VIRTUAL SERVER INFRASTRUCTURE
OrionVM | September 07, 2022
OrionVM, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider and cloud computing pioneer, announced today the addition of technology partner Blaize®, the artificial intelligence (AI) computing innovator revolutionizing edge and automotive computing solutions, to create a new AI as a service (AIaaS) offering. This first-of-its-kind partnership will empower organizations across multiple industries to launch their AI solutions more quickly and efficiently, including machine learning across vast data sets. Under the agreement, both companies' global sales teams will sell Blaize's AI applications, enabled and powered by OrionVM's optimized cloud platform.
The Blaize AIaaS solutions can be utilized in three possible scenarios:
Blaize's unique Graph Streaming Processor (GSP®) chips for edge AI and sensor fusion applications cards can now be virtualized on the OrionVM cloud platform.
Dedicated AI environments for clients can be easily created with virtualized GSPs. For example, they can be integrated into video surveillance technology on the edge providing sophisticated and constantly-updated analysis of events.
The latest version of Blaize AI Studio is now available on the OrionVM cloud platform, allowing for the development of AI applications that can quickly be set up to perform workloads without needing to purchase and configure complex hardware environments.
"Before the availability of next-gen cloud solutions like ours, AI was cost-prohibitive owing to steep infrastructure spend and a shortage of qualified programmers. Now, companies do not need to build their clouds, or rely on inflexible and expensive public clouds to build, test, and utilize their artificial intelligence systems. They can now take advantage of data insights through AIaaS without expensive up-front investments. This allows them to harness the power of machine learning at significantly lower costs," said Daniel Pfeiffer, COO and VP Partnerships for OrionVM. "We are excited to see offerings like Blaize's AIaaS provide cloud advantages such as enterprise security and the ability to instantly deploy and scale."
Blaize's AI applications are now available on OrionVM's resilient, secure, high-performing infrastructure, enabling customers to run Blaize AI solutions on the industry's most efficient, flexible cloud platform. Customers will be able to deploy combined offerings to solve industry challenges in several verticals, including:
Security and Video Surveillance
Smart Retail
Smart City and Transportation Services
Life Sciences and Healthcare
"We built our AI solutions with a deep understanding of where AI technology began and where it can go. Our innovative approach has helped companies across various industries because we address their need for products purpose-built for the requirements of edge AI, Our solutions allow customers flexibility by programming AI solutions to fit their specific requirements. Our advanced code-free AI software also uniquely implements "edge-aware" transfer learning and optimizations for higher accuracy post-model compression. The possibilities are almost limitless."
Dinakar Munagala, Blaize Co-founder and CEO
The AI industry has seen significant growth in the last few years, particularly during the pandemic, and this upward trend is expected to continue. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on AI will increase from $50.1 billion in 2020 to more than $110 billion by 2024. Digital healthcare, manufacturing and retail businesses are likely to expand their use of edge computing by 2028, according to the Linux Foundation's State of the Edge report. These sectors have already demonstrated interest in AI technology's ability to improve response times and save bandwidth, while enabling less constrained data analysis.
As businesses of various industries increasingly need to process large sets of data and harness the power of AI, they will seek out efficient and cost effective ways to bring AI technology into the fold. For more information on the OrionVM and Blaize AI offerings, please visit https://www.orionvm.com/BlaizeAI. For more information on Blaize, please visit https://www.blaize.com.
About OrionVM:
OrionVM has developed a proprietary suite of cloud infrastructure "building blocks" that form a new blueprint for the delivery and monetization of cloud-based technology solutions. The core architecture for these building blocks, categorized as Infrastructure as a Service ("IaaS"), has already been used in many industries, with proven traction from leading managed services providers (MSPs), tier 1 telcos and Fortune 500 companies. The OrionVM Cloud Platform supports private, public, hybrid & bare-metal cloud deployments and is built either for internal consumption or resale. OrionVM's purpose-built stack uses InfiniBand and is benchmarked to outperform the incumbent clouds, at a lower price point due to the extreme efficiency and reduced cost of goods sold. Self-service web portals allow clients to quickly launch their own enterprise-grade cloud services with zero capital expenditure.
