IdeaGen/United Nations Summit: Enabling Women To Access $1 Billion In Cloud Opportunities

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Women in Cloud, Microsoft, and UN through IdeaGen partner to drive economic empowerment for Women and Girls through Cloud-based technologies.
We live in a rapidly changing world. Technology is disrupting almost every aspect of our lives at breathtaking speeds. We are at the onset of a profound period of transformation all centered on the Cloud. Women in Cloud has partnered with IDEAGEN, Microsoft and the UN to advance gender equality and empowerment for Women & Girls by supporting economic empowerment through entrepreneurship and innovation.

UN General Assembly

The Cloud opportunity topples $1B and yet while 40% of all new businesses are started by Women only 5% of Technology Start-Ups are global.

We all the know the statistics far too well – 20% of C-Suite leaders are Women buy fewer than 3% are Women of Color, 2% of Women Tech Entrepreneurs access the Cloud Opportunity and only 1% or less are awarded corporate contracts.

Many studies findings highlight the benefits of diverse organizations in both growth and impact to overall growth and Country GDP. The path to these opportunities is not without challenges, but by working together we can better and more rapidly overcome.

Women in Cloud is wholly aligned to the UN and Microsoft Goals for closing the Gender Gap.

Gretchen O’Hara (Vice President, Go-To-Market Strategy, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft), Karen Fassio (Director of Marketing, World Wide Partner Group at Microsoft) and Chaitra Vedullapalli, Co-Founder & CMO, Meylah are part of a larger co-founding team for Women in Cloud (Carrie Francey, Wendy White, Linda Lowry and Jacqueline Touma).

This delegation at UN Idea Gen shared their stories, lessons and the focus of Women in Cloud in supporting diversity to drive innovation and disruption.

Women in Cloud Mission:
1. Provide and supporting access to customers, funding, and resources
2. Accelerate business through policies resources and readiness
3. Drive action to create innovative solutions, partnerships, and communities

Gretchen explains that for her this is about making a lasting impact and having the GRIT to see it through, “We cannot be competitive without Women, and we need diverse perspectives in business which drive innovation and disruption”.

As Chaitra adds, “Without access, you cannot create opportunities. With the help of Microsoft and the UN, we are thrilled to be able to support empowering Women and Girls to reach their goals and dreams for the benefit of themselves, their families, their communities and their countries”

That’s why we are here at United Nations Idea Gen, states Karen Fassio “to inspire Women & Girls to pursue careers in technology and to support them in their careers whether as entrepreneurs or as corporate leaders. This work, for me, is rooted in Microsoft’s broader mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”

Jill Angelo, a tech exec turned women’s health care advocate and CEO of Genneve recently graduated from the Women in Cloud Co-Sell/Co-Market Accelerator, sponsored by Microsoft. Jill represented the Women in Cloud delegation at UN IdeaGen. She is developing the first Women’s health solutions that use the power of AI and telehealth to empower women to take control of their health and well-being in the latter half of their lives. Plus Jacqueline O’Hara represented the need to bring more girls into the STEM.

Beyond UN Idea Gen, the Women in Cloud team host an Annual Summit (Jan. 26th,2019 Redmond WA) brings together women leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, community groups and public organizations, to provide access and the right environment for opportunities to thrive. A new Accelerator for 2019 will be announced shortly, along with a new event series and speaker participation in several communities leading events.

To learn more about Women in the Cloud and opportunities available to you, visit www.womenincloud.com and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Annual Summit Jan26th, 2019, learn more! Early Bird Discount ($30 off the retail). Use code “WICEarly”

 

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Top 10 Cloud Computing Vendors

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Enterprises, both big and small, are moving to the cloud for several technological and business advantages that it offers. Businesses are looking to move servers, storage, databases, software and more to the cloud to deliver computing services. According to a report, the value of the enterprise-cloud business is estimated to be a $20 trillion opportunity by 2025, and organizations are ready for industrial-strength deployments. It means a huge opportunity is up for the grabs. Capitalizing on this demand, several cloud computing vendors are offering cloud computing services which are easy to subscribe and come with a flexible pay-as-you-go billing options.

Here is a list of top 10 cloud computing vendors in 2018 who are changing the game with their excellent cloud computing platforms and services.

[2]

1.     Microsoft

Microsoft’s top goals is to ensure high customer success rate by deploying technical expertise throughout the early cloud adoption cycle. Microsoft Corporate VP Gavriella Schuster highlights that over the next 5 years the company will create a $20-trillion cloud opportunity by framing new ways to engage with partners and customers and gain potential partners[3]. In 2018, Microsoft’s cloud business will reach more customers with tailored-fit solutions involving AI and IoT.

