dropping 4.5%. This unexpected market reaction was primarily due to concerns over the company’s AI spending and the competitive landscape, particularly with the entry of cost-effective AI models from China, like DeepSeek.

• @alex on X noted, “$MSFT: ‘Already, our AI business has surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $13 billion, up 175% year-over-year.’ ‘This quarter Microsoft Cloud revenue was $40.9 billion, up 21% year-over-year’ – 31% growth at ‘Azure and other cloud services revenue'”.
• @ZorTrades observed, “Microsoft: AI Strength, Cloud Disappointment Microsoft’s stock took a hit in after-hours trading, despite reporting strong earnings per share and revenue beats. The problem? The Intelligent Cloud segment, which includes Azure, missed estimates despite growing 19% YoY.”.

Strategic Implications

Microsoft’s focus on AI and cloud computing isn’t just about financial gains; it’s about positioning the company at the forefront of technological innovation:

• AI Integration: The integration of AI across Microsoft’s product lineup, from Microsoft 365 to Azure, shows a strategic bet on AI being the next frontier for computing. This move is not just about enhancing current offerings but about creating new paradigms in how businesses and consumers interact with technology.
• Cloud Dominance: Azure’s continued growth, even amidst global economic uncertainties, demonstrates Microsoft’s stronghold in the cloud market. The company’s investments in expanding its cloud infrastructure are paying dividends, offering scalability and flexibility that enterprises demand.
• Competitive Landscape: The rise of competitors like DeepSeek, offering AI solutions at lower costs, introduces a new dynamic in the market. Microsoft’s response, including the integration of DeepSeek into its Azure offerings, suggests an adaptive strategy to maintain its market dominance while embracing broader AI accessibility.

Cloud and AI Investments Paying Off

Microsoft’s Q2 2025 earnings paint a picture of a company in robust health, powered by strategic investments in cloud and AI. However, the market’s reaction to these results indicates that investors are keenly watching how Microsoft navigates the increasingly competitive AI landscape and manages its substantial capital expenditures.

• @danielnewmanUV commented on X, “Here we go Microsoft: Always my favorite visual from @EconomyApp The rapid leg down was all about cloud missing the number and sequential Azure growth being down. The recovery is all about the AI Revenue number being up 175% to $13 Billion and knowing this is VERY EARLY in.”

As we move into 2025, Microsoft’s journey will be one to watch, balancing innovation with investor expectations, in a tech world where AI and cloud computing define the future of business.

Broadcom acquired VMware in November 2023 and immediately began hiking prices for existing customers, leading to AT&T suing the company for breach of contract. Broadcom has lost customers and distributors as a result of its practices, but it is now facing a patent infringement lawsuit.

Netflix is accusing Broadcom and VMware (via Reuters) of infringing five virtualization patents with its VMware vSphere Foundation and a host of other projects.

Broadcom and VMware, jointly and severally, have infringed, and continue to infringe, at least Claim 1 of the ’424 Patent, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, by making, using, selling, and/or offering for sale within the United States and/or importing into the United States products that are covered by at least Claim 1 of the ’424 Patent. These products include, but are not limited to VMware vSphere Foundation, VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware Cloud on AWS, Azure VMware Solution, Google Cloud VMware Engine, Oracle Cloud VMware Solution, IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions, Alibaba Cloud VMware Service, as well as any other vSphere-based products and/or services (collectively, the “’424 Accused Products”).

Willful Infringement

Netflix goes on to accuse Broadcom of willfully infringing its patents (specifically 424 Patent), saying the company has a “demonstrated culture of knowingly using patented technology.”

Further, VMware marked accused functionality with patents whose prosecution contains citations to or objections based on the Asserted Patents. That is, many of VMware’s patent applications that contain citations to or rejections based on the Asserted Patents, were later, after issuance, used to mark infringing functionality. Broadcom appears to have removed VMware’s virtual marking URL but, upon information and belief, Broadcom did so to review VMware’s virtual marking and can be imputed with knowledge thereof. Thus, Broadcom understands that the Asserted Patents cited in VMware’s prosecution histories overlap with the functionality in the ’424 Accused Products or is willfully blind to that fact. Given the close relationship between the subject of the Patents-in-Suit and the ’424 Accused Products, including that VMware marked accused functionality with patents that were objected to during prosecution based on the Asserted Patents, Broadcom knew or should have known of the substantial risk of infringement through use of their products.

Broadcom and VMware’s willfulness is further evidenced by VMware’s demonstrated culture of knowingly using patented technology.74 Copying other people’s patents is circumstantial evidence of willful infringement and it appears the Accused Products are copies of the Asserted Patents. Further, VMware’s former CEO, who served in that role for ten (10) years, from October 2013 to December 2023, allegedly testified in deposition that VMware has a culture of copying.75 Upon information and belief, Broadcom continues VMware’s culture of copying today.

Broadcom and VMware’s willfulness is further evidenced by VMware’s culture of willful blindness toward patents, including intentionally not reviewing third-party patents when any rational actor would understand—based on, for example, the application rejections in VMware’s patent applications—that a substantial risk of infringement exists.76 Upon information and belief, Broadcom continues that culture today.

Broadcom’s History of Infringement

Netflix points out that Broadcom has a history of losing willful patent infringement cases, with at least two juries finding the company guilty.

In fact, two separate juries have found VMware committed willful infringement, in part, because of VMware’s culture of copying and refusing to review third-party patents during a time period relevant to this matter.77 Indeed, the Accused Product in those matters is the same Accused Product here, demonstrating a pattern and practice of copying and willful blindness as to infringement when it comes to the Accused Product, vSphere, during the time at-issue here. Upon information and belief, Broadcom continues the pattern and practice of willful infringement today.

Thus, Broadcom and VMware have willfully infringed the ’424 Patent. Broadcom and VMware’s knowing and willful infringement has caused and continues to cause damage to Netflix, and Netflix is entitled to recover damages sustained as a result of Broadcom and VMware’s wrongful acts in an amount subject to proof at trial.

Conclusion

Netflix goes on to lay out its case regarding the remaining four patents, accusing Broadcom of willing infringing all of them.

Broadcom has stumbled from one PR disaster to another since its VMware acquisition. At the rate the company is going, one can’t help but wonder how long it will be before Broadcom manages to devalue its $69 billion purchase.

But, with so many companies now in the process of shifting to the cloud, the decision between adopting cloud vs. on-premise ECM solutions is top-of-mind.

Cloud-Based ECM: Benefits and Drawbacks

Cloud ECM systems are becoming more popular, mainly because of their ability to scale and their affordability. Wherever your content is, it can be reached 24/7 from anywhere using any device, which is great if your team is always on the go, spread globally, or your employees are working remotely. Another key feature of the cloud is scalability. As your company grows, your solution can easily scale and grow with you, regarding storage and processing abilities.

