IBM aims to capture growing market opportunity for data observability with Databand.ai acquisition

Armonk, NY, 6 July 2022 – IBM has announced it has acquired Databand.ai, a provider of data observability software that helps organisations fix issues with their data, including errors, pipeline failures and poor quality before it impacts their bottom-line. Today’s news further strengthens IBM’s software portfolio across data, AI and automation to address the full spectrum of observability and helps businesses ensure that trustworthy data is being put into the right hands of the right users at the right time.

Databand.ai is IBM’s fifth acquisition in 2022 as the company continues to bolster its hybrid cloud and AI skills and capabilities. IBM has acquired more than 25 companies since Arvind Krishna became CEO in April 2020.

As the volume of data continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, organisations are struggling to manage the health and quality of their data sets, which is necessary to make better business decisions and gain a competitive advantage. A rapidly growing market opportunity, data observability is quickly emerging as a key solution for helping data teams and engineers better understand the health of data in their system and automatically identify, troubleshoot and resolve issues, like anomalies, breaking data changes or pipeline failures, in near real-time. According to Gartner, every year poor data quality costs organisations an average $12.9 million (€12.72 million). To help mitigate this challenge, the data observability market is poised for strong growth.

Data observability takes traditional data operations to the next level by using historical trends to compute statistics about data workloads and data pipelines directly at the source, determining if they are working, and pinpointing where any problems may exist. When combined with a full stack observability strategy, it can help IT teams quickly surface and resolve issues from infrastructure and applications to data and machine learning systems.

Databand.ai’s open and extendable approach allows data engineering teams to easily integrate and gain observability into their data infrastructure. This acquisition will unlock more resources for Databand.ai to expand its observability capabilities for broader integrations across more of the open source and commercial solutions that power the modern data stack. Enterprises will also have full flexibility in how to run Databand.ai, whether as-a-Service (SaaS) or a self-hosted software subscription.

The acquisition of Databand.ai builds on IBM’s research and development investments as well as strategic acquisitions in AI and automation. By using Databand.ai with IBM Observability by Instana APM and IBM Watson Studio, IBM is well-positioned to address the full spectrum of observability across IT operations.

For example, Databand.ai capabilities can alert data teams and engineers when the data they are using to fuel an analytics system is incomplete or missing. In common cases where data originates from an enterprise application, Instana can then help users quickly explain exactly where the missing data originated from and why an application service is failing. Together, Databand.ai and IBM Instana provide a more complete and explainable view of the entire application infrastructure and data platform system, which can help organisations prevent lost revenue and reputation.

“Our clients are data-driven enterprises who rely on high-quality, trustworthy data to power their mission-critical processes. When they don’t have access to the data they need in any given moment, their business can grind to a halt,” says Daniel Hernandez, general manager for Data and AI, IBM. “With the addition of Databand.ai, IBM offers the most comprehensive set of observability capabilities for IT across applications, data and machine learning, and is continuing to provide our clients and partners with the technology they need to deliver trustworthy data and AI at scale.”

Data observability solutions are also a key part of an organisation’s broader data strategy and architecture. The acquisition of Databand.ai further extends IBM’s existing data fabric solution by helping ensure that the most accurate and trustworthy data is being put into the right hands at the right time no matter where it resides.

“You can’t protect what you can’t see, and when the data platform is ineffective, everyone is impacted including customers,” says Josh Benamram, co-founder and CEO, Databand.ai. “That’s why global brands such as FanDuel, Agoda and Trax Retail already rely on Databand.ai to remove bad data surprises by detecting and resolving them before they create costly business impacts. Joining IBM will help us scale our software and significantly accelerate our ability to meet the evolving needs of enterprise clients.”

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Databand.ai employees will join IBM Data and AI, further building on IBM’s growing portfolio of Data and AI products, including its IBM Watson capabilities and IBM Cloud Pak for Data. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition closed on June 27, 2022.

To learn more about Databand.ai and how this acquisition enhances IBM’s data fabric solution and builds on its full stack of observability software, you can read our blog about the news or visit here.