2.     Amazon

Amazon’s AWS has become a fast-growing cloud business beating IBM’s  $17 billion by revenue[4]. It is important to note that Amazon’s Web Services is undeniably successful, and AWS holds a major share of the company’s profits. Amazon ensures that customers can run their applications without worrying on server maintenance. AWS operates on thin e-commerce margins, and their operational model focuses on high-growth business.

3.     IBM

Under the excellent leadership of Ginni Rometty, IBM has transformed itself into a cloud giant with the state-of-the-art cloud and AI technology. The organization is boosting the 2018 Cloud growth with 1,900 Cloud patents and ultra-fast AI-optimized chip technology[5]. IBM Cloud helps clients apply data and AI to build smart enterprises. With cloud revenue now sharing 21% of IBM’s total revenue of $79.1 billion, the modern technology and market focus have enabled the company to excel in cloud, security and analytics[6].

4.     Salesforce

Customer obsession and customer success is Salesforce’s principle in the Enterprise Cloud business. The company’s CEO Marc Benioff has set a bold vision for the organization centered on digital transformation and customer commitment. The vastness of data about businesses and its customers provide Salesforce the key to extend its strategic relationships in the cloud industry.

5.     SAP

SAP’s cloud management has set customer success as the most important priority within the organization. The company ensures that the customer gets the requested product, and the cloud system would benefit even the customer’s customers.

6.     Oracle

Customer choice is at the forefront for Oracle when it comes to Enterprise Cloud business, and the company offers a wide range of software deployment—on-premises, cloud, and hybrid. Oracle Cloud Machine provides the flexibility for the regulated industries in terms of deployment time and maintenance[7]. Even Amazon runs on the Oracle Database, rather than its own RedShift database, which is a perfect example to why even the competitors run their business on Oracle.

7.     Google

Google has a lot of firepower, but not just clear enough to play in the Enterprise Cloud business level. As per the Q4 2017 earnings report, Google has gone behind by $15B in terms of cloud revenue. Now that Google Cloud Platform has set plans for 2018, it will be most interesting to see how it competes with the other Cloud Computing vendors.

8.     ServiceNow

The cloud computing company has shown incredible performance in terms of revenue over Q2 2017 – an increase of 40.2% to $478.5 million[8]. John Donahoe, CEO of ServiceNow, believes that focusing on the full customer lifecycle, right from post-sale till renewal holds the key to business value. The organization has started to actively leverage the wide and rapidly expanding network of partners.

9.     Workday

Workday has grown at a fast pace—subscription-revenue growth of more than 40% over the last 4 quarters, and is now all set to top $2 billion in cloud revenue[9]. The company offers HCM and Financials cloud services where it remains unexceptionally focused on growth, expansion, and customer success. The enterprise is also eagerly waiting to launch Workday Prism Analytics and Workday Cloud Platform which would set the stage to expand in the cloud market and become a more strategic supplier to businesses.

10. VMware

VMware, a leader in private cloud, has become a smart dealmaker with public-cloud giants like Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and Google. These partnerships have helped VMware to streamline and accelerate its customer’s journey to the cloud. The enterprise has always ensured that customers can easily operate a seamless and customized hybrid cloud.

As we can see, there is a good competition among the top players in the cloud computing space and what distinguishes them from each other is the way they focus on addressing varying customer needs.

The cloud computing vendors have realized that customer success is the key to excellence in enterprise cloud. Operating on the latest cloud technologies to revolutionize the data center and streamline the digital workspace has become necessary to achieve customer satisfaction. Focusing on the complete customer lifecycle is the success mantra for these cloud computing vendors, right from sales to subscription renewal.

 

[1] http://business.financialpost.com/technology/cio/a-1-trillon-opportunity-why-the-computing-cloud-business-will-keep-growing-and-growing

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/microsoft-sap-oracle-make-new-major-pledges-customer-success-evans/

[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2018/01/22/microsoft-unleashes-new-cloud-growth-via-go-to-market-program-including-customers-as-partners/#6d5cbe1215c4

[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2018/01/26/amazon-to-become-1-in-cloud-computing-revenue-by-beating-ibms-17-billion/#4466795a6b3e

[5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2018/01/16/ibm-fueling-2018-cloud-growth-with-1900-cloud-patents-plus-blazingly-fast-ai-optimized-chip/#38a8d75c84ac

[6] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2018/01/19/ibm-joins-microsoft-amazon-atop-cloud-world-booming-cloud-business-ends-long-revenue-decline/#48f9bb5349c4

[7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2017/12/18/the-top-10-reasons-why-oracle-and-its-cloud-business-are-in-great-shape/#2eaab0f3664d

[8] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2017/08/15/inside-servicenows-surge-how-its-become-the-most-innovative-saas-vendor-on-the-planet/#35566fa95b72

[9]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-workday-take-sap-oracle-its-clients-seem-think-so-bob-evans/

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Top 8 Book Recommendations By Women In Cloud Network – August Edition 2018

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The list below includes book recommendations from the Women In Cloud Network. These recommendations were provided by Sandeep Krishnamurthy, Mary Alice Colvin, Jacquie Touma and Chaitra Vedullapalli.