On-Premise ECM: Pros and Cons

On-premise ECMs put the organization in complete control over their solution. With an on-premise solution, your company owns and runs the software, hardware, and, in fact, the infrastructure. If your business has specific solution needs or regulations to follow, this may provide you with the most flexibility.

The biggest draw to on-premises solutions is complete customization and data management. You determine where your content and your solution is stored and how it is stored and managed. Organizations in healthcare, finance, or similar fields may appreciate that kind of control over how their data is stored.

Key Considerations for Businesses

1. Cost: Often, cloud solutions have lower initial costs and can scale with your organization, but on the other hand, on-premise often requires larger cash output upfront.
2. Security and Compliance: If you are in an industry where there is highly sensitive data or strict regulations that you must follow, you may find that on-premises solutions will give you greater peace of mind. That said, many cloud providers are now providing compliance to meet various industry requirements.
3. Scalability: In many cases, cloud ECMs are more flexible and better suited to companies that are growing rapidly. On-premise solutions can be scaled up but will often require more effort and investment to do so.

The Best of Both Worlds

The right ECM solution will depend on your company’s needs, budget, and IT capabilities. Cloud-based ECMs offer ease and affordability, scalability, and reduction of costs. On-premise solutions offer more control and customization. And for some, hybrid solutions — a combination of both on-premise and cloud — may offer the best features.

This approach will allow you to keep highly confidential data in-house to meet all compliance regulations as well as make the most of the scalability and high probability of a lower cost of the infrastructure that the cloud provides for less sensitive information. If you have any doubts as to what ECM solution is right for you, we recommend that you turn to specialists. For example, experts at Hylands ECM Solutions – know everything about software solutions.

Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware in November 2023, and immediately began raising prices and ending perpetual licensing. In some cases, the price hikes bordered on the absurd, with AT&T accusing the company of trying to raise prices by 1,050% and the Beeks Group migrating away from VMware after Broadcom hit it with a 10x price increase.

According to The Register, distribution giant Ingram Micro has had enough, saying it will no longer work with Broadcom after negotiations between the two companies broke down.

“We were unable to reach an agreement with Broadcom that would help our customers deliver the best technology outcomes now and in the future while providing an appropriate shareholder return,” a spokesperson told the outlet.

As a result, from “early January 2025, Ingram Micro will no longer be doing business with Broadcom and have limited engagement with VMware in select regions.”

“For us and the more than 1,500 vendors and 161,000 customers we work with, the future of business is focused on transforming relationships, not just transacting sales,” the spokesperson added.

Broadcom’s Changed Support Strategy to Blame

Prior to its acquisition, VMware’s teams handled support requests, giving customers the best possible experience. Broadcom changed that, however, dumping L1/L2 support on distribution partners. As users on a Reddit thread highlight, this resulted in Ingram and other partners suddenly having a support workloads dropped on them that they were ill-equipped to handle.

Remember that broadcom dumped the vmware support on partners like Ingram with no notice and no time to build up. If you buy direct it would be a different story, but support may vary. This is unfortunate in how broadcom handled.

My support for velocloud still goes direct to velocloud team and have gotten good to great support in timely fashion, like even 15min on a P2.

Reddit user Googol20

Can confirm. If you’re a commercial customer and your VAR sourced from Ingram as their preferred disti, Broadcom edict to Ingram under their new contract was to provide L1/L2 support for those customers. Other redditors are right- they had almost no time to build and ramp up a tech support org for that vendor. Broadcom doesn’t care if the customer experience sucks. They’re not going to change anything unless it makes them more money. Price increases rumored to be coming in this new fiscal year for BC also. We are actively looking for alternatives now with a quickness as Broadcom itself is turning into a risk our leadership is getting tired of dealing with.

Reddit user h0l0type

If what Reddit users are reporting is true, it’s little wonder that Ingram decided to stop working with Broadcom. After years of providing direct support to customers, it would seem to be incredibly opportunistic and short-sighted for Broadcom to suddenly dump a large portion of that support on distribution partners, let alone doing so without giving them time to properly build up the necessary infrastructure.

Even more to the point, rarely will a distribution partner have the same level of expertise as the company making the product. As a result, even with the necessary infrastructure in place, it’s unlikely distribution partners will be able to provide the same level of support VMware was known for.

Broadcom Is Confirming Critics’ Pre-Acquisition Fears

Broadcom’s actions—as evidenced by it’s interactions with AT&T, Beeks Group, and Ingram Micro—are confirming the worst fears critics had prior to the acquisition.

Broadcom has a reputation in the tech industry for ruthless efficiency in driving profit. The company’s operating margin, at roughly 61%, far exceeds many other companies, including other companies known for being highly profitable, such as Oracle with 47% margins.

As a result, there was a tremendous amount of angst leading up to the acquisition, both inside and outside the company.

“It’s like a sinking ship and we’re being asked to row until we go under,” one VMware engineer said at the time, estimating that half of his work acquaintances are looking for other jobs. “Do I hang out here and the boat’s probably going to sink? Or do I jump ship because other people are?”

“People feel betrayed,” added another VMware engineer. “For my team of 10 I know four of us are actively interviewing.” Another one said that “the only thing keeping many people here is the specter of a recession.”

In the wake of the acquisition, European cloud organization CISPE appealed to regulators to reign in Broadcom’s price hikes and licensing changes, saying its “brutal” tactics would “decimate” Europe’s independent cloud companies and infrastructure.

“At a time when our members are moving to support the requirements for switching and portability between cloud services outlined in the Data Act, Broadcom is holding the sector to ransom by leveraging VMware’s dominance of the virtualisation sector to enforce unfair licence terms and extract unfair rents from European cloud customers,” said Francisco Mingorance, secretary general of CISPE. “These changes harm European customers and cloud service providers, increasing costs and reducing choice.”

“As well as inflicting financial damage on the European digital economy, these actions will decimate Europe’s independent cloud infrastructure sector and further reduce the diversity of choice for customers. Dominant software providers, in any sector from productivity software to virtualisation, must not be allowed to wield life or death power over Europe’s digital ecosystems,” Mingorance added.

Hopefully, Ingram Micro will not be the last company to decide it is done with VMware and Broadcom. If enough large companies and partners abandon the platform, it may just force Broadcom to reconsider its actions.

‘Which?’ is the UK’s largest consumer rights group, and estimates “that millions of people in the UK are affected” by what it sees as Apple’s abuses of anti-competitive practices.

Everything we do is about championing consumers, here to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone. We believe that Apple breached competition law and it has cost UK consumers millions of pounds, so we are taking legal action against Apple to recover the overpayments made on iCloud services obtained on or after 1 October 2015. We want to make sure that Apple, and other big corporations stop behaving in this way.

The company is seeking monetary damages and is trying to force Apple to change its practices.

Which? alleges that Apple has breached competition law and is bringing a collective action on behalf of consumers to seek compensation and to stop Apple from treating its customers this way. It’s currently estimated that if we’re successful, average damages per consumer will be around £70.

