Lockheed Martin and Microsoft expand classified cloud work

Lockheed Martin and Microsoft have expanded their strategic relationship to help power the next generation of technology for the Department of Defense (DOD) in four critical areas:

• Classified Cloud Innovations: Microsoft’s latest secure framework will make Lockheed Martin the first non-government entity to independently operate inside the Microsoft Azure Government Secret cloud ushering in a new era of cloud opportunities for industry.
• Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML), Modeling and Simulation Capabilities: Lockheed Martin and Microsoft have entered a two-year collaborative research and development (R&D) program that will advance AI/ML and modeling and simulation capabilities for the DOD.
• 5G.MIL Programs: The R&D agreement also expands the companies’ existing collaboration to deliver advanced networking and secure 5G capabilities at the tactical edge.
• Digital Transformation: Microsoft Azure will power Lockheed Martin’s digital transformation journey, accelerating enterprise-wide productivity gains to deliver innovation at scale, enhance choice and flexibility, and create the next generation of defense technologies.

Yvonne Hodge, senior vice president, Enterprise Business and Digital Transformation, and chief information officer, Lockheed Martin: “Through this historic agreement, Lockheed Martin and Microsoft are blazing a new path in classified cloud, artificial intelligence, and 5G.MIL capabilities for the Department of Defense. We are creating faster, safer, and more affordable 21st Century Security solutions that infuse immersive experiences and other advanced commercial technologies into the most capable defense systems. We are confident this unrivaled combination of capabilities will help keep our customers ahead of new threats and challenges.”

Lockheed Martin is the first defense industrial base member to use Microsoft’s newest National Industrial Security Program (NISP) framework for air-gapped clouds after a year-long pilot. 

https://news.microsoft.com/2022/11/16/lockheed-martin-microsoft-announce-landmark-agreement-on-classified-cloud-advanced-technologies-for-department-of-defense/

Lockheed Martin integrates Ayar Labs' optical I/O chipsets

Wednesday, October 12, 2022  Ayar Labs  

Lockheed Martin is partnering with Ayar Labs in developing multi-chip package (MCP) solutions which place high-density, high-efficiency optical I/O chiplets in the same microelectronics package as the RF processing devices. The collaboration will integrate the Ayar Labs TeraPHY optical I/O chiplets and SuperNova light source in new sensory platforms that could be used across Department of Defense (DoD) applications to capture, digitize, transport,...

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Lockheed Martin and Verizon demo 5G.MIL drones

Monday, October 03, 2022  Lockheed-Martin, Verizon  

Lockheed Martin and Verizon demonstrated 5G-enabled drones for capturing and securely transfering real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data from aircraft in flight. The demonstration, which occurred at Lockheed Martin’s 5G test range in Waterton, Colorado, used mmWave 5G to move data from aircraft in flight over Lockheed Martin’s multi-site, multi-vendor 5G.MIL pilot network.Lockheed Martin flew four rotary wing drones...

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Black Hawk flight data transferred via AT&T 5G

Monday, September 12, 2022  5G, Lockheed-Martin, Military  

In a test conducted last month at Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky headquarters in Stratford, Connecticut, AT&T securely and rapidly transferred UH-60M Black Hawk health and usage data through an AT&T 5G private cellular network and Lockheed Martin's 5G.MIL multi-site pilot network.The AT&T 5G millimeter wave private cellular network wirelessly transferred data to the 5G.MIL network through ground support equipment from the Black Hawk's Integrated...

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Microsoft: Lower margins for Azure primarily due to energy costs

 Microsoft reported Q3 revenue of $50.1 billion up 11% (up 16% in constant currency) compared to last year. Net income was $17.6 billion, a drop of 14% (down 8% in constant currency).

“In a world facing increasing headwinds, digital technology is the ultimate tailwind,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. “In this environment, we’re focused on helping our customers do more with less, while investing in secular growth areas and managing our cost structure in a disciplined way."

 “This quarter Microsoft Cloud revenue was $25.7 billion, up 24% (up 31% in constant currency) year-over-year. We continue to see healthy demand across our commercial businesses including another quarter of solid bookings as we deliver compelling value for customers,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft. 