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Node4 acquires risual to strengthen Microsoft cloud capabilities and UK Public Sector footprint aligning

Derby, England. 6 July 2022 – Cloud-led digital transformation managed services provider (MSP) Node4, has announced the acquisition of risual, an IT managed services and solutions provider and Microsoft Azure Expert MSP employing 170 staff in the UK. As a Microsoft Expert for 17 years, risual has deep solution and service knowledge across Microsoft platforms and a specialist in transforming clients in cloud, business and digital. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Backed by Providence Equity Partners, to build on its strong organic growth, Node4 targets strategic acquisitions that will enhance its ability to provide market-leading end-to-end services and help UK businesses move to secure, cloud-based platforms that will really make a difference to their people and clients. Node4’s acquisition of risual plays on the strengths of two organisations formed, built and led by genuine technology entrepreneurs. This adds significant skills, experience, and revenue to its managed services business, with a focus on all three Microsoft cloud platforms and public and private sector clients.

Adding risual to Node4’s acquisition of TNP in July 2021 brings together knowledge, capability and capacity offering a comprehensive Microsoft portfolio of services. The Group plans to create a Microsoft Centre of Excellence. With 170 highly skilled staff and levels of employee engagement, risual brings an array of complementary skills and deep knowledge across Microsoft platforms to Node4, which itself is also an Azure Expert MSP. The acquisition further enhances the group’s credibility and expertise in delivering Microsoft solutions to the enterprise mid-tier and public sector.

risual’s accreditation for many major public sector digital and IT service frameworks, including the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), as well as its extensive consulting expertise, will play a significant role in bringing the benefits of Node4’s wider portfolio of solutions to public sector organisations. A combined portfolio built on Microsoft to help clients create value-based strategies to move and re-imagine applications and services to the public cloud at a pace considering, economics, regulation, and security.

risual’s co-founders, Alun Rogers and Rich Proud will remain in their leadership roles alongside their management team post-acquisition, with Node4 committed to all risual employees investing in growth in the years ahead. Under their leadership, risual’s highly skilled experts will play a critical role spearheading Microsoft cloud and public sector, as Node4 establishes itself as the most capable customer-focused MSP in the UK. The portfolio, capability, and capacity are truly exciting, working with clients to define, deliver, protect, and manage within a single UK based group.

Node4 will also support the continued growth of risual Education, which since 2015, provides end-user training to help organisations across the UK adopt technology, as well as supporting students with qualifications through an apprenticeship program.

“As Node4 evolves as a business delivering more cloud-led transformation services, risual represents a perfect fit given its track record, consultancy skills and managed services in the public cloud,” comments Andrew Gilbert, CEO of Node4. “With complementary Microsoft skill sets, Node4 and risual are ideally suited to deliver the change that matters for clients and the transformation outcomes they need.”

Alun Rogers, co-founder at risual, says, “Joining the Node4 team is an extremely exciting step for risual, and their excellent reputation was a decisive factor in our decision to take risual into the group. Node4’s exceptional service as standard, as well as their culture and commitment to providing strategic input and honest direction, is in perfect harmony with risual’s core values of honesty, openness, and trust.”

“The combined group is ready to lead our clients with insights to solve their most challenging needs considering secure and environmentally sustainable operations. With an integrated team of highly skilled, trustworthy, and experienced people, the group aims to guide and support clients with capacity and scale to meet any demand.” adds Rich Proud, co-founder at risual. “Our amazing team are looking forward to maximising group opportunities and play important roles in the ongoing Node4 success story.” Proud concluds.

Node4’s principal investor is Providence Equity Partners. Node4 was advised by PwC (financial) and Pinsent Masons (legal). The completion of the acquisition is subject to National Security and Investment (NSI) act approval.

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Infineon and Delta Electronics further strengthen their collaboration in WBG-based server and gaming PC power solutions

Munich, Germany. 7 July, 2022 – Global megatrends, such as digitalisation, and decarbonisation, call for wide bandgap (WBG) devices (SiC/GaN). Due to their technological characteristics, they enable the highest performance and energy efficiency at the same time. Being committed to both of these domains, two players in the electronics industry, Infineon Technologies AG and Delta Electronics, Inc., deepen their collaboration to deliver superior solutions for the convenience of end-customers.