The group outlines the crux of its case in its FAQ:

Which? believes Apple is abusing its position as a dominant company in breach of competition law.

Which? believes Apple has been:

1. favouring its own cloud storage services on its iOS devices, compared to other cloud storage providers; and
2. tying iCloud services to iOS devices, which are purchased by consumers.

Together, this unlawful conduct locks users into Apple’s iCloud storage services, prevents them from switching to alternative cloud providers and enables Apple to charge higher fees for iCloud services than would be the case if Apple behaved lawfully.

The lawsuit is opt-out and opt-in, meaning that eligible individuals living within the UK will automatically be included unless they opt-out. On the other hand, individuals abroad must explicitly opt-in.

Based on £70 per customer, the lawsuit could total £3 billion, or roughly $3.8 billion.

Lacework specializes in “data-driven cloud security at scale,” and boasts and impressive portfolio of clients. Parikh’s background as CEO of Lacework makes him a perfect fit for Microsoft’s ambition, especially as it works to improve security as it continues to scale.

Nadella highlighted Parikh’s value in his blog post.

When I look to the next phase of Microsoft, both in terms of our scale and our massive opportunity ahead, it’s clear that we need to continue adding exceptional talent at every level of the organization to increase our depth and capability across our business priorities – spanning security, quality, and AI innovation.

With that context, I’m excited to share that Jay Parikh is joining Microsoft as a member of the senior leadership team (SLT), reporting to me. Jay was the global head of engineering at Facebook (now Meta) and most recently was CEO of Lacework. He has an impressive track record, with a unique combination of experiences building and scaling technical teams that serve both commercial customers and consumers. His deep connections across the start-up and VC ecosystems, coupled with his leadership roles at Akamai and Ning, will bring valuable perspective to Microsoft.

Nadella goes on to say that Parikh’s expertise goes beyond technology and includes strong leadership qualities.

Over the years I’ve known Jay, I’ve admired him as a technology leader and respected engineer with a deep commitment to driving innovation and striving for operational excellence. His focus extends beyond technology, with his passion for and dedication to developing people, fostering a strong culture, and building world-class talent, all in service of delivering faster value to customers and driving business growth. In fact, there are very few leaders in our industry with Jay’s experience in leading teams through the rapid growth and scale required to support today’s largest internet businesses.

As he onboards, Jay will immerse himself in learning about our company priorities and our culture and will spend time connecting with our senior leaders and meeting with customers, partners, and employees around the world. We will share more on his role and focus in the next few months.

It will be interesting to see the specific role Parikh takes on within the company.

Zavery has been in the news a great deal recently, as much for his criticism of Microsoft’s cloud business as for anything else. He has repeatedly accused Microsoft of leveraging its desktop and office suite monopoly to further its cloud ambition, to the detriment of Google and other cloud rivals.

In a LinkedIn post, Zavery said he is leaving Google, but touted the work he helped do to significantly increase the company’s cloud business.

The decision to leave Google is one of the toughest I’ve ever made. Working at Google has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and tremendous honor. Over nearly six years, I’ve learned an incredible amount, had so much fun, and witnessed remarkable growth in the business. Helping grow Google Cloud from $7.3B to over $41B in annualized revenue and contributing to the creation of the world’s fourth-largest enterprise software company, has been a career-defining privilege.

Zavery made special mention of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, with whom Zavery worked with both at Oracle and then Google.

Among the many positives, one stands out above all: the opportunity to learn from my mentor and friend, Thomas Kurian. Over the span of more than 25 years—between Oracle and Google—I’ve had the privilege of reporting to Thomas. I’ve seen many leaders in action, but none quite like him. His consistent ability to understand markets, delve into any subject matter, distill complex information into actionable decisions, and relentlessly pursue positive outcomes with a customer-centric focus has been a masterclass in leadership. The toughest part of leaving Google Cloud is stepping away from the opportunity to work with and learn from Thomas on a daily basis.

Zavery did not reveal his reason for leaving, but he did hint at an upcoming opportunity.

While this goodbye is bittersweet, I’m excited about the new adventures and opportunities ahead. I look forward to staying in touch, collaborating in the future, and continuing to learn from this incredible community. Go Google Cloud!!

It will be interesting to see where Zavery ends up next. In the meantime, however, Microsoft may get a slight reprieve from the criticism coming out of Google Cloud.

Cloudflare is one of the few companies that welcomes fights with patent trolls, even setting up Project Jango as a way of incentivizing users to help it fight such companies. Its latest legal battle was with Sable, a patent troll that sued Cloudflare in 2021 and tried to make the case that it was infringing multiple of Sable’s patents.

Catch our conversation on Cloudflare’s crusade against patent trolls!

Cloudflare immediately tapped into Project Jango, rewarding users who help it find “prior art,” or applications of the tech covered by Sable’s patents in use before Sable’s patents went into effect. Thanks in no small part to this effort, by the time the case went to trial, there was only one remaining claim against a single patent—down from the 100 claims against four patents when Sable initially sued Cloudflare.

The Challenges Cloudflare Faced

One of the biggest challenges Cloudflare faced was not the merits of the case, but explaining very technical terms to a non-technical jury, as the company explains.

To defeat Sable’s claim of infringement we needed to explain to the jury — in clear and understandable terms — why what Cloudflare does is different from what was covered by claim 25 of Sable’s remaining patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,012,919 (the ’919 patent). To do this, we enlisted the help of one of our talented Cloudflare engineers, Eric Reeves, as well as Dr. Paul Min, Senior Professor of Electrical & Systems Engineering at Washington University, an expert in the field of computer networking. Eric and Dr. Min helped us explain to the jury the multiple reasons we didn’t infringe.

While Sable tried its best to convince the jury otherwise, Cloudflare’s experts were able to clearly demonstrate how the CDN provider’s tech was a unique home-grown invention, and not a ripoff of Sable’s patent.

While Sable’s technical expert tried his hardest to convince the jury that various software and hardware components of Cloudflare’s servers constitute “line cards,” his explanations defied credibility. The simple fact is that Cloudflare’s servers do not have line cards.

Ultimately, the jury understood, returning a verdict that Cloudflare does not infringe claim 25 of the ‘919 patent.

Going Further to Invalidate Sable’s Claim

Cloudflare wasn’t happy with just winning the infringement claim. Instead,the company wanted to go further and invalidate the claim altogether, despite the challenge in doing so.

Proving invalidity to a jury is hard. The burden on the defendant is high: Cloudflare needed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that claim 25 is invalid. And, proving it by describing how the claim is obvious in light of the prior art is complicated.