Highlights

• Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $16.5 billion and increased 9% (up 15% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:
• Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 7% (up 13% in constant currency) driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 11% (up 17% in constant currency)
• Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 7% (up 11% in constant currency) and Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers grew to 61.3 million
• LinkedIn revenue increased 17% (up 21% in constant currency)
• Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased 15% (up 22% in constant currency) driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 24% (up 32% in constant currency)

Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $20.3 billion and increased 20% (up 26% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Server products and cloud services revenue increased 22% (up 28% in constant currency) driven by Azure and other cloud services revenue growth of 35% (up 42% in constant currency)

Revenue in More Personal Computing was $13.3 billion and decreased slightly (up 3% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Windows OEM revenue decreased 15%
• Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 8% (up 15% in constant currency)
• Xbox content and services revenue decreased 3% (up 1% in constant currency)
• Search and news advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 16% (up 21% in constant currency)
• Devices revenue increased 2% (up 8% in constant currency)

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Microsoft previews Azure Orbital Cloud Access via Starlink and SES

Microsoft is previewing a service called Azure Orbital Cloud Access that extends Microsoft Cloud via satellite access and has demonstrated a fully virtualized iDirect modem. Azure Orbital Cloud Access enables low-latency (1-hop) access to the cloud from anywhere on the planet.

Specifically, Azure Orbital Cloud Access delivers prioritized network traffic through SpaceX’s Starlink connectivity and Azure edge devices, providing customers with access to Microsoft cloud services anywhere Starlink operates. 

Microsoft says Azure Orbital Cloud Access will manage the entire solution for customers, charging on a simple monthly subscription basis and a pay-as-you-go satellite communications consumption model.The product also natively integrates with SD-WAN technology from Juniper Networks, which enables customers to prioritize connectivity between fiber, cellular, and satellite communications networks. The Azure Orbital Cloud Access Preview is currently available for Azure Government customers. 

Microsoft Azure Orbital Ground Station is now in general availability.

In addition, SES and Microsoft announced new joint satellite communications virtualization program.

SES is the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) network partner for Microsoft Azure orbital. The partnership involves the co-location of ground stations of O3b mPOWER, SES’s second-generation MEO constellation, with Azure Cloud regions. This will ensure customers one-hop and direct cloud access for secure and reliable delivery of Azure services and applications.  The new program will create the world’s first fully virtualized satellite communications ground network by focusing on software-defined hubs, customer edge terminals, new virtual network functions, edge cloud applications, etc. This virtualization will align cloud and satellite network architectures and enable 5G technology to be used in commercial satellite networks.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-azure-space-products-enable-digital-resiliency-and-empower-the-industry/

SES signs on as MEO satellite partner for Microsoft Azure Orbital

Tuesday, September 22, 2020  Azure, Microsoft, Satellite, SES  

 SES signed a multi-year agreement with Microsoft to be an Azure Orbital partner as well as to accelerate and expand the use of Microsoft Azure across its operations and jointly develop cloud-based video and data connectivity managed services.

Under the arrangement, SES will be co-locating and managing O3b mPOWER gateways with Microsoft Azure locations so its customers are always only “one-hop” away from their Azure cloud services anywhere in the world. More specifically, SES will be the medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite partner for Microsoft Azure Orbital. The two companies also agreed to make joint investments in Azure Orbital ground stations for the MEO and Earth Observation segments that SES will deploy and manage based on its industry expertise, with the first Earth Observation gateway being located at Quincy, Western Australia.

The Microsoft partnership is expected to bring improved network performance for SES customers as they route over Microsoft’s global network and inject value-added, cloud-based managed services such as enhanced security, SD-WAN, and other network functions into the service chain.

Verizon debuts mobile edge cloud with Microsoft Azure

Tuesday, August 31, 2021  Azure, Microsoft, Verizon  

Verizon is now offering an on-premises, private edge compute solution in collaboration with Microsoft Azure.Verizon 5G Edge with Microsoft Azure Stack Edge is a cloud computing platform that brings compute and storage services to the edge of the network at the customer premises providing enterprises with increased efficiencies, higher levels of security, and the low lag and high bandwidth needed for applications involving computer vision, augmented...

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Telstra and Microsoft enter strategic partnership

Telstra and Microsoft announced a five-year agreement that significantly expands their existing strategic partnership.  