The latest and most prominent examples of this cooperation include Delta’s 1.4 kW server power supply and a 1.6 kW Titanium gaming power platform. The 1.4 kW server power supply leverages Infineon’s CoolSiC MOSFET technology and Delta’s multi-decade core competence in power electronics to achieve beyond 96% efficiency. Another case for highest efficiency is the 1.6 kW gaming power platform powered by Infineon’s CoolGaN technology complemented with EiceDRIVER gate driver ICs. The efficiency of this design reaches up to 96% at wide-range input and multi-output and meets the Titanium standard in the industrial domain. This is enabled by Infineon’s CoolGaN GIT (gate-injected transistor) 600 V e-mode HEMT, adapted in an interleaving totem-pole PFC topology.

Both design examples demonstrate how Infineon’s broadest and performance-driven portfolio of highly-reliable WBG devices, together with Delta’s system innovation potential, can enable new efficiency levels to meet and exceed modern application requirements. By deepening their collaboration, both companies aim toward a leading position in WBG-based platforms through cost-effective, robust solutions backed up by the highest supply stability.

“Given our commitment to investing over 8% of our annual revenues in R&D-based innovation, Delta’s power supply solutions for servers and gaming PCs provide the high-quality and high-efficiency components needed to build customised, reliable, and energy-efficient infrastructure which satisfies our customers’ expectations,” says Jimmy Yiin, VP & general manager of Delta’s Power and System Business Group. “Being successful in such an extremely competitive environment requires collaborating with highly trustworthy, top-tier component suppliers with extensive system understanding and offering fully-customised solutions for application-specific requirements. Infineon’s inclusive portfolio of WBG products made it possible to achieve energy efficiency for many of our customer’s applications.”

Johannes Schoiswohl

“Our manufacturing scale and technology excellence, combined with a focus on quality and reliability at each step of the value chain, are the key to success factors for our wide bandgap semiconductor business and are well recognised by our customers,” says Johannes Schoiswohl, business line head, efficient power supplies, isolation & connectivity of Infineon’s Power & Sensor Systems Division. “By applying rigorous qualification and reliability test procedures to our devices, above and beyond standard JEDEC qualification, we can predict the long-term behavior of our WBG devices and ensure reliability in the field over the entire product lifecycle. We are excited about the opportunities our collaboration with Delta holds for us in the server and gaming market.”

More information about Infineon’s WBG offering is available here

More information about Infineon’s contribution to energy efficiency click here.

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DFI new-gen ADS series embedded computing solutions for intelligent workload optimisation

DFI is releasing the new ADS Series of embedded computing solutions powered by the 12th Gen Intel Core SoC processors.

The new hybrid architecture combines the P-Core and E-Core for intelligent computing resource allocation to increase visual computing efficiency by 50%, significantly enhancing the performance and efficiency of automated production lines and graphic applications simultaneously.

The new-gen ADS Series computing solutions are available with industrial motherboards and embedded systems, covering various form factors from SBC, Mini-ITX, microATX, ATX to fanless computers. These solutions are designed to meet the needs of industrial control, surveillance, traffic flow analysis and other vision computing at the edge.

Industrial motherboard

3.5” SBC: S53-ADN
4” SBC: ADP253
Mini-ITX: ADS101/ADS103, ADP171/ADP173
microATX: ADS310-R680E/Q670E
ATX: ADS630-R680E/Q670E

Computer-on-module

COMe Compact: ADP968
COMe Mini: ADP9A2

HPC Embedded Systems

Fanless: EC500-ADS, EC510/EC511-ADS, EC543-ADS
Mini-ITX System: WM120-ADS
ATX Walk Mount: WM343-ADS

The Intel Alder Lake processor-based ADS Series utilises the all-new hybrid architecture of Performance Cores and Efficient Cores (P-core and E-core) to achieve high-performance computing with lower power consumption and intelligently make instant, optimal adjustments to workloads and workflows. With Deep Learning Boost (DL Boost) and Vector Neural Network Instruction Set (VNNI), deep learning can be further accelerated and provides accurate and fast inferencing results for visual computing applications such as defect inspection and AGV/AMR.