To do this, we again relied on our technical expert, Dr. Min, to explain how two prior art references, U.S. Patent No. 6,584,071 (Kodialam) and U.S. Patent No. 6,680,933 (Cheeseman) together render claim 25 of the ’919 patent obvious. Kodialam and Cheeseman are patents from Nortel Networks and Lucent relating to router technology developed in the late 1990s. Both are prior art to the ’919 patent (i.e., they pre-date the priority date of the ’919 patent), and when considered together by a person skilled in the area of computer engineering and computer networking technology, they rendered obvious the so-called invention of claim 25.

Ultimately, Cloudfare’s efforts paid off, with a jury agreeing that Sable’s claim was invalid.

The Repercussions for Sable

The case ended up being a total loss for Sable on all counts. Throughout the case, it was apparent that Sable was motivated strictly by trying to achieve an easy payday, which it was denied. Even more fitting, Sable ended up paying Cloudflare, as well as giving up any possibility of weaponizing its patents again.

In the end, Sable agreed to pay Cloudflare $225,000, grant Cloudflare a royalty-free license to its entire patent portfolio, and to dedicate its patents to the public, ensuring that Sable can never again assert them against another company.

Let’s repeat that first part, just to make sure everyone understands:

Sable, the patent troll that sued Cloudflare back in March 2021 asserting around 100 claims across four patents, in the end wound up paying Cloudflare. While this $225,000 can’t fully compensate us for the time, energy and frustration of having to deal with this litigation for nearly three years, it does help to even the score a bit. And we hope that it sends an important message to patent trolls everywhere to beware before taking on Cloudflare.

Why Cloudflare Deserves An Award

Patent trolls are the bane of the tech industry’s existence. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with a company aggressively defending its intellectual property when it puts in the time and money to develop a technology, or purchases a tech and its patents, and goes on to use them.

In the case of patent trolls, however, these are companies that file vague, overly-broad patents to cover any number of concepts that may one day be used by some company. Or a patent troll will purchase a promising patent from an inventor. In both cases, however, the patent troll has no intention of developing any technology that may be covered by the patent. Their sole goal is to wait for another company to develop such tech and then shake them down for money.

Patent trolls are the worst of the worst, artificially inflating the cost of developing tech with their greedy shakedowns and lawsuits.

Cloudflare, with its long history of relentlessly going after paten trolls, deserves an award.

Amit Zavery, Google Cloud GM/VP and Head of Platform, and Gloud EMEA President Tara Brady penned a blog post outlining Google’s argument. The two executives make the case that the old ways of locking customers in to a single vendor—which may have worked in the pre-cloud software industry—are no longer viable or beneficial in an era defined by cloud computing. In spite of that, the execs point out multiple instances where Microsoft has continued the old ways.

Don’t miss our talk on Google’s EU complaint against Microsoft!”

For years, in the productivity software space, Microsoft has locked customers into Teams, even when they preferred other providers. Now, the company is running the same playbook to push companies to Azure, its cloud platform. Microsoft’s licensing terms restrict European customers from moving their current Microsoft workloads to competitors’ clouds – despite there being no technical barriers to doing so – or impose what Microsoft admits is a striking 400% price markup.

To make matters worse, not only is Microsoft the only major cloud provider to still be trying to leverage vendor lock-in, but its attempts to do so are having significant negative effects, most notably in the realm of cybersecurity.

Microsoft is the only cloud provider to use these tactics, which have significantly harmed European companies and governments. Not only have they cost European businesses at least €1 billion a year, but also they have led to adverse downstream effects, including waste of tax funds, stifled competition, restrictions on distributors and channel partners, and heightened risk for organizations exposed to Microsoft’s “inadequate” security culture.

The execs specifically call out the roll Windows Server plays in Microsoft’s efforts to lock customer in to its Azure platform. Windows Server is a staple for much of the industry, and companies have long used their Windows Server licenses on the hardware of their choice. As cloud computing began to eclipse on-premise workflows, Microsoft saw a serious threat to its Windows Server business and reacted accordingly.

However, as cloud computing took off and promised to bring new benefits to European businesses, customers wanted to move their previously purchased licenses to other cloud providers, and in some cases to multiple clouds, to provide additional resiliency and security. Initially, Microsoft allowed them to do this. But as Azure faced more competition, Microsoft introduced new rules that severely limited customer choice.

One of the most significant restrictions occurred in 2019, when Microsoft adopted new licensing terms that imposed extreme financial penalties on businesses wanting to use Windows Server software on Azure’s closest competitors, such as Google Cloud and AWS. Microsoft’s own statements indicate that customers who want to move their workloads to these competitors would need to pay up to five times more. And for those who choose to keep running Windows Server on competitors’ cloud platforms (despite the cost difference), Microsoft introduced additional obstacles over the last few years, such as limiting security patches and creating other interoperability barriers.

The executives go on to highlight examples within the EU, including studies that show Microsoft’s practices lead to higher prices, reduced competition, and taxpayer waste, before highlighting how Google’s approach is different.

Google Cloud’s approach is different. We promote fair and transparent licensing for our customers. We pioneered a multi-cloud infrastructure service and a multi-cloud data warehouse, enabling workloads to run across multiple clouds. And we were the first company to provide digital sovereignty solutions for European governments and to waive exit fees for customers wishing to switch cloud providers.

Our point is a simple one: Restrictive cloud licensing practices hurt companies and impede European competitiveness. We look forward to continuing this discussion on how to keep the cloud market fair and open for European businesses and governments.

Google Is Trying to Revive a Settled Complaint

In some ways, Google is trying to revive a complaint that had already been made and settled—albeit by a different organization—without Google’s involvement.

In late 2022, the Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) filed a similar complaint against Microsoft, saying the company was “irreparably damaging” the EU cloud industry. In the complaint, CISPE made many of the same arguments as Google, saying Microsoft was unfairly locking customers in to its own platforms and abusing its dominance in some markets to prop up its cloud business.

“Leveraging its dominance in productivity software, Microsoft restricts choice and inflates costs as European customers look to move to the cloud, thus distorting Europe’s digital economy,” Francisco Mingorance, Secretary General of CISPE, said at the time. “DG Comp must act swiftly to open a formal investigation with a statement of objections against Microsoft’s software licence abuses to defend the robust cloud ecosystem Europe needs and deserves.”

In July 2024, Microsoft and CISPE struck a deal that settled the claim, giving EU cloud providers the ability to offer Microsoft and Azure services that previously were only available to direct Microsoft customers.

“This is a significant victory for European cloud providers,” said Secretary General Mingorance. “CISPE has given Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and believes that this agreement will provide a level playing field for European cloud infrastructure service providers and their customers. Microsoft has nine-months to make good on its commitment by offering solutions that allow fair licensing terms for its productivity software European cloud infrastructures.

“To ensure the continued primacy of European members, the CISPE General Assembly has also instructed the Board to revise the governance of the association to ensure that European businesses and SMEs remain in the driving seat for CISPE campaigns should Microsoft or other global hyperscalers ask to become members. Proposed modifications will be presented ahead of the next General Assembly on 18th October 2024.”