The arrangement is believed to be one of the largest partnerships Microsoft has established with a telecommunications provider globally. 

Telstra to become Microsoft’s largest supplier of its network capacity requirements on terrestrial fibre in Australia. Microsoft will become an anchor tenant on Telstra’s new ultra-fast intercity fibre network.

Some other key aims:

• Boost Microsoft’s connectivity and growth in Australia, with Microsoft becoming an anchor tenant on Telstra’s new ultra-fast intercity fibre network.
• Drive Telstra’s ambition to have about 90 per cent of its applications on public cloud infrastructure by 2025, which includes Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud partner as part of Telstra’s multi-cloud approach.
• See Telstra launch a dedicated end-to-end Microsoft practice to unlock maximum value for the organisations’ joint customers across their digital transformation journey by combining Microsoft’s cloud, edge and modern work solutions with Telstra’s network leadership and technology experts.
• Increase collaboration between Telstra and Microsoft to support hybrid ways of working and develop environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
• Boosting connectivity and harnessing cloud capabilities

Microsoft will also explore boosting its capacity on Telstra’s leading Asia-Pacific subsea cable network. 

The organisations will also continue to co-develop products that reimagine familiar experiences and merge the network and the cloud to create new offers. For example, Telstra and Microsoft recently co-developed Branch Offload, Australia’s first 5G-enabled edge computing solution for enterprises. The solution blends Telstra’s 5G and fixed connectivity with Microsoft Azure Stack Edge for edge computing, secure edge, SD-WAN and service orchestration, and is delivered by Telstra Purple.

Telstra CEO Andrew Penn comments:  “Our strategic partnership with Microsoft is on a scale not seen before in Australia, and it will be Australian businesses who will benefit at a time when the urgency to digitise and transform their operations has never been greater.” 

“Digital technology is foundational to the resilience and differentiation of every organisation,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Our partnership brings together Telstra’s leadership in network connectivity with the breadth and depth of the Microsoft Cloud to address key challenges, including hybrid work and sustainability, and support Australia’s growth.”

https://www.telstra.com.au/aboutus/media/media-releases/telstra-and-microsoft-sign-five-year-agreement

Verizon debuts mobile edge cloud with Microsoft Azure

Tuesday, August 31, 2021  Azure, Microsoft, Verizon  

Verizon is now offering an on-premises, private edge compute solution in collaboration with Microsoft Azure.Verizon 5G Edge with Microsoft Azure Stack Edge is a cloud computing platform that brings compute and storage services to the edge of the network at the customer premises providing enterprises with increased efficiencies, higher levels of security, and the low lag and high bandwidth needed for applications involving computer vision, augmented...

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Lumen enters edge partnership with Microsoft Azure

Thursday, July 08, 2021  Lumen  

 Lumen Technologies announced a strategic relationship with Microsoft Azure focused on the next generation of enterprise application delivery at the network edge. The companies cited several go-to-market efforts to support mutual customers worldwide:A certified Azure deployment which will be able to run in Lumen Edge Computing nodes worldwide, unlocking more low latency and high bandwidth use cases for customers of Azure service platform.Communication...

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AT&T to power its network with Microsoft Azure for Operators

Wednesday, June 30, 2021  AT&T, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Telco Cloud  

AT&T will power its mobile network on Microsoft's Azure for Operators cloud starting with the 5G and migrating existing and future workloads over time. Microsoft will assume responsibility for both software development and deployment of AT&T’s Network Cloud immediately and bring AT&T’s existing network cloud to Azure over the next three years. Financial terms were not disclosed.Under an expanded strategic alliance between the firms, AT&T...

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Microsoft misses some expectations but Azure revenue up 40%

Citing evolving macroeconomic conditions and other unforeseen items, Microsoft reported revenue and earnings below its previously-provided financial guidance.

Revenue was $51.9 billion, an increase of 12% (up 16% in constant currency). Operating income was $20.5 billion and increased 8% (up 14% in constant currency). Net income was $16.7 billion and increased 2% (up 7% in constant currency). Diluted earnings per share was $2.23 and increased 3% (up 8% in constant currency)

“We see real opportunity to help every customer in every industry use digital technology to overcome today’s challenges and emerge stronger,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. “No company is better positioned than Microsoft to help organizations deliver on their digital imperative – so they can do more with less.”