About Blaize:
Blaize is a leading provider of a proprietary purpose-built, full-stack hardware architecture and low-code/no-code software platform that enables edge AI processing solutions at the network's edge for computing in multiple large and rapidly-growing markets — automotive, mobility, retail, security, industrial automation, medical devices, and many others. Blaize's novel solution solves the technical problem that edge AI processing requires across those verticals — very low latency and high thermal and power efficiency — which previously relied on retrofitting sub-optimized AI solutions designed more for data centers and the cloud. Blaize has previously raised over $180MM from strategic investors such as DENSO, Daimler, Magna, and Samsung, and financial investors such as Franklin Templeton, Temasek, GGV, and others.
Read More
SERVER VIRTUALIZATION
Agio | September 16, 2022
Agio, a leading cybersecurity and managed IT provider for financial services firms, published its inaugural 2022 Hedge Fund Managed IT Trends Report today. The survey, conducted earlier this year, captures the opinions and perceptions of recent, current, and future technology management and information security programs, initiatives, and readiness from 100 hedge fund practitioners across the technology, operations, cybersecurity, and compliance fields.
Survey respondents revealed that, coming out of the pandemic, firms are reevaluating their options with respect to in-sourcing versus outsourcing IT management. Looking ahead to the next two years, 89 percent of firms that currently in-source IT management said they are likely to allocate more spend to outsourced services. The driver behind this shift is a need for heightened security (54%), increased access to public cloud management and support expertise (46%), and more responsive end-user support (44%).
89% of firms that in-source IT management today said they plan to allocate more spend to outsourced services.
Of those firms already outsourcing IT management, 91 percent said they are likely to switch providers. Among the largest hedge funds that currently outsource (funds with +$5 billion AUM), nearly two-thirds (64%) reported they were likely to change service providers in the next 24 months because their current vendor is unable to support a public cloud environment.
In discussing how the managed service provider (MSP) model will change in the coming years, respondents predicted providers will employ artificial intelligence to remove service friction and increase service uptime (47%), as well as to enable support agents to be more responsive when issues do arise (47%). Most firms (51%) also predicted that MSPs will soon be measured and compensated by how well they limit break-fix issues versus how many issues they resolve.
"Viewing IT management and security operations through a single lens is essential to our vision of delivering secure, reliable, and resilient information systems, We also agree with survey respondents that MSPs must evolve now or perish. We've made meaningful investments in AI-driven tools that empower our support agents to deliver better client service and improved system availability. That combination of human brilliance and predictive analytics is the future of managed services."
Bart McDonough, CEO and Founder of Agio
Other topics explored in this year's report include how firms are adjusting to the impact of new regulations; what steps firms are taking to ensure system uptime and information security while supporting a distributed workforce; and how the industry is shifting with respect to managing systems on-prem, in the cloud, and across multiple cloud environments.
About Agio
Agio is a hybrid cybersecurity and managed IT organization equipping the financial services and healthcare industries with next-generation cyber protection and technology support. Agio has extensive experience building, maintaining, optimizing, and securing IT infrastructure for the world's most prestigious client organizations. With more than 300 employees, our culture prioritizes frequent and timely communication to provide unrivaled, highly personalized service across all our solutions, including managed detection and response, 360° cybersecurity programs, virtual CISO (vCISO) support, technology hosting, monitoring, management, global service desk, desktop as a service, disaster prevention, and recovery. Agio is headquartered in New York, NY, with additional offices around the world.
Read More
VPN
Lenovo | October 18, 2022
Lenovo today held its annual global innovation event, Tech World, sharing its vision for the evolution of collaboration across users, spaces, and devices to unlock unlimited possibilities in both real-world applications and the Metaverse. Lenovo unveiled new concepts, solutions, and emerging innovations that will define the way we work, learn, and engage in the digital world. The company also announced its vision for net-zero emissions, honing in on a credible and collaborative blueprint to addressing one of humanity’s greatest challenges.