Besides the new hybrid architecture, the ADS Series also supports PCIe 5.0 high-speed signal transmission for the first time, achieving a data transfer speed 2X faster than the previous-gen PCIe 4.0. Faster DDR5 memory is also supported to boost data read and write speeds up to 4800MT/s, accelerating the processing speed of numerous data and images for AI and computer vision.

Numerous data transfers, shares and backups are processed through the high-speed 10GLAN on the ADS Series Computers, significantly improving operating efficiency. Also, the wireless high-bandwidth Wifi 6E is supported for the first time with speed transmission up to 6GHz (1.4X faster than Wifi 5 and Wifi 6), making device deployment more flexible and collaboration more real-time and seamless.

In addition, the ADS Series supports 8K resolution with clarity and precision, surpassing the resolving power of the human eye by more than ten times. The result provides greater detail for image processing as well as streaming video and enhances the accuracy of the image and visual computing.

The new ADS Series is designed to help integrators maximise the use of each device, reduce configuration, and lower costs. While improving overall computing performance and efficiency, the ADS Series is also equipped with I/O virtualisation of GFX SR-IOV for the first time. It allows the GPU of a virtual machine (VM) to be distributed at near-native performance levels, significantly reducing the latency caused by the software-based virtual machine. The proof of concept (POC) of SR-IOV with Intel also confirms the VM frame rate remains at 60fps, equal to the native GPU performance (the traditional software-based performance is 28 fps frame rate).

DFI’s new ADS Series of industrial computers offers a full range of performance and efficiency optimisations. From data reading/writing speeds to the transfer to AI computing, the new-gen computing brains will bring unprecedented intelligence and speed to the heavy workloads of AI vision applications, factory automation, medical and retail industries.

Key features:

Powered by 12th Gen Intel® Core with the hybrid architecture of CPU and GPU
Intelligent work sequencing to optimise workloads
Optimal AI technology, supporting AI accelerator cards for accurate inference
Support PCIe 5.0, DDR5 high-speed data reading/writing
Ultra HD 8K display
Support high-speed 10GLAN, 2.5G LAN and 5G, Wifi 6E wireless networks

Main applications:

Factory Automation
AOI defect inspection
AGV/AMR
AI vision
Robotic arm
Virtual machine for equipment integration on production lines

Medical

Medical Imaging
AI Diagnostic Assistance

Retail

Interactive digital signage

Traffic

Traffic analysis

For more information, please visit: https://www.dfi.com/ or contact us.

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VISEO completes the acquisition of Warp to expand digital services offering in Japan

Tokyo & Singapore. 6 July 2022 – VISEO, a global technology company specialising in digital transformation services and Warp Japan (Warp), a boutique digital agency specialises in helping Japanese and International brands with their digital strategy, have announced a tie-up to grow its reach in Japan.

The acquisition enables VISEO to accelerate its reach by leveraging Warp’s proven capabilities in the digital services space. It provides digital marketing, content creation, interactive installation, design and development for web, mobile and e-commerce websites. On the other hand, VISEO delivers end-to-end guidance for IT services, ranging from application development, system integration to digital solutions, and capture opportunities across industries. The synergies created will further strengthen VISEO’s capabilities in Japan and in the entire Asian Pacific Japan region.

Nao Sato, CEO of Warp, says, “We’re excited by VISEO’s strategy and plans to grow their digital transformation and optimisation capabilities across the Asia Pacific and Japan. Joining VISEO presents a strategic opportunity for us to drive the acceleration of digital solutions across a variety of industries.”

With VISEO’s global presence and a 20-year strong foothold in the IT consulting firm, VISEO supports companies that need to reinvent themselves by taking advantage of technological opportunities making them more efficient.