Interestingly, the terms stipulate that neither Google Cloud nor AWS can benefit from the agreement, and AWS was excluded from the negotiations altogether. Needless to say, Google was not happy with the deal, and Zavery expressed his company’s dismay shortly after.

MSFT playbook of paying off complainants rather than address their complaints shouldn’t fool anyone,” Zavery wrote on X. “The deal doesn’t apply to all CISPE members. CISPE admits to a payoff. EU cloud competitors become Azure customers. CISPE members under gag order, can’t file complaints anymore.”

Google clearly believes that Microsoft’s deal with CISPE does little to address the company’s underlying behavior or the harm such behavior allegedly causes the cloud industry. The fact that Google doesn’t benefit from the CISPE deal no doubt adds to the company’s motivation in filing its own complaint.

Microsoft has worked hard in recent years to separate itself from the rest of the tech industry, portraying itself as a company that is more open to working with regulators and promoting fair practices in the industry. Despite those efforts, Google clearly believes Microsoft has not changed enough and is trying to force its hand with the EU complaint.

Microsoft has released its Windows App on most major platforms—Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android, and web browsers—giving users a central way to connect to Windows.

Windows App is designed to give users a unified way to connect to and manage Windows in the cloud, enabling productivity on-the-go.

With Windows App, you can enjoy a unified experience that makes it simple for people to connect to the Windows experience they know and love from any device. Enhance productivity with features such as customizable home screens, multi-monitor support, and USB redirection. Windows App also offers advanced security features, including multifactor authentication, to ensure a seamless and robust connection and enable efficient work from any location, at any time.

Windows App provides a consistent, reliable experience for all devices, enabling secure access from any location. Whether you need to connect to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, Remote Desktop, Remote Desktop Services, or Microsoft Dev Box, Windows App simplifies the process, allowing you to manage and utilize these resources from a single, intuitive app. Whether you are an IT administrator or an end user, Windows App provides immense value. IT admins benefit from enhanced security and streamlined management, while end users can tailor their experience to fit their personal workflows.

Interestingly, although Microsoft claims Windows App is available on all platforms, Linux is notably absent from the list, and Android is still in public preview. The absence of Linux is particularly interesting, given how popular the OS is with system admins and developers, not to mention its use within Microsoft. Nonetheless, Linux users should be able to use the service via web browser.

Oracle Database@Azure is a service that allows businesses to run their Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services in Microsoft Azure datacenters. The option gives organizations the ability to combine the two companies’ services in a low-latency, high-performance environment.

The latest enhanced include the following features, per a Microsoft Azure blog post.

• Microsoft Fabric plus Oracle Database@Azure integration to fuel customer data and AI innovations.
• Integration with Microsoft Sentinel and compliance certifications to provide industry-leading security and compliance for mission-critical workloads.
• Plans to expand offering to a total of 21 primary regions, each with at least two availability zones and support for Oracle’s Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) to deliver the highest levels of availability and resilience.
• Examples from customers joining us on stage at Oracle CloudWorld this week.

Microsoft says customers are choosing Oracle Database@Azure because of the “performance, scalability, security, and reliability” it offers, with the solution becoming a popular choice for mission-critical workloads for some of the world’s largest companies.

“With the continuing threat of ransomware, companies must adapt to rebuild their critical services and systems from scratch—not just reconstitute data into an environment that is compromised. Oracle Database@Azure is the only service that meets MSCI’s Cyber DR needs from a recovery time, security isolation, recovery point and cost perspective.”—John Rogers, Chief Information Security Officer, MSCI.

Microsoft says its new Microsoft Fabric works with Oracle Database@Azure to help drive data and AI innovation.

Microsoft Fabric is an ever-evolving, AI-powered data analytics platform that empowers customers to unify and future-proof their data estate. Fabric keeps up with the trends and seamlessly integrates each new capability so businesses can spend less time integrating and managing their data estate and more time unlocking value from their data. OCI GoldenGate offers seamless support to integrate data across dozens of data sources and targets including OneLake in Microsoft Fabric, delivering enterprise-grade, real-time data to the Microsoft ecosystem. The combination of OCI GoldenGate’s continuous, low-latency data availability in Microsoft Fabric’s comprehensive data and analytics tools, like Power BI and Copilot, enables customers to connect their essential data sources—both Oracle and non-Oracle—to drive better insights and decision-making.

Microsoft and Oracle have been making significant inroads in the cloud industry. Oracle, in particular, has become a popular option for AI workloads, thanks to its more modern cloud architecture. The enhanced integration with Microsoft Azure is sure to benefit both companies moving forward.

Since Broadcom purchased VMware, the company has been aggressively increasing prices and alienating customers by canceling existing licenses in favor of subscriptions that cost orders of magnitude more. AT&T appears to have had enough and is suing Broadcom.

The telecom company outlined its complaint, and asked the court for injunctive relief.

Plaintiff AT&T Services, Inc. brings this action for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, declaratory judgment, and injunctive relief against Defendants Broadcom Inc., as successor-in-interest to VMware, Inc., and VMware, Inc.1 AT&T’s allegations are based on knowledge as to its own acts, and on information and belief as to all other matters except where expressly indicated.

Broadcom Allegedly Reneging On Contracts

AT&T goes on to describe Broadcom’s habit of canceling perpetual licenses in favor of expensive subscriptions.

Almost immediately, Broadcom began reshaping VMware’s business model from selling stand-alone perpetual software licenses to selling more expensive subscription software licenses bundled with additional products and services. As its new owner, Broadcom has every right to change VMware’s business model prospectively. What it cannot do, however, is retroactively change existing VMware contracts to match its new corporate strategy. But that is exactly what Broadcom seeks to do here.

AT&T then accuses Broadcom of trying to hold it hostage by withholding support.

Specifically, Broadcom is threatening to withhold essential support services for previously purchased VMware perpetually licensed software unless AT&T capitulates to Broadcom’s demands that AT&T purchase hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of bundled subscription software and services, which AT&T does not want.

Not only is Broadcom contractually obligated to continue providing the software support services, but without them AT&T has no way to ensure the VMware software installed on approximately 8,600 AT&T servers that deliver services to millions of AT&T customers worldwide will continue to operate.

AT&T goes on to say that many of the services being run by VMware instances are critical to the US government, as well as public safety organizations, such as emergency personnel, firefighters, paramedics, and police officers.

AT&T acknowledges that its original support period expires on September 8, 2024. However, the two parties signed an amendment to their agreement in 2022, one which gives AT&T the option to renew and extend support for up to two additional years.

Although AT&T has already advised Broadcom that it is exercising its option to renew support services for at least another year, Broadcom is refusing to honor AT&T’s renewal.