Lenovo unveiled innovations including the first public showing of rollable proof of concepts for smartphones and laptop PCs. Infusing computing into rollable screens provides productivity, entertainment, and connectivity on a dynamic, adjustable, and larger screen, but on smaller device – addressing customer pain points and improving hybrid working productivity.
Also unveiled was the compelling interactive and physical holographic solution for immersive telepresence communication and teamwork, called Cyber Spaces. As data proliferation continues, Lenovo also showcased how its innovations, empowered by AI with edge computing, are enabling faster data processing at the source of its creation, transforming city streets, precision medicine, and shopping markets.
"Technology is transforming our future workspace and living space into a combination of virtual and physical worlds, enabled by the power of new IT infrastructure which is prevalent, expected and on demand, The power of innovation is not only digitalizing and smartifying all industries but also helping solve humanity's greatest challenges. For that purpose, Lenovo is doubling our investment in R&D to use smarter technology to empower a rapidly changing world.”
Lenovo Chairman and CEO, Yuanqing Yang
At Tech World ‘22, Lenovo unveiled:
Rollable Form Factor Innovations
Lenovo and Motorola unveiled rollable proof of concepts for smartphones and laptop PCs, ushering in a new potential era where this unique form factor enables more content and offers huge possibilities for the future to improve hybrid work and life. Designed to elevate multi-tasking, browsing, and mobile use cases, the new rollable proof of concepts are compact, yet don’t sacrifice screen size – enabling content on screen to be dynamically adjusted to the device as the expandable screen rolls inward into the base of the laptop, and smartphone.
Innovations for Productivity
Lenovo Freestyle app enables universal control and collaboration between a tablet and PC, allowing users to seamlessly pair and transform their tablet into a portable second screen to extend desktop space or a wireless touchscreen for their laptop.
motorola edge smartphones include Ready For Platform, which extends smartphone capabilities to bigger screens and allows for a mobile desktop experience, console-like gaming, content streaming and video chats
Lenovo revealed its Remote Work Enablement solution, which delivers hardware, software, and premium services straight to employees, and allows remote workers to get set up quickly.
Lenovo also presented a future concept called Cyber Spaces, which replicate an immersive face-to-face experience by providing an interactive, physical holographic solution for telepresence communication and teamwork.
Additionally, the event saw new advancements in “virtual personas” or “digital humans,” to address challenges posed by traditional video conferencing, including bandwidth, quality, and privacy.
AI Solutions
Lenovo showcased its Production Decision Engine, which uses AI and big data to address digitalization pain points. Its Supplier 360 identifies, analyzes and mitigates supply chain risks to help plan for ‘what if’ scenarios.
The company also presented its Smart Services solution, which forecasts repair needs and optimizes the network of parts, service engineers and logistics support.
Lenovo demonstrated how its Virtual Classroom solution offers virtual teachers to students, providing personalized tests and recommendations.
The new remote video collaboration solution connects frontline workers with remote experts to perform repair jobs through real time marks.
Vision for Net-Zero by 2050
Lenovo shared its vision for net-zero emissions, and its first step toward that vision with near-term 2030 emissions reduction goals. Lenovo is aligning its emissions reduction goals to the Science Based Targets initiative in both the near and long-term to contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Lenovo highlighted the innovations that will help it realize its vision for net-zero, and the actions the company is taking across products and manufacturing to lower its carbon footprint.
Guest experts clarified the need for credible standards and collaboration between public and private entities in order to make progress toward a smarter, more sustainable future while clarifying the meaning and importance of net-zero commitments.
Edge and AI technologies Enabling Next-gen Data Processing
Lenovo and VMware announced an MOU for joint Edge and Cloud Innovation Labs, with plans underway to develop co-engineered edge, AI and multi-cloud solutions that will help accelerate business transformation across manufacturing and retail environments.
Lenovo showcased its ThinkEdge series of servers – including SE350 and SE450 – to show how the servers perform well under extreme conditions, with top-performance GPUs to support heavy AI .
Lenovo also presented XClarity, a unified, open cloud software management platform that simplifies IT orchestration, deployment, automation, metering, and support from edge to cloud. The company also showcased its Edge Cloud Platform, which enables various applications across vertical industries as well as its Hybrid Cloud Solution, which covers the full lifecycle of building, migrating, using and managing hybrid cloud.