“We are delighted to have Warp Japan coming onboard our VISEO family. This acquisition helps accelerate our expansion in Japan. It also provides a greater value for our clients in the Asia Pacific Japan region through building an innovation ecosystem for technology players, to augment our service portfolio and give our clients access to agility plus innovation across the region.” says Olivier Dhonte, chairman of VISEO Group.

For more information, please visit here and here

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EMQ officially announces ‘EMQX 5.0’ with support For 100M+ IoT connections

Stockholm, 6 July 2022 – EMQ, the provider of open-source IoT data infrastructure, officially announced the latest release of its IoT platform and MQTT broker, EMQX 5.0. (View and download EMQX 5.0 at emqx.com and Github.)

The latest version has been verified in test scenarios to scale to 100 million concurrent device connections, which is a critically important milestone for IoT designers. It also comes with plenty of exciting new features and huge performance improvements, including a more powerful rule engine, enhanced security management, Mria database extension, and much more to enhance the scalability of IoT applications.

Feng Lee, founder and CEO of EMQ, says, “EMQX 5.0 is a huge accomplishment for MQTT technology, as it is the distributed MQTT broker to support 100M connections in a single cluster! It also introduces the implementation of MQTT over QUIC. Keeping pace with the frontier of tech advancement is critical, and we’re committed to accelerating our product development cycle to tackle the grand challenges of large-scale IoT deployments.”

During the last several years, EMQX has gained popularity among IoT companies and is used by more than 20,000 global users from over 50 countries, with more than 100 million IoT device connections supported worldwide.

EMQX 5.0 ready to connect the next billion IoT devices

A recent study by IoT Analytics concluded that “In 2022, the market for the IoT is expected to grow 18% to 14.4 billion active connections.” As the worldwide number of connected devices increases with the growing adoption of IoT in many industries, a huge amount of IoT data is being generated. That is why EMQ is focused on building an IoT platform that can handle billions of always-connected IoT devices.

EMQX was initially released under an open-source license in 2013. Since then, EMQ issued 200+ product releases and delivered more than 100 new features to its users. The updated features and functionality of EMQX 5.0 are designed to ease the IoT development process while enhancing the performance and scalability of its MQTT broker.

EMQX 5.0 feature highlights:

  • Significant improvements in scalability and reliability

The latest version adopts a new Mria extension for Erlang’s Mnesia database that increases horizontal scalability by defining two different node types: core nodes and replicant nodes. This new architecture allows EMQX 5.0 to better adapt to increasing demand in IoT networks. The latest performance testing shows it can easily support 100M connections with a single cluster a 10-fold increase over previous versions making it the world’s most scalable open-source MQTT broker.

  • The implementation of MQTT over QUIC

EMQX 5.0 is also the MQTT broker to introduce support for QUIC, the underlying transfer protocol for the next-generation HTTP/3 protocol used by modern web browsers. QUIC benefits IoT transmission scenarios by reducing connection overhead and latency compared to TCP, increasing overall throughput, and increasing stability for mobile connections. With support for QUIC, EMQ hopes to maintain EMQX’s ability to provide the most advanced and competitive MQTT servers for the next generation of internet connectivity.

  • Bidirectional data flow through a more powerful rule engine

The main improvement of the rule engine in version 5 is the unified interface for managing both northbound and southbound traffic. Users can combine the more powerful rule engine with EMQX’s data bridging functions to deliver southbound messages more efficiently without using external tools.

At the same time, EMQ is also adding visualisation capabilities to the rule engine. From the Dashboard, users can clearly see the topology of rule engine data flows, including data bridging from external enterprise data sources.

  • Improved security management

Users will enable authentication and permission control in a simpler way in EMQX 5.0: no need to change the configuration file of each node since controls can be configured for the entire cluster right from the Dashboard. Operation statistics, such as current trigger times and execution speed indicators, ensure that administrators can identify failed requests and abnormal traffic in time.

  • More intuitive user experience

Ease-of-use improvements will be the most obvious change to users of EMQX 5.0. The Dashboard, with its new improved rule engine and action management UI/UX design, makes it easier to access the most frequently used functions according to users’ roles. The concise and easy-to-read HOCON configuration file format, the OpenAPI 3.0 compliant REST API documents, more detailed monitoring metrics, log tracking, and slow subscription diagnostic tools will also bring developers a better experience.