 “In a dynamic environment we saw strong demand, took share, and increased customer commitment to our cloud platform. Commercial bookings grew 25% and Microsoft Cloud revenue was $25 billion, up 28% year over year,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft. “As we begin a new fiscal year, we remain committed to balancing operational discipline with continued investments in key strategic areas to drive future growth.”

Unfavorable items included:

Unfavorable foreign exchange rate movement within the quarter negatively impacted revenue and diluted earnings per share $(595) million and $(0.04), respectively. 

Extended production shutdowns in China that continued through May and a deteriorating PC market in June contributed to a negative impact on Windows OEM revenue of over $(300) million

Reductions in advertising spend contributed to a negative impact on LinkedIn as well as Search and news advertising revenue of over $(100) million

Employee severance costs.

Some business highlights for the quarter:

Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $16.6 billion and increased 13% (up 17% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 9% (up 13% in constant currency) driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 15% (up 19% in constant currency)
• Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 9% (up 12% in constant currency) and Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers grew to 59.7 million
• LinkedIn revenue increased 26% (up 29% in constant currency)
• Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased 19% (up 24% in constant currency) driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 31% (up 36% in constant currency)

Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $20.9 billion and increased 20% (up 25% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Server products and cloud services revenue increased 22% (up 26% in constant currency) driven by Azure and other cloud services revenue growth of 40% (up 46% in constant currency)

Revenue in More Personal Computing was $14.4 billion and increased 2% (up 5% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Windows OEM revenue decreased 2%
• Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 6% (up 12% in constant currency)
• Xbox content and services revenue decreased 6% (down 4% in constant currency)
• Search and news advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 18% (up 21% in constant currency)
• Surface revenue increased 10% (up 15% in constant currency)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/earnings/fy-2022-q4/press-release-webcast

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Microsoft's data center UPS batteries to provide backup for Irish grid

Microsoft believes the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) batteries used in its hyperscale data centers could provide backup power to the public electrical grid. 

The UPS in Microsoft’s Dublin data center in Ireland will be the first to enable real-time interaction with the electric power grid. This will help grid operators provide uninterrupted service when demand exceeds the supply generated elsewhere on the grid by wind, solar and other sources.

"We have this battery asset in the datacenter that is just sitting there,” said Christian Belady, distinguished engineer and vice president of Microsoft’s datacenter advanced development group. "Why don’t we offer it to the grid and come up with a dynamic way of managing it as a dual-purpose asset and thus drive more efficiency and asset utilization? That’s what drove this win-win situation."

https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/ireland-wind-farm-datacenter-ups/

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Can SONiC become the Linux of Network Operating Systems?

In this video, David Maltz, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Azure Networking, details the features and benefits of SONiC, an open source network operating system based on Linux that runs on switches from multiple vendors and ASICs.

First, what is SONiC and where is it deployed?

What are the use cases for telcos, mobile operators, edge-cloud providers and enterprises?

Can SoNIC benefit from the new generation of DPU-powered SmartNICs?

What's next for SONiC?  Will it become the Linux of Network Operating Systems?

Download the 2022 SmartNICs and Infrastructure Acceleration Report: https://ngi.how/ia-2022

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Nokia to supply data center switching for Microsoft Azure

Nokia will provide its data center switching solutions for Microsoft Azure. The deal expands the long-standing relationship between the companies, including collaboration as part of the open source SONiC initiative to develop chassis-based platforms focused on the requirements of high-capacity data centers.. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Nokia confirmed that it will supply its 7250 IXR chassis-based interconnect routers to support high-density 400GE applications in Microsoft’s tier-2 network architecture. Nokia will also be supplying fixed-form-factor platforms into other Microsoft network applications. This new agreement builds upon the companies’ 

The Nokia 7250 IXR offers a broad range of high-performance chassis-based and fixed-form-factor options for data center top of rack (TOR), leaf, spine and super-spine applications. The platforms support port speeds up to 400GE, with a path to 800GE, along with comprehensive IP and Ethernet feature sets.

