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Tag: MSFT
Companies mentioned: Adobe (tkr: ADBE), Alteryx (tkr: AYX), Amazon (tkr: AMZN), Automation Anywhere (private), BNY Mellon (tkr: BK), DataRobot (private), Google (tkr: GOOG), Microsoft (tkr: MSFT), Pegasystems (tkr: PEGA), Salesforce (tkr: CRM), SAS (private), SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC), Tableau (tkr: CRM, acquisition closed August 1st 2019), Tibco (private). Word count: 1,111. Two major trends have … Continue reading AI as A Competitive Differentiator for Asset Managers
What if the NFL were to convert to a premium subscription service? From a technical standpoint it would not be terribly difficult to migrate to a streaming service model. The NFL could build the direct-to-consumer platform on top of AWS, Azure or GCP. The NFL’s library isn’t nearly as vast as Disney’s nor Netflix’s. The … Continue reading The NFL as a Streaming ServicePremium
Hear that? Someone is listening. In fact, they all are: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, even Apple (who has positioned itself as a privacy champion). AI - more specifically the neural networks that power voice assistants - are far from fully autonomous. Deep learning models require human assistance at this juncture. Fair. It is when companies do … Continue reading AI’s Dark Side – They’re Listening
Companies mentioned: Accenture (ACN), Alibaba (BABA), AWS (AMZN), Azure (MSFT), Bottomline Technologies (EPAY), Broadridge (BR), DataRobot (Pvt.), GCP (GOOG), IHS Markit (INFO), Oracle (ORCL), Palantir (Pvt.), Qlik (Pvt.), Solera (Pvt.), SS&C (SSNC), Tibco (Pvt.), Verisk (VRSK). Accenture’s CEO of North America, Julie Sweet, will become CEO of Accenture effective September 1st 2019. Ms. Sweet is … Continue reading Accenture Is Preparing to Double-Down on M&A. We Share Our Ideas for Likely Target Areas.Premium
Much was made of Apple's chief designer Jony Ive stepping down last week. Rightfully so. What does it mean when companies aren't led by domain experts? "He’s not just a designer. That’s why he works directly for me. He has more operational power than anyone else at Apple except me. There’s no one who can … Continue reading When Companies Aren’t Led by Experts
Whether evaluating a company as an investment vehicle or as a potential vendor, the processes are similar. Three elements are at the heart of our due diligence process when we evaluate Technology companies as investment vehicles and when we evaluate them as vendors. 1.) Quality of the Management Team. We listed this attribute first as … Continue reading Vendor Due Diligence and Investment Due Diligence Processes Are Similar
To borrow a line from one of America's all-time great CEOs, Dr. John Malone - "Big Bubbles Get Bigger - Little Bubbles Disappear" There is less surface tension as bubbles rise thus they continue to expand. The same is true of technology companies both from an M&A perspective as well as from a competitive standpoint. … Continue reading Big Bubbles Get Bigger
We recently published an article entitled "The Now Economy and Workplace Implications". Sticking with this theme and on the heels of Walmart's latest salvo in the "Walmart vs. Amazon Food Delivery War", we have published a list of food delivery services. We also share our thoughts as to how this game may play out - … Continue reading Convenience as a Service (“CaaS”)
We are sometimes critical of CEO compensation packages, yet we are first to admit that CEOs have an outsized influence on the future prospects of companies large and small. This is particularly true of fast-moving industries such as technology where having the correct CEO in place may mean catching the latest technology wave - cloud, … Continue reading CEOs – The Most Undervalued Investment Variable
Microsoft embodies the cloud and all it encompasses including edge computing, AI and machine learning, mixed reality, autonomous systems and more. Microsoft is a good proxy for what tomorrow's cloud-driven economy may look like. Our view? A tapestry of natural language AI-based applications and autonomous systems, all running on core platforms primarily powered by a … Continue reading Microsoft is the Cloud