  • More than an MQTT broker

EMQX not only fully supports MQTT 3.1, 3.1.1, and 5.0 protocols, but also CoAP/LwM2M, STOMP, MQTT-SN, and other mainstream IoT protocols. Version 5.0 uses a new gateway architecture to provide independent management interfaces and security authentication capabilities for protocols with different client attributes and life cycles. This improvement enables users to manage multi-protocol IoT networks more easily through a single, native interface.

In addition, version 5.0 allows developers to manage extension plug-ins more easily—compile, distribute, and install them as standalone plugin packages, which can be uploaded via the Dashboard, without needing to reboot the EMQX cluster. The redesigned ExHook also provides a more flexible way for users to extend and customise EMQX in other languages.

EMQX 5.0 will go beyond the definition of an MQTT broker and become an all-in-one IoT Connectivity Management Platform that can connect any device, and integrate and expand arbitrarily.

Choosing the right components for your IoT connections

The technological breakthroughs of EMQX 5.0, in terms of cluster scalability and product stability, will provide critical IoT use cases with more efficient and reliable connections for massive device networks, high-performance messaging, and real-time processing of event streaming data. In addition, with improvements in product operability and usability, EMQX 5.0 will enhance users’ experience and boost overall IoT business efficiency.

As IoT is being implemented in almost all industries, it is hard to meet the increasingly rich, data-driven scenarios and diverse demands with a single technology or product. With EMQX as the core, EMQ delivers unified connection, movement, processing, and analysis of real-time data. In combination with its complete product portfolio from edge to cloud, EMQ can unlock the value of IoT data and build a solid innovation digital base for the future world.

Get Scalable and Robust IoT Connectivity with EMQX 5.0!

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Infineon and Oxford Ionics join forces to develop trapped Ion Quantum processors

Munich, Germany. 6 July 2022 – Infineon Technologies AG and Oxford Ionics announce a collaboration to build high-performance and fully integrated quantum processing units (QPUs). The combination of Oxford Ionics’ electronic qubit control (EQC) technology with Infineon’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities, as well as expertise in quantum technology, will lay the foundations for the industrial production of QPUs offering hundreds of qubits within the next five years. The goal is to move quantum computing technology out of the research lab into real industrial solutions.

Quantum computing opens up the next frontier in computing power for many industries seeking radical improvement in their processes and capabilities. Getting there requires developing qubit technologies that can be built at a massive scale while controlling a growing number of qubits and maintaining quantum error levels at and below the current state-of-the-art. Oxford Ionics’ EQC technology offers a path to integrating trapped ion qubits the qubit technology by quantum error levels into Infineon’s mature semiconductor processes.

“The great challenge in quantum computing is scaling whilst improving performance”, says Chris Ballance, co-founder of Oxford Ionics. “There are technologies that can be fabricated at scale but don’t perform, and there are technologies that perform but don’t scale. Our electronic control is placed to do both. Working with Infineon and its mature and flexible semiconductor process, allows us to speed up the accessibility of a commercial QPU. Due to our error rates, these processors need dramatically fewer qubits to solve useful problems than other technologies.”

The first Oxford Ionics devices will be cloud accessible by the end of 2022, offering commercial players access to these cutting-edge Quantum Computers. Fully integrated devices with high enough performance to scale to hundreds of qubits are planned to be available in less than two years. The ultimate goal of Infineon and Oxford Ionics is to offer, within five years, individual, fully integrated QPUs offering hundreds of qubits networked together into a quantum supercomputing cluster using Oxford Ionics’s quantum networking technology.

“The role of Infineon is to take the work of Oxford Ionics to scale properly towards meaningful qubit counts and low error rates. Infineon’s ion traps can enable that in conjunction with our predictable, repeatable, and reliable manufacturing and assembly capabilities,” says Stephan Schaecher, director of new application, innovation, and Quantum computing at Infineon Technologies Industrial Division.

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