We hope everyone had a great week!

This week, I attended the Splunk .conf 2023 Conference in Las Vegas.  Melody virtually attended the Enterprise Connect Digital Summit.

Next week, I will be attending Samsung Unpacked event in Korea and Anshel will attend virtually.

Our MI&S team published 15 deliverables:

• 5 Forbes insight columns
• 2 MI&S blogs
• 7 podcasts   
• 1 research papers

We were cited in the press about Broadcom and VMware.  

MIS Quick Insights:

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

• Microsoft unveiled Bing Chat Enterprise this week. It is a conversational platform enhanced with AI and designed for businesses. It has been designed with data safeguards and protects sensitive data. Bing Chat does not store interactions. Microsoft confirmed there is zero retention of chat interactions or model training based on customer information. It provides optimized responses using organizational knowledge and usage. It previewed this week to over 160 million eligible users. Organizations have complete control over usage and extended AI capabilities.

AR/VR (Anshel Sag)

• N/A

Carrier/Wireless (Will Townsend)

• AT&T defended its position this week on the heels of The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) story outlining concerns regarding the existence of lead-clad telecommunications cabling. Initially installed in the late 1800s, this cabling is mostly deployed underground conduit and poses little health risk. My Forbes contribution, also posted this week, delves into further details and provides a counterpoint to a seemingly sensational portrayal of the situation by the WSJ. I fully expect that AT&T and Verizon will address the concerns raised and ensure the safety of its employees and the communities each serves.

Datacenter:

Networking– (Will Townsend)

• EnGenius will launch one of the industry’s first Wi-Fi 7 routers next year for enterprise applications, providing wider channels for improved performance, among other enhancements. Including a third channel operating in the 6GHz band will also require approval in certain parts of the world. Wi-Fi 6E is the first wireless standard to support 6GHz, and its adoption is slow. Most enterprise networking infrastructure providers are taking a cautious approach to Wi-Fi 7, and it will be interesting to see if EnGenius’ aggressive posture will net it any first-mover advantages.

Data Compute (Matt Kimball)

• N/A

Storage (Matt Kimball)

• N/A

ESG (Melody Brue)

• N/A

Financial Tech (Melody Brue)

• N/A

IioT and IoT (Bill Curtis)

• The Biden administration announced the “US Cyber Trust Mark,” a security certification and labeling program for smart consumer devices – refrigerators, microwaves, TVs, climate control systems, fitness trackers, and other products. The Cyber Trust logo signifies compliance with security standards based on a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report. “Acting under its authorities to regulate wireless communication devices, the FCC is expected to seek public comment on rolling out the proposed voluntary cybersecurity labeling program, which is expected to be up and running in 2024.” Like the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), this new program takes a long-range view of security, requiring compliance throughout a product’s lifetime. The FCC intends to enable long-term compliance tracking via QR codes linked to a national registry of certified devices. The FCC is working with the DOJ to establish oversight and enforcement safeguards. This is a wake-up call for consumer electronics manufacturers, industrial IoT providers, and IoT platform suppliers. Welcome to the IoT “platform” era, where embedded application development is more like writing code for PCs and mobile devices and less like a hackathon. OEMs can no longer afford the cost and risk of developing bespoke secure system-level code.

Modern Work (Melody Brue)

• Microsoft announced Bing Chat Enterprise, which aims to leverage AI to enable companies to use their enterprise data effectively while ensuring data security. Bing Chat Enterprise addresses a gap in the market for GAI with commercial data protection. The Enterprise version integrates GAI chatbot capabilities with Bing search web data. The key distinctions are commercial-grade data protection and proprietary enterprise data from the organization using the product. Bing Chat Enterprise is now available to Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium subscribers. A standalone version will be available soon.
• Pricing for Microsoft 365 Copilot was released and will cost $30 per user per month for eligible Microsoft 365 customers. The subscription price seems relatively high, considering it could mean as much as an 83% increase in subscription fees for some enterprise customers. At the same time, it seems incredibly low. If these tools work as I think they eventually will, the cost savings from productivity will so greatly outweigh the cost that Microsoft might wish it priced the Copilot higher.
• ChatGPT Plus now has custom instructions that allow the chatbot to remember user preferences and behavior, retaining this knowledge even when switching between different chat sessions. It’s currently available in beta outside of the U.K. and EU. This could save time for users, as they no longer need to start from scratch with the default ChatGPT interface and repeatedly provide their preferred perspective or how they prefer an output to be generated. Instead, users can type their overarching prompt once, and ChatGPT Plus will remember it for as long as they desire, streamlining future interactions and chat conversations. In a work environment, this could prove helpful when creating job descriptions or multiple documents that need the same general tone or level of detail. What will be interesting to see is if this same feature follows into the enterprise. I imagine it will, and it should. While Microsoft’s announcement of data protection has been very well received, I think if given a choice, many people would want the chatbot they use to remember certain things in a work environment.
• Custom instructions are entered in the settings menu and posed as questions: “What would you like ChatGPT to know about you to provide better responses?” and “How would you like ChatPT to respond?”. The interface offers suggestions for shaping the responses. I’m very interested to see if users find this feature helpful in producing better, more relevant answers.