Vach Kompella, Vice President, IP Networks Division, Nokia, said: “Today’s data centers have their own unique operational challenges, and Nokia has been working closely for some time now with Microsoft to understand its evolving data center needs and requirements. Our expertise in building high-performance, chassis-based systems was a key factor in our selection.”

David Maltz, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Azure Networking, said: “Nokia’s platforms were a natural choice to deliver the massive-scale interconnectivity that Microsoft requires. Nokia brings density, performance and flexibility to Microsoft’s data center networks and cloud environments and is partnering with Microsoft to deliver chassis switches running the open source networking operating system SONiC.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2022/04/20/nokia-to-supply-data-center-switching-portfolio-for-microsofts-data-center-networks/

What's hot at OFC22? Nokia on IPoDWDM

Monday, March 14, 2022  #OFC22, Nokia  

The arrival of 400ZR and 400ZR+ optics will enable new network architectures, says Heidi Adams, Head of IP/Optical Marketing, Nokia, and the idea of IP-over-DWDM has popped up on the radar again.  

The hyperscalers, in particular, see a pathway for using these new optics to drive greater efficiencies in their networks.

At OFC, Nokia introduced a Coherent Routing solution for service providers that is enabled by 400ZR, 400ZR+, and, in the future, 800GZR.  Here is an overview.

https://youtu.be/HaMiV46o1v8

Italy's TOP-IX Internet Exchange deploys Nokia 400GE IP

Thursday, December 02, 2021  Intenet Exchange, Italy, Nokia, Routing  

Italian Internet Exchange provider TOP-IX will deploy the Nokia 7250 Interconnect Router (IXR)-X1 platforms with 400GE network interfaces to expand and upgrade its network to offer high speed IP routing for interconnection, peering and access to cloud services. The routers will be deployed in TOP-IX locations to increase the geographical scale, reach and capacity of its services.Nokia 7250 IXR platforms running the Service Router Operating System...

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Nokia's Fabric Service Platform was co-developed with Apple

Thursday, July 09, 2020  Data Centers, Nokia  

Nokia introduced a new Network Operating System (NOS) and a declarative, intent-based automation and operations toolkit that were co-developed with leading global webscale companies, including Apple, who is deploying the technology at its data centers. Nokia SR Linux is a microservices-based NOS. It inherits Nokia’s time-proven Internet protocols from the service router operating system (SROS) currently in use by the huge installed base of Nokia...

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Intel and Microsoft contribute Scalable I/O Virtualization spec to OCP

 Intel and Microsoft have contributed a Scalable I/O Virtualization (SIOV) specification to the Open Compute Project (OCP), enabling virtualization of PCI Express and Compute Express Link devices in cloud servers. 

SIOV is hardware-assisted I/O virtualization with the potential to support thousands of virtualized workloads per server. SIOV moves the non-performance-critical virtualization and management logic off the PCIe device and into the virtualization stack. It also uses a new scalable identifier on the device, called the PCIe Process Address Space ID, to address the workloads’ memory.

SIOV technology is supported in the upcoming Intel Xeon® Scalable processor, code-named Sapphire Rapids, as well as Intel Ethernet 800-series network controllers and future PCIe and Compute Express Link (CXL) devices and accelerators. Linux kernel upstreaming is underway with anticipated integration later in 2022.

“Microsoft has long collaborated with silicon partners on standards as system architecture and ecosystems evolve. The Scalable I/O Virtualization specification represents the latest of our hardware open standards contributions together with Intel, such as PCI Express, Compute Express Link and UEFI,” said Zaid Kahn, GM for Cloud and AI Advanced Architectures at Microsoft. “Through this collaboration with Intel and OCP, we hope to promote wide adoption of SIOV among silicon vendors, device vendors, and IP providers, and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate more broadly across the ecosystem to evolve this standard as cloud infrastructure requirements grow and change.”

The first I/O virtualization specification, Single-Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV), was released more than a decade ago and conceived for the virtualized environments of that era, generally fewer than 20 virtualized workloads per server.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/opinion/new-specification-hyperscale-virtualization.html

https://www.opencompute.org/

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Microsoft to build data center in Hyderabad

Microsoft plans to locate its latest datacenter region in Hyderabad, Telangana - its fourth in India.