Additionally, TruScale, an all-inclusive, subscription-based model, has expanded to more customers.
Lenovo also unveiled the findings of its global multi-industry research study of 500 chief technology officers (CTOs). The study uncovered CTO’s viewpoints on how traditional IT will continue to evolve into a ‘New IT’ architecture where client devices, edge computing, cloud computing, network and AI all work together to address common pain points and provide solutions that drive further global digitalization across all industries.
Tech World ‘22 coincides with Lenovo’s global Think30 celebration, honoring 30 years of ThinkPad’s and ThinkSystem’s purposeful design and engineering innovation. Building on this legacy, the company unveiled the broadest enterprise portfolio enhancement in its history, designed to accelerate global IT modernization with the new Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions V3, and celebrated over 200 million ThinkPad devices sold. Lenovo continues to redefine device innovations, including with the recent launch of the new ThinkPad X1 Fold, the next generation of the world’s first foldable PC.
Lenovo Chairman and CEO, Yuanqing Yang delivered the Tech World ‘22 keynote speech and shared insight into how Lenovo’s smarter technology is empowering people everywhere to change their world for the better.
In the keynote, Yang was joined by Lenovo business leaders and leading global CEOs, including Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm; Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel; Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture; as well as Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, and Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM. Customers and partners including Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO from Formula 1® and Panos Panay, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer from Microsoft also discussed the role of Lenovo’s smarter technology in empowering intelligent transformation.
Dr Yong Rui, Lenovo’s Chief Technology Officer, discussed how Lenovo will develop Metaverse tech solutions to empower intelligent transformation. He highlighted how Lenovo’s core technology and innovations across devices, servers, software, and solutions will connect the virtual and physical worlds.
During the main keynote session, Luca Rossi, President of Lenovo’s Intelligent Devices Group, presented new future concepts. From consumer innovations that improve life to productivity and collaboration solutions, new form factors like the rollable laptop PC and smartphone proof of concepts, and even emerging AI and Metaverse solutions like the new Lenovo ThinkReality VRX virtual reality solution will empower future generations as they navigate the digital transformation of our evolving world.
Kirk Skaugen, President of Lenovo’s Infrastructure Solutions Group, presented the evolution of computing everywhere. Kirk discussed the need to immediately harness data across all industries to intelligently transform. Lenovo’s smarter infrastructure is enabling this transformation, via servers, storage, and services. Kirk was joined by leaders from VMware and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center as he showcased how Lenovo is leading AI at the edge to help customers harness the power of the global data growth (expected to double by 2025) happening across today’s changing IT landscape.
Ken Wong, Executive Vice President and President of Lenovo’s Solutions & Services Group, discussed how the role of a CIO has expanded as the world digitizes. Ken also highlighted the value of industrial Metaverse solutions, the importance of digital workspace solutions and how optimizing track management for engineers can improve infrastructure such as public transportation, in real time. Claudia Contreras, Executive Director of Lenovo’s Global Sustainability Services also highlights that Lenovo’s services can help customers work toward their own sustainability goals, no matter where they are in their journey.
Laura Quatela, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Lenovo highlighted the ways Lenovo is working toward enhanced sustainability across its product offerings on its journey to net-zero. In addition to sustainable product innovations, Laura shares sustainable improvements Lenovo is making to lead the way in low-emissions manufacturing, as well as Lenovo’s intentions to share and report its progress for a credible, collaborative approach to emissions reduction. These sustainability efforts were bolstered by Yang’s closing announcement of Lenovo’s commitment to a vision for net-zero by 2050.
About Lenovo:
Lenovo is a US$70 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #171 in the Fortune Global 500, employing 75,000 people around the world, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, Lenovo has built on its success as the world’s largest PC company by further expanding into key growth areas including server, storage, mobile, solutions and services. This transformation together with Lenovo’s world-changing innovation is building a more inclusive, trustworthy, and sustainable digital society for everyone, everywhere.
Read More