Instead, Broadcom states it will only continue to provide support services if AT&T agrees to purchase scores of subscription services and software that: (1) AT&T does not want or need; (2) would impose significant additional contractual and technological obligations on AT&T; (3) would require AT&T to invest potentially millions to develop its network to accommodate the new software; (4) may violate certain rights of first refusal that AT&T has granted to third-parties; and (5) would cost AT&T tens of millions more than the price of the support services alone.

AT&T’s Is An Increasingly Common Story

The telecom company goes on to say that many critics and customers predicted that Broadcom would engage in this behavior when its purchase of VMware was first announced. The company is correct, with many at the time expressing concern over what the future might hold.

Unfortunately, those fears have been realized, with organizations around the world having their own horror stories related to their interactions with Broadcom. In fact, EU cloud organization CISPE has appealed to regulators, saying “public sector bodies, large European businesses, SMEs and start-ups are all threatened by egregious and unwarranted new contract terms and price increases.” The organization went on to warn that Broadcom’s actions would decimate the EU cloud.

“As well as inflicting financial damage on the European digital economy, these actions will decimate Europe’s independent cloud infrastructure sector and further reduce the diversity of choice for customers,” said Francisco Mingorance, secretary general of CISPE. “Dominant software providers, in any sector from productivity software to virtualisation, must not be allowed to wield life or death power over Europe’s digital ecosystems.”

Some customers have had enough, and are increasingly looking at competitors’ offerings. In fact, evidence suggests Broadcom’s tactics recently cost it a 24,000 license customer.

With large customers like AT&T willing to go through the expense of a lawsuit over Broadcom’s actions, it’s a safe bet the VMware owner’s troubles are just beginning.

The Origins of the 83% Figure

The 83% figure has gained traction, being cited by major industry players and analysts as a sign of a potential shift in the cloud computing landscape. Broadcom’s leadership prominently displayed this statistic at the recent VMware Explore event in Las Vegas, using it as evidence to promote their virtualization software to customers frustrated with the costs and complexities of public cloud services. Even Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, weighed in on the conversation, tweeting that the statistic was “not surprising.”

Not surprising:

83% of enterprises plan to move workloads back to private cloud from public cloud. Source: Barclays CIO Survey pic.twitter.com/CEwzLGkkWX

— Michael Dell (@MichaelDell) August 27, 2024

But what does this number really represent? According to the Barclays survey, it indicates that 83% of enterprises are moving at least one workload from the public cloud back to their on-premises or private cloud infrastructure. At first glance, this seems to suggest a mass exodus from public clouds like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. But as with many statistics, the reality is far more nuanced.

The Misleading Nature of the Statistic

“The 83% figure is both accurate and misleading,” says Larry Walsh, CEO and Chief Analyst of Channelnomics. “It’s true in the sense that a significant number of enterprises are exploring or initiating some form of repatriation. However, it doesn’t capture the full picture of what’s really happening in the cloud space.”

One of the key issues with this statistic is that it represents companies, not workloads. “If 83 out of 100 companies each move a single workload from the cloud to on-premises, that’s still 83%,” Walsh explains. “But it doesn’t mean that 83% of all workloads are being repatriated. Many of these companies are likely moving small, non-critical workloads while keeping the vast majority of their operations in the cloud.”

Breaking Down the Numbers

To understand why the 83% figure is misleading, it’s important to delve deeper into what’s actually happening. “The statistic doesn’t distinguish between the types of workloads being repatriated,” says Andre Marsiglia, a constitutional lawyer and freedom of expression expert who also has a background in technology law. “Are these mission-critical applications or smaller, less significant workloads? The distinction is crucial.”

Moreover, the repatriation process is not a straightforward return to on-premises infrastructure. Many enterprises are opting for a hybrid cloud approach, where some workloads are moved to private clouds or co-located data centers, while others remain in public clouds. This hybrid strategy allows companies to maintain flexibility, optimize costs, and manage their data more effectively.

“It’s not a binary choice between public cloud and on-premises,” says Marsiglia. “Enterprises are looking for the best of both worlds. They want the scalability and convenience of the public cloud for certain workloads, and the control and cost predictability of on-premises or private clouds for others.”

The Role of AI and Cost Management

Another factor driving the conversation around repatriation is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the associated costs of running AI workloads in public clouds. “AI is incredibly processing-intensive,” says Walsh. “While public clouds can handle these workloads, the costs can be prohibitive for some enterprises, leading them to consider moving these workloads back to on-premises infrastructure where they can manage the resources more effectively.”

This focus on AI has led some analysts, including those at IDC, to predict an increase in hardware infrastructure sales driven by AI deployments. “The belief is that enterprises will build their AI systems locally rather than rely on hyperscalers, which would drive growth in on-premises infrastructure,” says Walsh. “But again, this doesn’t mean that all workloads are leaving the cloud—just that certain high-cost, high-performance workloads might be.”

The Bigger Picture

While the 83% statistic has been widely circulated, it’s important to view it in the context of broader trends in cloud computing. Public cloud spending continues to grow each quarter, indicating that despite some repatriation, the overall reliance on hyperscalers remains strong.

“Cloud repatriation is a real trend, but it’s not the mass exodus that some are making it out to be,” says Michael Dell. “The reality is that enterprises are becoming more sophisticated in how they use cloud resources. They’re optimizing their workloads across different environments to get the best performance and cost outcomes.”

In the end, the 83% figure should be seen as an indicator of a broader conversation happening in the industry. “It’s about exploring options, not abandoning the cloud,” says Marsiglia. “Enterprises are asking themselves where they can get the most value, and for some workloads, that might mean moving out of the public cloud. But for many others, the cloud remains the best option.”

Enterprises Becoming More Strategic

The 83% public cloud repatriation statistic, while eye-catching, is highly misleading when taken at face value. It represents a complex and nuanced trend where enterprises are not necessarily fleeing the public cloud but are instead becoming more strategic in their use of cloud resources. As the cloud landscape continues to evolve, it’s crucial to look beyond the headlines and understand the full context of the data. Only then can businesses make informed decisions about their infrastructure strategies.

We are small beans, but we had the first hand experience of putting real hardware in a DC in Phoenix. It was amazing.

1U Dell R360 8 Core E-2488, 128GB RAM
4U DIY 64 Core EPYC 9554, 192GB RAM

Colo cost: $83/month, /30 IP, 1Gb, 32TB bw/m.

Top tier DC: https://t.co/Pgp3WgygqG pic.twitter.com/NbVIV4bXnb

— U.S. Graphics Company (@usgraphics) August 28, 2024

The Echo Show 8 Photos Edition doubled as a digital picture frame, giving users the ability to display their photos indefinitely, as long as they were subscribed to the PhotoPlus service. Unfortunately, Amazon is canceling those subscriptions, and effectively killing the only real reason to buy the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition over the standard Echo Show 8.

The company announced the change in an email to subscribers:

Dear PhotoPlus customers,

We’re writing to inform you that starting on 09/23/2024, we will end support for the PhotoPlus subscription. PhotPlus makes photos the primary home screen content you see on your Echo Show 8 and includes 2 GB of storage with Amazon Photos.