Microsoft already operates data center across Pune, Mumbai, and Chennai. The Hyderabad data center will offer the entire Microsoft portfolio across the cloud, data solutions, artificial intelligence (AI), productivity tools, and customer relationship management (CRM) with advanced data security, for enterprises, start-ups, developers, education, and government institutions.

Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India said, “Cloud services are poised to play a critical role in reimagining the future of business and governance and enabling overall inclusion in the country. The new datacenter will augment Microsoft’s cloud capabilities and capacity to support those working across the country. It will also support new entrepreneurial opportunities while meeting critical security and compliance needs. The new datacenter region is a testament to our mission to empower the people and organizations of India to achieve more. We are pleased to be collaborating with the Government of Telangana on this major milestone and we deeply appreciate their support.”

https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-india-hyderabad-data-center-region-intent/

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Microsoft selected to build a sovereign cloud for Singapore

Singapore's Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) has selected Microsoft to develop a sovereign cloud to accelerate digital transformation and innovation across the government's Home Team departments.

The sovereign cloud will be built on Microsoft Azure for on-demand, high performance cloud computing and data storage resources. High system resiliency and availability will ensure that Home Team’s operations continue 24×7 with minimal interruption. Coupled with high-speed network connectivity and advanced analytics, the sovereign cloud capability will provide Home Team officers on the ground with real time data to enable swifter incident response and decision-making.

As part of the agreement, Microsoft will provide additional training and educational opportunities, including 600 training seats along with exam certificates that will be made available annually to HTX. This training will advance the technical skills of cloud technology professionals in Singapore.

“This strategic partnership with Microsoft to develop a Sovereign Cloud here in Singapore will enable us to push the boundaries of innovation and be in the forefront of technology,” said Mr. Chan Tsan, CEO of HTX, who is concurrently the Deputy Secretary (Development) of Ministry of Home Affairs. “This way, we will be well-poised to exponentially enhance the capabilities of the Home Team and to keep Singapore as the safest place on the planet.”

“We’re delivering a trusted sovereign cloud that adheres to and meets the needs of the Singapore government – one that will expedite their digital transformation efforts,” said Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Microsoft. “Our agreement will enable key technological advancements and provide access to data and insights to help drive change across various communities.”

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Microsoft reports 46% increase in Azure revenue

Citing strong growth in cloud services, Microsoft reported revenue of $51.7 billion for its second quarter ended 31-December-2021, an increase of 20% yoy. Net income was $18.8 billion and increased 21%, Diluted earnings per share was $2.48 and increased 22%.

“Solid commercial execution, represented by strong bookings growth driven by long-term Azure commitments, increased Microsoft Cloud revenue to $22.1 billion, up 32% year over year” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft.

Some highlights:

Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $15.9 billion and increased 19%, with the following business highlights:

• Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 14% driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 19%
• Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 15% and Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers grew to 56.4 million
• LinkedIn revenue increased 37% (up 36% in constant currency)
• Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased 29% driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 45% (up 44% in constant currency)

Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $18.3 billion and increased 26%, with the following business highlights:

• Server products and cloud services revenue increased 29% driven by Azure and other cloud services revenue growth of 46%

Revenue in More Personal Computing was $17.5 billion and increased 15%, with the following business highlights:

• Windows OEM revenue increased 25%
• Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 13% (up 14% in constant currency)
• Xbox content and services revenue increased 10%
• Search and news advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 32%
• Surface revenue increased 8%

https://news.microsoft.com/2022/01/25/microsoft-cloud-strength-fuels-second-quarter-results-4/

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AT&T and Microsoft launch 5G Azure Edge Zones in Atlanta

AT&T and Microsoft are launching the “Private Preview” of Azure Edge Zone in Atlanta.

The companies are pitching the power of AT&T Network Edge (ANE) capabilities combined with the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

The Azure Edge Zones collaboration enables customers to creaste services such as lightweight and rich virtual reality interfaces for everyone from gamers to first responders. Or hyper-precise location tools that will supercharge industrial and warehouse environments. 

Most recently, the two companies announced an industry-first collaboration to adopt Microsoft cloud technology for AT&T’s 5G core network workloads. 

