Welcome to today’s channel rundown, containing vital news and analysis on the channel’s comings and goings.
Read all about it below:
Amazon/Google’s phone home
Amazon is considering using its Echo device and Google is mulling using its Home device to make or receive phone calls, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.
The companies each could launch the feature this year, the report said. At this point, their efforts are hamstrung over privacy concerns, telecom regulations and emergency services, according to the WSJ.
DXC Technology’s April launch
DXC Technology will be the name of the new company formed by the proposed tie-up of CSC and the enterprise services business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) when the spin-merger closes, the companies have announced in a regulatory filing.
The full launch of the new brand will take place worldwide with the debut of the new company, which is expected on 3 April. Last May, HPE spun off its enterprise IT services business and merged it with CSC to create a $26 billion, pure play consultancy.
Current CSC chairman, president and CEO Mike Lawrie will fill the same roles at DXC Technology when the deal is completed. DXC Technology intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DXC.
Alphabet’s Access lead
Alphabet has named former Aero Communications CEO Gregory McCray to lead its Access business, including its high-speed Fiber internet service, Bloomberg reports.
In the process, several hundred employees are moving over to Alphabet’s main Google business, according to the report. The role of Access CEO has been vacant since October, when Craig Barratt, the former head of the unit, resigned.
Cisco’s FQ2 climb
Cisco has posted $11.58 billion in revenue for FQ2 2017 ended 28 January, a 2.9 percent decline and its fifth straight quarter of down sales. The figures still beat analysts’ expectations of $11.56 billion in revenue.
The networking giant turned in non-GAAP earnings of $0.57 a share, exceeding the $0.56 per share that Wall Street forecast. Net income for the period fell to $2.35 billion compared to $3.15 billion last year.
Revenue in the vendor’s security business rose 14 percent to $528 million, helping to offset a five percent slide in Cisco’s legacy switching business to $3.31 billion.
Cisco said its revenue could decline as much as two percent in FQ3 from the $12 billion it recorded in the year-earlier period. The vendor is expecting FQ3 per-share earnings between $0.57 and $0.59, in line with analysts’ expectations of $0.58 a share.
Aerohive’s new sales boss
WiFi vendor Aerohive Networks has named Ron Gill, a former Ruckus Wireless sales leader, as its new VP of Americas sales, responsible for leading the company’s channel sales efforts in the region.
While at Ruckus, Gill served as VP of Americas enterprise sales, where he led the vendor’s sales effort in North America for eight years. He exited last November as parent company Brocade was acquired by Broadcom for $5.5 billion.
HPE’s SecureData
HPE has introduced HPE SecureData for Hadoop and Internet of Things (IoT), designed to secure sensitive information that is generated and transmitted across IoT environments, with HPE format-preserving encryption.
The solution features what HPE claims is the industry’s first-to-market Apache NiFi integration, with NIST-standardized and FIPS-compliant format-preserving encryption technology to protect IoT data at rest, in transit and in use.
Huawei’s digital assistant
Huawei has lined up a team of more than 100 engineers to develop its own voice-powered digital assistant, Bloomberg reports.
The initiative is aimed at Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Alphabet’s Google Assistant, the report said, citing a person familiar with the project. Within China, Huawei’s new gadget would communicate in Chinese languages and target domestic users, Bloomberg added. Outside of China, Huawei would continue to work with Google’s and Amazon’s Alexa service.