We will automatically cancel your PhotosPlus subscription on 09/12/2024 — you do not need to take any action. You can continue enjoying the benefits of PhotosPlus until 09/12/2024.

After your subscription period ends, photos will no longer be the primary home screen content on your Echo Show 8. However, you can continue to use the 25 GB of Amazon Photos storage.

To manage the content shown on your Echo Show 8 home screen, navigate to Settings > Home Content.

As the email points out, a person’s photos will no longer be the primary content displayed on the home screen. Instead, ads will be displayed after three hours.

Amazon has made no secret of the fact that it is trying to monetize its various devices and services as the company looks to cut costs. PhotoPlus evidently did not have enough subscribers to justify the costs, and the company was clearly unwilling to spend any more in an effort to boost the user base.

Apple has a long history of changing the name of its online services. It’s online cloud services began life as iTools, only to be changed to .Mac, MobileMe and, eventually, iCloud. While iCloud itself is not changing names, the account used to log into iCloud is.

According to Apple, the change will take place with the release of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.

With the releases of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and watchOS 11, Apple ID is renamed to Apple Account for a consistent sign-in experience across Apple services and devices, and relies on a user’s existing credentials.

It seems the change should have very little impact beyond a label.

According to the company, its revenue was $64.7 billion, an increase of 15% over the year-ago quarter. Net income came in at $22 billion, also an increase of 15% from the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share were $2.95, an increase of 10%.

“Our strong performance this fiscal year speaks both to our innovation and to the trust customers continue to place in Microsoft,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. “As a platform company, we are focused on meeting the mission-critical needs of our customers across our at-scale platforms today, while also ensuring we lead the AI era.”

“We closed out our fiscal year with a solid quarter, highlighted by record bookings and Microsoft Cloud quarterly revenue of $36.8 billion, up 21% (up 22% in constant currency) year-over-year,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft.

According to GeekWire, Microsoft told employees it plans to give a one-time cash award in addition to their annual bonus. The cash bonus is slated to be anywhere from 10% to 25% of their annual bonus.

“The senior leadership team and I want to recognize the tremendous work and impact of our people who delivered a terrific year of solid execution and world-class innovation,” wrote Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan in a company memo.

“All Microsoft employees in levels 67 and below, including hourly and equivalents, who receive FY24 rewards will be eligible to receive a special one-time only cash award in addition to their annual rewards,” Hogan added. “This special one-time cash award will scale based on the employee’s FY24 impact.”

Hogan said the cash award is a reflection of the role employees have played in the company’s stellar quarter.

“We recognize our FY24 success is a direct result of the incredible focus, creativity, and collaboration of our people and our collective efforts as One Microsoft,” Hogan wrote. “We are grateful for your dedication to our mission so that together we can continue to empower everyone around the world.”

GeekWire says Microsoft has intentionally structured the award to give more to newer employees who have less seniority, as well as less stock options.

“For example, employees in higher levels such as 67 would receive a cash award equivalent to approximately 10% of their annual bonus, whereas employees level 61 and below would receive a cash award equivalent to approximately 25% of their annual bonus,” Hogan wrote. “As the SLT considered this award, our goal was to ensure that everyone eligible receives a meaningful amount at all levels, and thus the differences in percentage of bonus based on level.”

It’s good to see companies valuing the role employees play in their success, and Microsoft is to be commended for taking the step it has.

Microsoft acknowledged the issue early Tuesday morning in an X post:

Shortly after, Azure Support acknowledged that Azure Services is also experiencing issues:

Interestingly, Microsoft originally said more information could be found at status.cloud.microsoft before realizing the status page is also affected and unavailable.

Microsoft has had a rough couple of weeks, thanks to the CrowdStrike debacle. This latest outage is not likely to win the company any accolades.

In a significant technological crisis, a global Microsoft outage early Friday morning brought various sectors, including flights, banks, media outlets, and companies, to a standstill. The outage, linked to a faulty update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, left travelers stranded at major airports like JFK and LaGuardia and disrupted operations worldwide.

It's confirmed !! Crowdstrike Issue Guys, they are working on it, in about maybe 45 mins things will be fix #csagent #crowdstrike #BSOD pic.twitter.com/0mkfRbUAF8

— Xaaavier_8613 (@Xaaavier_8613) July 19, 2024

Airports and Airlines Hit Hard

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) advised commuters in New York that customer information systems were temporarily offline due to the technical outage. However, train and bus services continued to run. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) service was unaffected, but arrival information, station announcements, and platform signs were taken offline.

LaGuardia Airport faced the brunt of the disruptions, canceling 30 flights and delaying 10 others. At JFK Airport, travelers endured lengthy delays as 16 flights were canceled. Smaller airlines such as Frontier Airlines, Allegiant, and SunCountry reported outages earlier, while major carriers like American, Delta, and United acknowledged a technology issue with a third-party vendor.

Frontier Airlines was among the first to explicitly link the disruptions to a “major Microsoft technical outage.” The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that it was closely monitoring the situation, and several airlines requested assistance with ground stops.

Government and Industry Reactions

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg stated that the department was monitoring Frontier’s flight cancellation and delay issues, emphasizing that the government would hold airlines accountable for meeting passenger needs. Meanwhile, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz announced that the IT issue causing the global outage had been identified and a fix deployed. He clarified that the problem was not due to a security incident or cyberattack.

CrowdStrike’s update caused outages for millions of users of Microsoft Windows devices worldwide. The company said its engineers had undone the change but clients would need to use a workaround to download a fix to affected computers. “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts,” Kurtz posted on X.

Impact Across Various Sectors

The website DownDetector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, showed escalating disruptions in services at Visa, ADT security, Amazon, and various airlines, including American Airlines and Delta. The outage also affected news outlets, telecommunications providers, banks, and media broadcasters in Australia, the UK, Europe, and India.

In New Zealand, acting Prime Minister David Seymour stated that officials were moving quickly to understand the potential impacts of the global problem. He noted that there was no indication of malicious cyber activity. Israel’s Cyber Directorate reported that the outage affected the country’s post offices and hospitals, attributing the issue to a problem with CrowdStrike’s cybersecurity platform.

In the U.S., the FAA noted that airlines such as United, American, Delta, and Allegiant were all grounded. Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport were seen sleeping on jetway floors due to delays. In the UK, the budget airline Ryanair and train operators like TransPennine Express and Govia Thameslink Railway faced disruptions. At London’s Stansted Airport, some check-in services were completed manually, although flights continued to operate.

International Disruptions

Widespread problems were reported at Australian airports, where passengers experienced long queues due to disabled online check-in services and self-service booths. In India, thousands of passengers faced disruptions, with privately-owned IndiGo airlines announcing that the Microsoft outage impacted operations.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport reported a “major impact on flights,” particularly on one of the busiest days of the year for the airport. In Germany, Berlin Airport announced delays in check-in processes, suspending flights until 10 a.m. Zurich Airport in Switzerland also suspended landings but allowed flights already in the air to land. Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport reported delays for some U.S.-bound flights.

