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Do You Really Need a Microsoft 'Copilot'?

Scott Braden
Nov. 30,2023 | Microsoft AI

I tried to use Microsoft Bing Copilot to write this article, but it was useless. So, here’s the real scoop. Microsoft Copilot was introduced March 2023 and promises to unburden humans from tasks that AI/LLM can easily do for us and ‘unleash our productivity!’ “Today marks the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with computing, which will fundamentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “With our new copilot for work, we’re giving people more agency and making technology more accessible through the most universal interface — natural language.” ...

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NET(net)'s Top 10 Ways to Save on Mainframe: Part 9 of 10 Part Series

Preface: Thank you for joining us for this 10-part series to discuss the Top 10 Ways You can Save on your Mainframe Costs in 2023. Nearly all Clients are Clamoring for Savings in 2023. This is largely due to (a) rising input costs, (b) softening business forecasts, and (c) continued economic uncertainty and headwinds. This has caused many clients to re-evaluate spending plans and implement new cost-cutting targets. IT is the Number One Cost Savings Category of The Modern Enterprise. IT is typically the highest indirect spend area for modern enterprises and is also the cost category with the highest potential savings yield (we average about ...

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The Un-Official (sales) Technology Cartel is Alive and Well

The fiscal year end is a critical time of year for both suppliers as well as technology buyers, many of whom are in the middle of 2024 budget planning as I type this. Several tech suppliers are wrapping up their fiscal year soon, and will be putting on the full court press to customers and prospects aiming to get as much revenue possible before the book closes on the year. During times of required action (renewals, new purchases, etc.) or duress (audits, M&As), we feel the pressure to get the deals done, and rarely take a step back to view the tech market as a 'federated'' whole, and how that might be impacting your business decisions. ...

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Top 10 Tips for Saving on Fortinet Subscriptions

Fortinet is a leading provider of security solutions, but its costs can be high, especially for large enterprise organizations. As a result, many companies are starting to see the value of Fortinet's subscriptions becoming misaligned with the cost. Below we walk you through some of the top tips to review to ensure you are maximizing your investment. Here are our top 10 tips: 1. Review your usage: Take a close look at how you are using your Fortinet products and identify any areas where you can reduce your usage. For example, you may be able to reduce your bandwidth usage by using Fortinet's traffic shaping features. 2. Disable unused ...

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NET(net)'s Top 10 Ways to Save on Mainframe: Part 8 of 10 Part Series

Preface: Thank you for joining us for this 10-part series to discuss the Top 10 Ways You can Save on your Mainframe Costs in 2023. Nearly all Clients are Clamoring for Savings in 2023. This is largely due to (a) rising input costs, (b) softening business forecasts, and (c) continued economic uncertainty and headwinds. This has caused many clients to re-evaluate spending plans and implement new cost-cutting targets. IT is the Number One Cost Savings Category of The Modern Enterprise. IT is typically the highest indirect spend area for modern enterprises and is also the cost category with the highest potential savings yield (we average about ...

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How Your PC Refresh Cycle Affects Microsoft Licensing Costs

During the Covid pandemic lockdowns in 2020, many enterprises were forced to buy thousands of laptops (in a big hurry) to enable their people to work from home.  Now, a bit more than 3 years later, supply chains have somewhat stabilized, PC prices have returned to normal-ish, and it’s just about time to think about replacing those 3+ year old devices as their warranties expire and the hardware starts showing its age. Most of our clients default to the same old mental model that the Microsoft – Intel duopoly have been selling for decades:  Buy a full-power, full-featured, high-performance Windows 11 PC for every employee. Load your core ...

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The Cisco Acquisition of Splunk: Implications for Customers

In a monumental move, Cisco Systems, known for its networking equipment, has announced its intent to acquire Splunk for $28B USD ($157/share), the San Francisco-based company renowned for its software platform that monitors, searches, and analyzes big data along with a full suite of cyber security offerings. Both companies have significant histories in the tech industry, with Cisco having a footprint in network management and cybersecurity, while Splunk focuses on real-time data processing and analytics. The acquisition makes sense for Cisco as they have been reshaping their business from hardware-centric to higher margin software-centric. ...

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HashiCorp Starts Charging for Previously Free Open-Source Code

HashiCorp announced changes to its open-source license on August 10, 2023. The new license is called the Business Source License (BSL). The BSL is a source-available license that allows for commercial use, but it restricts the use of the software in competition with HashiCorp. This means that companies that use HashiCorp's open-source products for their own commercial offerings may now need to obtain a commercial license from HashiCorp. The announcement of the BSL license has been met with mixed reactions. Some people have praised HashiCorp for taking steps to protect its intellectual property. Others have criticized the BSL license for ...

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NET(net)'s Top 10 Ways to Save on Mainframe: Part 7 of 10 Part Series

Preface: Thank you for joining us for this 10-part series to discuss the Top 10 Ways You can Save on your Mainframe Costs in 2023. Nearly all Clients are Clamoring for Savings in 2023. This is largely due to (a) rising input costs, (b) softening business forecasts, and (c) continued economic uncertainty and headwinds. This has caused many clients to re-evaluate spending plans and implement new cost-cutting targets. IT is the Number One Cost Savings Category of The Modern Enterprise. IT is typically the highest indirect spend area for modern enterprises and is also the cost category with the highest potential savings yield (we average about ...

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Top 5 Ways to Save on Atlassian

Preface Many client organizations who are long-time users of Atlassian's Jira are suffering from supplier-imposed changes over the last several years that have resulted in sharp increases in costs, pressure on their relationships, and the opportunity for other providers to gain a foothold in the gap Atlassian has put between themselves and their customers. Of course, this has been happening right at the time when client organizations can least afford to be distracted by this small but annoying problem. Background Atlassian has been forcing cost increases on their customers in several ways, including: Changing the licensing model: Atlassian ...

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