01732 759725 04 BULLETIN Civo gives short shrift to egress fees concession Mark Boost, CEO of cloud-native service provider Civo, has reacted with scorn to Microsoft’s announcement that it is removing egress fees for customers that move data from Azure to an alternative cloud provider or data centre, following similar moves by AWS and Google Cloud. He said: “Don’t be fooled by Big Tech’s apparent rush to abolish egress exit fees. Azure is racing on the heels of AWS and Google Cloud to remove charges only for data transfer out of the cloud to ensure compliance with the fast-approaching European Data Act.” He added: “If you look deeper, the change comes with strings attached. Azure is only removing egress fees for storage data for exiting customers, with charges still applying for egress from other Azure services, and customers have to cancel all Azure subscriptions before claiming the credit. Clearly, in the mind of the hyperscalers, flexibility still comes at a price.” Egress fees are just one complaint against the ‘Big Three’ hyperscalers. In a recent Civo survey of 500 IT professionals that use AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, 64% said they had experienced a rise in cloud costs in the last 12 months; 47% said they were considering a move away from the cloud because of the expense; and 37% said that the cloud had failed to live up BU L L E T I N continued... The true cost of cloud laid bare Technology research company Dark Matter has launched Clouded II, a feature-length documentary sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise that exposes the economic and environmental costs of cloud. Released to mark the launch of Clouded.TV, a new online channel supplying content about the cloud, Clouded II includes insights from a range of experts on the inefficiencies and spiralling financial cost of cloud computing as well as the huge amounts of energy, water, heat and waste associated with data storage and data hoarding. Featured expert Gerry McGovern said: “The growth of data is scary. By 2035 we will be producing about 2,000 zettabytes of data. Typically, you store 10% of that, and need over a billion servers. You would need to cut down 20 trillion trees to print one zettabyte. There are only 3.5 trillion trees on the planet. We need to think about what we truly need.” https://clouded.tv/ darkmatter.co.uk to its promise of cost-effectiveness. In addition, 42% said they found it hard to predict their cloud bill every month, with 28% reporting that they had received an unexpectedly large bill for cloud services. More than half (57%) of hyperscaler users say they are now taking steps to manage or reduce their cloud service costs. Boost said: “The cloud is broken. That is the stark truth we all need to face up to. The hyperscalers have not delivered on their lofty promises of low costs at scale that they set out more than a decade ago. Instead, users are left with high prices, overly complex solutions and ‘black-box’ proprietary tech that make it very difficult to move anywhere else. When you are in, you are in! This situation can be hugely damaging, especially for smaller businesses, making it very difficult for them to build a bespoke, affordable approach to cloud that suits their needs.” .... Mobile technology key to deskless worker engagement Deskless workers feel considerably less valued at work than desk-based colleagues, warns workplace culture and recognition specialist O.C. Tanner. Just 43% of deskless workers, such as construction workers, delivery drivers and frontline employees, surveyed for O.C. Tanner’s 2024 Global Culture Report admit to feeling valued and appreciated compared to 61% of desk-based employees. Robert Ordever, European MD of O.C. Tanner, said: “Reaching and engaging deskless workers who tend to lack regular access to technology and tools is often seen as too difficult. These deskless workers will be the last to hear company news, struggle to complete basic administration, and lack influence and opportunities. But this status quo isn’t a given, it’s been allowed to take hold due to poor leadership and a mismanaged culture.” In its report, O.C. Tanner recommends equipping deskless workers with mobileenabled tools as one way to ensure they feel as valued and recognised as desk-based colleagues, along with greater use of traditional offline methods such as team meetings, thank you notes and notice boards. It also advises training leaders in how to show their appreciation of deskless workers more effectively. www.octanner.com/uk .... Microsoft margins slashed for competing cloud infrastructure providers Microsoft has also come under attack from CISPE, an association of cloud infrastructure service providers in Europe, which claims that unfair software licensing terms for popular Microsoft software and preferential pricing on Microsoft’s own cloud infrastructure are squeezing the margins of competing cloud infrastructure providers that supply the company’s software as part of a cloud migration. In a presentation to the European Commission department for competition (DG COMP) and the UK’s CMA, CISPE said such practices were limiting choice for customers and destroying the ability of other cloud providers to compete. Examples from its own members include the case of a European member that had seen margins for selling Microsoft products, such as Windows Server, SQL Server and remote desktop services for productivity tools, fall from around 25% in Mark Boost
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=