  1. “Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins” – Gary Kasparov,
  2. “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow“- Yuval Noah Harari
  3.  “Tesla: Inventor of the Electric Age” by W. Bernard Carlson
  4. “Better Together” by Jonathan Sposato
  5. “The Leader Phrase Book” by Patrick Alain
  6. How To Build A Million Dollar Business With #Microsoft Cloud
  7.  “Applied Artificial Intelligence: A Handbook For Business Leaders” – Mariya Yao
  8. “The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes” – William Ury

Let us know your recommendations that we can include in the September edition.  Enjoy the read!

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Special Offer – Discount Rate for 451 Research Summit

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We are excited to partner with 451 Research to host thought leadership conversations in the cloud industry at their 14th annual Hosting & Cloud Transformation Summit. 451 Research’s, a leading information technology research and advisory firm, 14th annual Hosting & Cloud Transformation Summit (HCTS) will take place September 24-26 at Bellagio Las Vegas. As a valued media partner, Women in Cloud members can attend this year’s conference at an exclusive discounted rate. Register between now and August 31 for only $999!HCTS welcomes executives in the hosting, cloud, datacenter and managed services sectors to hear timely, actionable insight into the competitive dynamics of innovation from 451 Research analyst talent and guest speakers from AWS, Microsoft, Huawei, ING, DH Capital and more. By attending HCTS, you’ll gain access to a plethora of networking opportunities and 1:1 meetings with 451 Research analysts to discuss the impact of this year’s theme – the Age of Consumption – on your business.A few sessions we think you’ll find incredibly valuable include:

Building Partnerships with Hyperscalers – Hyperscalers continue to dominate the cloud market. Their scope and scale have enabled them to build rich service portfolios that are difficult to compete against. Rather than compete, there is an opportunity for service providers to partner.

Beyond Cloud – The Digital Revolution is powered by cloud but businesses and their service provider partners need a strategy to achieve digital transformation. “Beyond infrastructure” services will continue to be a vital maintenance capability that businesses look to service providers to offer – akin to changing the lightbulbs in the building. Going forward, however, there is also an opportunity to provide transformation-oriented professional services and multi-cloud/hybrid implementation to help businesses rewire the building support new requirements.

Winning at Every Stage of the Cloud Journey – Cloud is a journey, and different enterprises are at different stages in their quests for value-driving, utility-based computing. To stay relevant for the full journey, successful service providers will need to guide their customers thought this journey and anticipate their needs. Winning a customer at one part of the journey does not mean that you will keep them for the next stage.

Interested in sending 4+ team members?

Group pricing is available for companies interested in sending 4+ members of their team to HCTS. Contact Meghan MacDonald, Director of Marketing, to discuss your options.

[email protected]

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Bitlume @ Microsoft Build, Game Changer Event

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Bitlume an emerging leader for the premier live and on-demand secure streaming for all types of event. We are in an exuberant phase of identifying the right market that can scale our innovation in live stream distribution, monetization and viewer engagement.


To get off the ground we subscribed for the bare metal server from IBM SoftLayer, whipped up the box with CentOS and developed our base app on MEAN Stack. As we continue to build for the market, we are constantly evaluating our cloud architecture, how it integrates with external apps and to build for scale. We are currently evaluating whether to migrate to an affordable cloud offering that enables product build at scale without burning our pocket. We had a great opportunity, as part of the Women in Cloud Accelerator to attend the Microsoft Build Conference.

It was a spectacular and game-changing event for us, especially with our decision to migrate to Azure PaaS from IBM Cloud.




There were some advanced takeaways that we didn’t understand before: Cortana integrates with Alexa to facilitate seamless cross-platform meeting setup; a serverless state is to become midstream in app development in the near future, looks promising. Many interactive booths were intriguing and made the experience interactive and fun. I caught up with some expo presenters to understand their offering and how their service integrates with Microsoft offerings. Such discussions offered valuable information on the opportunity to plug and play with Microsoft cloud solutions.

Overall the vibe in the conference offered an open forum conversation between both the participant and the organizer. At the end of the conference, we were able to conclude our evaluation and have decided to port our product to the Azure PaaS offering which offers enough flexibility in open source application integration.

The entire Women in Cloud team also surprised us with an exclusive opportunity for Accelerator participants to attend the Microsoft Startup Build Welcome Reception with Satya Nadella, held after hours at Miller’s Guild in Seattle.

It was a pleasure to meet with Satya Nadella for a handshake and make a 10-second pitch about my startup Bitlume. He was receptive and spent about 10 minutes listening in to Entrepreneurs patiently.

The access that Women in Cloud have provided to companies like mine in the Accelerator is invaluable and their on-going support is amazing. Here’s to growing in the Azure Cloud!

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