Microsoft’s Response

Microsoft stated that the outage began around 6 p.m. ET on Thursday and that the company was working on rerouting impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate the issue more expediently. The company observed a positive trend in service availability but did not provide further details on the cause of the outage.

Broader Implications and Continuing Impact

The global outage highlights the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to technical failures, even in the absence of malicious attacks. With major airlines, banks, media outlets, and other sectors heavily reliant on cloud services, such disruptions underscore the need for robust contingency planning.

In the U.S., many 911 and non-emergency call centers weren’t working properly, according to the Alaska State Troopers. Frontier Airlines had late Thursday blamed a Microsoft technical outage for forcing it to implement a ground stoppage, leading to flight delays and cancellations.

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport—one of the continent’s biggest connecting hubs—was shut to all arrivals due to the issues, according to Eurocontrol, Europe’s air-traffic-control agency. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said it had suspended most of its operations. London Gatwick was also experiencing issues, a spokesperson said. “We are using our backup process, but some passengers may experience delays while checking in and passing through security.”

Brandenburg Airport in Berlin halted operations until 10 a.m. local time, a spokeswoman said, and a notice on the airport’s website said a technical issue delayed check-in for passengers. Flights into five airports in Spain—including Barcelona—and arrivals into Berlin have also been limited, according to Eurocontrol.

At Australia’s busiest airport in Sydney, airline operations and terminal services were affected Friday afternoon local time, an airport spokesperson said. Qantas, the country’s biggest airline, said it was experiencing “some impacts to systems due to a global software issue that is impacting a number of other businesses.” The airline said flights were operating with some delays. A spokesperson for rival Virgin Australia said some cancellations and delays were expected.

Similar travel disruptions were reported in Turkey, Hong Kong, and India, where budget carrier SpiceJet said it had reverted to manual check-in and boarding processes. The London Stock Exchange’s news service was down. Known as RNS, the service publishes market-moving company announcements such as earnings reports and executive changes. A banner on the stock exchange website blamed a “3rd party global technical issue” but said other services operated normally.

Hospitals and Emergency Services Affected

In Britain and Germany, hospitals reported problems. Several practices within the National Health Service in England reported that the outage had hit their clinical computer system, which contains medical records and is used for scheduling. “We have no access to patient clinical records so are unable to book appointments or provide information,” Church Lane Surgery in Brighouse in Northern England said on X. The NHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In northern Germany, the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, which has branches in Kiel and Luebeck, said it had canceled all elective surgery scheduled for Friday, though patient and emergency care were unaffected.

Media Outlets and Financial Institutions Struggle

News outlets in Australia, including ABC and Sky News, were unable to broadcast on their TV and radio channels and reported sudden shutdowns of Windows-based computers. Some news anchors broadcast live online from dark offices in front of computers showing “blue screens of death.” In South Africa, at least one major bank experienced “nationwide service disruptions” as customers reported they were unable to make payments using their bank cards at grocery stores and gas stations. The New Zealand banks ASB and Kiwibank said their services were down.

An X user posted a screenshot of an alert from CrowdStrike stating that the company was aware of “reports of crashes on Windows hosts” related to its Falcon Sensor platform. The alert was posted on a password-protected CrowdStrike site and could not be verified. CrowdStrike did not respond to a request for comment.

Moving Forward

The global outage caused by CrowdStrike’s update has emphasized the need for robust contingency planning and a reevaluation of dependencies on single points of failure within critical infrastructure. While the immediate technical issue has been addressed, the broader implications for cybersecurity, operational resilience, and global coordination remain areas of significant concern for industries and governments worldwide.

The Graviton line of chips was a first for the industry, an Arm-based chip designed for cloud computing. As Amazon points out, Arm chips are some of the most widely used chips on the planet, powering the majority of smartphones and tablets. Despite the performance and power efficiency they offer, adapting them for the cloud computing industry was a more difficult task.

The first version of Graviton was developed by Annapurna Labs, which AWS acquired in 2015. The first generation of Graviton was first deployed by AWS in 2018, and the company has continued to improve it in the years since.

With the release of Graviton4, AWS says the new chips is four times fater than Graviton1 and uses 60% “less energy for the same performance as comparable Amazon EC2 instances.” Several AWS customers, including SAP, Epic Games, and SmugMug have already been benefiting from the new chips.

AWS has been driving the industry embrace of processors designed explicitly for cloud workloads, and has been at the forefront of enabling their broad use in cloud applications as well as working with partners to make them accessible to more and more customers. With Graviton, AWS was, and is, at the forefront of this custom chip evolution. But the revolution in custom silicon for the cloud doesn’t end there. With the latest generation of AWS chips engineered for AI, Trainium and Inferentia, AWS is extending the chip development environment—the combination of hardware and supporting software—and the success that began five years ago with Graviton.

Rifi’s platform, housed in the cloud, empowers data teams to stay ahead of the curve by offering unparalleled visibility into their operations. Sanjay highlights two key features that define Rifi’s offering. Firstly, the platform helps teams manage their budgets effectively, ensuring they don’t exceed allocations for cloud services like Snowflake or BigQuery. This proactive approach to cost management saves money and fosters trust within organizations, as data flows smoothly and reliably.

Secondly, Rifi prioritizes the time of data teams, recognizing that efficiency is crucial for building trust and making informed decisions. Sanjay notes that Rifi has enabled some customers to drastically reduce escalations from data teams to their businesses, a testament to the platform’s ability to streamline operations and increase productivity.

One of Rifi’s standout success stories involves a public company with a $10 billion market cap. Within just three weeks of implementing Rifi’s solution on BigQuery, the company noticed a significant increase in failed jobs, indicating issues with data accessibility. Instead of resorting to the traditional approach of requesting more resources, Rifi’s platform enabled the company to identify the root cause of the problem quickly: certain user and query patterns consuming excessive capacity. By addressing these issues promptly, the company was able to free up nearly a quarter-million dollars worth of capacity, demonstrating the tangible impact of Rifi’s technology on the bottom line.

When asked about Rifi’s approach to innovation, Sanjay emphasizes the company’s commitment to listening to its customers. With clients spanning various industries, including public, healthcare, finance, and startups, Rifi understands the diverse needs and challenges facing data teams today. By staying attuned to customer feedback and continuously iterating on its platform, Rifi ensures that it remains at the forefront of innovation, delivering solutions that meet the dynamic demands of the modern tech landscape.

In conclusion, Rifi’s groundbreaking approach to data observability and rapid issue detection is revolutionizing the way organizations harness and leverage their data. By combining cutting-edge technology with a customer-centric approach, Rifi empowers data teams to navigate the complexities of today’s digital world with confidence and agility.