Cloud
Kyndryl, Broadcom bet on VMware skills as private cloud demand returns
Last month, Kyndryl and Broadcom announced the expansion of their VMware Cloud Foundation alliance to address enterprises' growing sovereignty and security needs. The two companies will jointly invest in training thousands of consultants to drive automation and AI capabilities in private and hybrid cloud environments.
IT teams chase discounts as they rip and replace their vendors: Telarus
Telarus' 2026-27 Technology Trends Report reveals that 84% of IT buyers are willing to switch vendors at renewal, and 87% of buyers saw renewal costs rise over the past year. Vendors tend to attract new customers with discounts, while renewal costs for existing customers remain high, especially in the SaaS sector. Cases such as Nutanix vying for VMware customers and unified communications vendors maintaining contract values by adding AI SKUs highlight this trend.
Microsoft cloud licensing changes trigger MSP land grab
Microsoft's cloud licensing model adjustment is sparking a battle for the MSP market. Onyx co-founder John Dusett points out that enterprises' migration from three-year enterprise agreements to CSP models has opened up the licensing transaction market previously dominated by LSPs to MSPs. Automation tools have lowered professional barriers, enabling MSPs to compete for customer growth and value-added service opportunities.
Why CX budget planning is broken — and how to fix it for 2027
Forrester reports show that CX budgets are evenly distributed across technology, data, initiatives, and services, but leaders plan to increase technology spending by more than 5%, while personnel and services account for only 36%. Experts warn that this 'spray-and-pray' allocation masks inefficient investments and neglects critical capability building such as governance and cross-functional coordination. The article proposes a budget fix approach that is outcome-oriented, cross-functionally collaborative, and synchronized with strategic planning.
DataStrike doubles down on Snowflake data management services
DataStrike announces the expansion of its Snowflake managed services practice, addressing the lack of dedicated experts after deployment for mid-market clients by offering round-the-clock operations covering architecture support, cost governance, pipeline monitoring, and query performance. The company also extends its services to implementation and AI strategy through collaboration with Snowflake partner Brainforge.
Lemongrass ups its SAP game with AI, forward-deployed engineers
Lemongrass announced on Tuesday the expansion of its SAP practice, adding an AI assessment tool and a frontline deployment engineering team, and introducing a migration methodology called Brightfield, aimed at shortening the time for customers to realize returns from cloud ERP investments. This move comes as SAP plans to end mainstream maintenance for its legacy software, including on-premise ERP Central Component systems, next year, leaving customers who have not migrated to S/4HANA needing third-party support. Lemongrass Chief Commercial Officer Abe Iruegas stated that the 2027 timeline is a catalyst but should not be the core of the business case; the real opportunity lies in building more agile, AI-ready operational platforms.
DXC promotes AI platform builders as Anthropic cohort reaches 86
DXC Technology revealed during Thursday's earnings call that its multi-year alliance with Anthropic has certified 86 engineers, marking the first batch toward its committed goal of "tens of thousands" of Claude-certified engineers. Meanwhile, its agent orchestration platform Oasis has grown from 10 to 57 customer environments since its April launch, with the company targeting 85 by mid-fiscal year. On the leadership front, Paul Taylor was appointed President, and platform builders such as Dan Gray and Holly Grant were promoted to key commercial positions.
Otter.ai launches partner program in enterprise push
Otter.ai announced on Thursday the appointment of Mike Barnes as Head of Partners and Alliances, launching the company's first formal partner program. Barnes' team will first recruit partners and establish early lighthouse collaborations, followed by channel enablement and go-to-market initiatives. Previously, the company appointed Kenny Scannell as Chief Revenue Officer in March, but Scannell departed in July. Otter.ai is transitioning from the individual user market to the enterprise market, with the current usage ratio between individual and enterprise users at approximately 50:50.
The agentic AI scaling gap is a partner opportunity
A survey by global IT services provider Unisys shows that 75% of enterprises view agentic AI as key to managing multi-cloud environments, but only 23% have initiated large-scale adoption. The gap between expectations and execution is transforming into a clear mission for channel partners: helping customers move from pilot to production. The latest Omdia channel analysis also points out that multiple cybersecurity vendors are formalizing consulting roles around AI security and platform adoption, providing partners with reusable service models.
Google raises capital expenditure to $205 billion, citing sustained demand growth
Google announced during its second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that it raised its fiscal year 2026 capital expenditure to $205 billion, a significant increase from the previous estimate of up to $19 billion, and expects continued substantial growth in 2027. CFO Anat Ashkenazi stated that despite significant capacity expansion over the past three years, demand still exceeds investment. The company's cloud revenue grew 82% year-over-year, driven primarily by Google Cloud Platform's enterprise AI products and infrastructure revenue. Additionally, the European Commission fined Google €890 million (approximately $1.01 billion) on Thursday for violating the Digital Markets Act.