AT&T to power its network with Microsoft Azure for Operators

Wednesday, June 30, 2021  AT&T, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Telco Cloud  

AT&T will power its mobile network on Microsoft's Azure for Operators cloud starting with the 5G and migrating existing and future workloads over time. Microsoft will assume responsibility for both software development and deployment of AT&T’s Network Cloud immediately and bring AT&T’s existing network cloud to Azure over the next three years. Financial terms were not disclosed.Under an expanded strategic alliance between the firms, AT&T...

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Verizon debuts mobile edge cloud with Microsoft Azure

Verizon is now offering an on-premises, private edge compute solution in collaboration with Microsoft Azure.

Verizon 5G Edge with Microsoft Azure Stack Edge is a cloud computing platform that brings compute and storage services to the edge of the network at the customer premises providing enterprises with increased efficiencies, higher levels of security, and the low lag and high bandwidth needed for applications involving computer vision, augmented and virtual reality, and machine learning. 

“Our partnership with Microsoft brings 5G Edge to enterprises, dropping latency at the edge, helping critical, performance-impacting applications respond more quickly and efficiently,” said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, Chief Revenue Officer of Verizon Business. “5G is ushering in next-generation business applications, from core connectivity to real-time edge compute and new applications and solutions that take advantage of AI transforming nearly every industry.”

“Business innovation demands powerful technology solutions and central to this is the intersection between the network and edge” said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president Azure for Operators at Microsoft. “Through our partnership with Verizon, we are providing customers with powerful compute and storage service capabilities at the edge of customers’ networks, enabling robust application experiences with increased security.” 

https://www.verizon.com/business/solutions/5g/edge-computing/

Verizon Business teams with AWS on mobile edge computing

Monday, April 05, 2021  AWS, Edge Computing, MEC, Verizon  

Verizon Business and Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be expanding their 5G collaboration to deliver private mobile edge computing (MEC) to enterprise customers in the U.S. 

The solution will fully integrate Verizon’s Private 5G networks and Private Edge platform with AWS Outposts, a fully managed service that offers the same AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, and tools to virtually any datacenter, co-location space, or on-premises facility for a truly consistent hybrid experience.  The platform supports unified connectivity, compute and storage, without having the need for the customer to own extensive networking and IT infrastructure. The new, fully managed private MEC solution will support a wide range of industrial manufacturing applications, such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), predictive maintenance, quality assurance, and near real-time monitoring and hazard alerts. Verizon’s Private 5G Edge platform will give customers a reliable, secure, high bandwidth, low latency connection to AWS services, APIs, and tools running on AWS Outposts. Additionally, two smaller AWS Outposts — 1U and 2U form factors — will give customers options to deploy AWS on-premises in space-constrained locations.

The companies said their solution will enable real-time enterprise applications like intelligent logistics, predictive maintenance, robotics, factory automation, etc. Corning will be the first company to leverage this private MEC solution.

“Verizon’s 5G is the platform for 21st century innovation and customers are looking to rapidly innovate, improve performance, and create new revenue streams,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “Developers are already creating new latency-dependent solutions that run on the Verizon/AWS public MEC service launched last year. Our private MEC offering will unlock that same potential for enterprise customers who need to maintain a secure, closed environment in factories, warehouses and other facilities.”

Verizon brings 5G Edge to Microsoft Azure

Monday, October 19, 2020  Edge, Microsoft, Verizon  

Verizon is integrating its on-site 5G Edge network with Microsoft's Azure edge services to enable ultra-low latency services for enterprises.The companies said their collaboration brings a mobile edge computing platform designed to enable developers to build applications for mobile end-users and wireless edge devices with ultra-low latency.“We have built a network that provides real-world, 5G-enabled solutions TODAY,” said Rima Qureshi, EVP and Chief...

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AWS Wavelength Zones open in Boston & San Francisco

Thursday, August 06, 2020  5G, AWS, Edge, MEC, Verizon  

Amazon announced that the first two AWS Wavelength Zones are now open, one in Boston and the other in San Francisco. The new zones will allow developers who want to build apps to service Verizon Wireless customers in those metropolitan areas. AWS Wavelength Zones, which were first announced at AWS re:Invent 2019,  allow 5G operators to embed AWS hardware and software in their datacenters. The goal is to allow developers to build and deliver...

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