Personal Computing (Anshel Sag)

• N/A

Quantum Computing (Paul Smith-Goodson)

• Vodafone is proactively testing post-quantum cryptography to defend against potential future threats from quantum computing. The company successfully tested a quantum-safe virtual private network (VPN) using smartphones in partnership with SandboxAQ to demonstrate that quantum-resistant encryption can secure daily digital activities with little impact on service. Vodafone is aware of “Store Now, Decrypt Later” attacks. Criminals can steal data now and decrypt it when more powerful quantum computers are available. Vodaphone is testing new hybrid cryptography against quantum threats. The government and other experts believe it is essential to work on quantum-safe standards now. In May, I wrote an in-depth Forbes article about IBM’s quantum-safe program and cryptography: https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2023/05/10/ibm-quantum-safe-technology-protects-data-from-encryption-busting-attacks-by-next-generation-quantum-computers/
• Q-CTRL, a global quantum technology leader, has partnered with Australia’s Department of Defense to develop quantum sensors for military navigation when GPS is unavailable. Q-CTRL’s quantum sensors use principles of quantum physics to precisely detect motion and changes in Earth’s gravitational field for accurate positioning without GPS, securing against jamming or spoofing. This collaboration is among the first to use quantum technology in military settings. It builds on Q-CTRL’s experience working with partners like Advanced Navigation and the Australian Army since launching its quantum sensing division in 2022. The partnership aims to provide a reliable solution as reliance on vulnerable GPS grows across militaries worldwide. Q-CTRL’s quantum sensors offer precise positioning when adversaries jam GPS, addressing a critical vulnerability for defense operations. You can read more about Q-CTRL sensors in my Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2022/08/24/q-ctrl-launches-new-division-to-create-advanced-software-defined-quantum-sensors/

Security (Will Townsend)

• Fortinet introduced two NGFW products targeting large hyperscalers and mid-sized data centers. The company continues refining its firewall portfolio despite many cybersecurity competitors calling the category dead. The reality is that firewalls remain viable, even with the broad adoption of universal zero-trust network access solutions.

Columns Published 

1. Avaya CEO: “There’s Not A Company In This Space I’d Trade Balance Sheets With”, by Melody Brue
2. The Extraordinary Ubiquity Of Generative AI And How Major Companies Are Using It, by Paul Smith-Goodson
3. Microsoft Puts AI Chat To Work With Bing Chat Enterprise, by Melody Brue
4. Unpacking Lead-Clad U.S. Telecom Cable Concerns, by Will Townsend
5. Strategic Partnership Between IonQ And QuantumBasel Could Transform Switzerland Into A European Quantum Powerhouse, by Paul Smith-Goodson

Blogs Published (MI&S)                                                             

1. IBM Watsonx Empowers Businesses To Build, Tune And Deploy Reliable Generative AI Models, by Paul Smith-Goodson
2. My Fourth Of July In The Florida Keys Demonstrated The Value Of Connectivity, by Will Townsend

Research Paper(s):

• RESEARCH PAPER: Composable Data Infrastructure In The Digitally Transformed Enterprise, by Matt Kimball

Podcasts:

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

• The G2 on 5G Podcast Episode 152

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

1. Top Security Issues Organizations Need to be Paying Attention to in 2023: Six Five On the Road at .conf23
2. Rethinking Digital Resilience: Six Five On the Road at .conf23
3. Splunk Innovations All-Up for 2023: Six Five On the Road at .conf23
4. How Leaders Can Build a Resilient Workforce in the Age of AI — Six Five On the Road at .conf23
5. Lessons from the early Web: How the C-Suite SHOULD think about AI today — Six Five On the Road at .conf 23
6. Ep 175: Talking Broadcom, VMware, China, Microsoft, Activision, Adobe, Amazon, IBM and Google

Moor Insights & Strategy Podcasts

• N/A

 

Citations: 

• Broadcom, VMWare https://www.pymnts.com/cpi_posts/uks-cma-clears-broadcoms-61-billion-buyout-of-vmware/

Company:

• N/A

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

• Alienware X16
• Alienware 720H, 620M and 420K
• Moto Razr+
• RedMagic Keyboard and Mouse

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

• July
  • Samsung Unpacked, July 23 (Anshel Sag, Patrick Moorhead)
• August
  • VMWorld, August, Las Vegas (Matt Kimball)
  • Zoom Perspectives, Silicon Valley, Aug 1-3 (Melody Brue)
  • VMware Explore – Las Vegas, August 21-24 (Will Townsend, Patrick Moorhead)
  • Google Cloud Next, San Francisco, August 29-31 (Pat Moorhead)
• September
  • IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing & Engineering, Bellevue WA, September 17-22 (Paul Smith-Goodson)
  • Salesforce Dreamforce, September 11-13 (Patrick Moorhead)
  • Intel Innovation 2023, September 19-20 (Anshel Sag, Patrick Moorhead)
  • Oracle Cloud World, September 18-20 (Virtual) (Patrick Moorhead, Matt Kimball)
  • AI Summit, Austin Sept 20-21 (Paul Smith-Goodson)
  • Connected Britain – London, September 20-21 (Will Townsend)
  • MWC Las Vegas – September 26-28 (Will Townsend)
• October
  • RingCentral Analyst Event (Melody Brue)
  • 5G Americas, Dalla, October 11-12 (Anshel Sag)
  • OpenText, Las Vegas, October 11 (Patrick Moorhead)
  • Lenovo Industry Analyst Event, October 16-19 (Patrick Moorhead, Matt Kimball)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit, Maui October 24-26 (Patrick Moorhead)
  • Money 20/20, October 23-26 (Melody Brue)
• November
  • Dell Analyst Summit, November 1, Austin (Matt Kimball)
  • Cloudera Evolve, New York, November 2 (Patrick Moorhead)
  • UCX USA, Austin, November 13-14 (Melody Brue)
  • SC 23, November 13-15 (Patrick Moorhead)
  • AWS re:Invent, November 27-30 (Patrick Moorhead)
• December
  • RingCentral Analyst Summit, Napa, Dec 4-6 (Melody Brue)
  • Marvell IA Day, December 5 (Patrick Moorhead)
• January
  • CES 2024, January 7-11^th (Patrick Moorhead)
• February
  • Mobile World Congress, February 24-29th (Patrick Moorhead)

 

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The Team

Analysts, Analysts In-Residence, Contributors

1. Patrick Moorhead, Founder, CEO, Chief Analyst; Broad technology coverage plus deep insights into Cloud & SaaS, Personal Computing Devices, Semiconductors, & Automotive
2. Melody Brue, Principal Analyst, Modern Work and ESG
3. Bill Curtis, Analyst In-Residence, IIoT, and Deep IoT Technology
4. Matt Kimball, Principal Analyst, Datacenter Servers, Storage CI, and HCI
5. Anshel Sag, Principal Analyst; VR, PC Gaming, Mobile Platforms
6. Paul Smith-Goodson, Principal Analyst; Machine Learning, A.I. and Quantum Computing
7. Will Townsend, Principal Analyst; Security, Carrier Services, Networking
8. Jacob Freyman, Junior Analyst

Operations 

1. Dan Pickens, Business Director
2. Paula Moorhead, Marketing Director, Website and Social Media
3. Zane Pickett, Office Manager, AP, AR, travel, writer
4. Christian Babcock, AP & AR
5. Lee LeClercq Williams, Business Associate
6. Nigel Church, Business Associate, Writer, Editor
7. Connor Kenyon, Six Five Sales & Business Development