This is part 4 of a series of articles on: ‘Cisco, IBM, HP: still a cloud of uncertainty?’ Here are parts one, two & three

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Since launching a decade ago, AWS has taken the IT industry by storm. Today its a juggernaut with a $7bn run rate
Jeff Bezos, CEO and Founder of Amazon.com has big plans for AWS, and those don’t currently include spinning it off !
Amazon’s modus operandi is to: grab market share on its platforms using very low prices, build huge economies of scale; utilise new business models while innovating relentlessly
Andy Jassy, Head of AWS has a clear vision : “Our goal is to have every company run all of their businesses and all of their applications on top of our technology infrastructure platform”

AWS Financials

In its Q3 2015, AWS generated $2.1bn in revenue, up 78% on the previous year, but with 25% operating margins
That’s still only 8% of Amazon Group, but 52% of its operating profits
In Q3, Amazon Group made $79m net profit on Sales of $25.4bn (a tiny 0.3% margin)
It hard to tell the actual net profit margins for AWS (especially after stock based compensation).
We can see however, that Q3 stock based compensation for Technology & Content was 57% of the Amazon group total
Since this was the first time (a normally secretive AWS) provided additional information on its financial performance, we probably won’t know more details for a while….

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

AWS dominates Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). It invented the idea of Public Cloud infrastructure and Pay as you go pricing
It was recently estimated that AWS, had more than 10 times the computing capacity of the next 14 largest infrastructure vendors combined
It continues to race into multiple areas: Big data, Analytics, Databases, Business Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Homes
Worldwide Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) expenditure is forecast to grow 33% to $16.5bn in 2015, and at ~29% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 2014 to 2019
The key players in IaaS are AWS, but also Microsoft Azure and Google Compute engine. They’re squeezing legacy tech companies like IBM & VMWare in Cloud price wars
In July 2015, Amazon CFO commented that the race to zero is still on because it’s part of the AWS “business model.”

Now taking on Oracle

In fact, AWS recently focused its attention on Oracle
Oracle is the biggest provider of traditional databases. Its a business that's been struggling to grow as more businesses move operations to the Cloud
Larry Ellison, Executive Chairman and CTO of Oracle, recently declared at Oracle Openworld 2015: “We’re on our way to being the leader in SaaS.”
IaaS (infrastructure as a Service) is seen as a commodity play by Oracle.
GE though may beg to differ, it’s planning to shift thousands of applications to AWS so that it can reduce its data centers from 34 to 4.
Ellison isn’t used to playing second fiddle in any market. And he's got AWS firmly in his sights, especially with the launch of AWS Aurora Cloud database offerings

Future looks bright

AWS continues to enrich is offerings adding PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) capabilities.
Its seen as a safe choice for Enterprises for their Cloud Infrastructure needs
Deutsche Bank believes AWS is forecast to reach $16bn in revenue by 2017, achieving a valuation of ~$160bn (based on a 10x multiple)
This could make AWS the fastest growing Enterprise Tech company ever
Deutsche Bank adds that AWS is forecast to hit $10bn in revenue on its 10th anniversary next year. By comparison, it took 9 years and 10 years respectively, for Google & Facebook to hit $10 billion revenues
While Oracle and Microsoft took 23 and 22 years, respectively, to achieve that $10 billion milestone.
Its thought the AWS business model originated from the need to utilise its spare processing capacity during low demand periods supporting e-commerce on Amazon.com
Not a bad side line business to have (we all need one of those...)

Accenture and AWS

Accenture and AWS have also announced a joint venture to boost Cloud Services, which threatens IBM and HP on its traditional turf, with its more flexible terms.
This announcement would send a shiver up any traditional Tech company’s spine…

In part 5, we’ll be looking at How Cisco is positioned in the context of ‘Cisco, IBM, HP: still cloud of uncertainty’

What are your thoughts on Amazon Web Services ?

(All views are my own)

“Cisco, IBM, HP in Trouble, Says Credit Suisse, As Cloud Moves Past Them”: is a recent perspective that’s sparked much debate.

It’s not the first claim that Cisco, IBM and HP are being left behind in Cloud, and it probably won’t be the last…

Cloudy prospects ?

But are sweeping statements like these, underestimating the ability of these Tech titans to adapt ?
After all they: have a large installed customer base; extensive ecosystems; are investing in startups/partnerships/R&D; and generate significant cash flows each quarter
Yes, faster innovation is needed in some segments (Cisco & IBM, are ahead of HP there) but refocusing billion dollar companies and retaking market share takes time
Or does bashing the original Enterprise Tech giants make good headlines ?
Perhaps its a simpler explanation than that: Stock market nerves

Stock market pressure

Shareholders want early warnings and guidance from analysts to protect their investments. Analysts duly oblige. Stock buy backs are never enough
The Tech sector is characterised by: rapid market shifts & commoditisation; hype new Tech will topple market leaders; and fear market leaders lack agility
Transforming Tech giants involves patience and inherent uncertainty. But stock markets are fickle, short term in outlook and expect higher returns for that additional risk
Ask Michael Dell, he knows all about that…

Relative positions of the 3 Tech titans

Cisco is in the strongest position financially of the 3, with its: $59bn cash pile; Q1 results of $12.68bn revenue; 63.2% Gross margins and $2.5 billion of free cash flow
Though anyone writing off IBM, when Warren Buffet is doubling down on IBM stock, maybe missing the point. IBM has a 104 year history of reinventing itself & is moving up the stack
HP appears the most challenged of the 3. Its slashing operating costs and split on November 1st into 2 parts:
1. HP Inc. (HPI): PC and Printing products & services; and
2. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE): essentially an IT Operations business
As it slims down, HP is revving up its innovation engine. However, it might find itself subject to takeover bids, as businesses seek ever increasing scale in Enterprise IT.

Dell moves in

Indeed whilst HP and IBM undergo painful restructuring, Dell has made public its intention to acquire EMC for $67bn, along with its crown jewels of VMWare.
Assuming Dell is successful in the integration, this move will create a rival to HP, IBM and Cisco.
However, some have recently questioned whether the deal will even close

Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation

R&D expenditure in their last full financial year ends was as follows Cisco $6.2bn, IBM $5.4bn and HP $3.5bn.
The World’s 50 Innovative companies (2015) list has just been released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG):
The rankings place:
- Apple 1st , Google 2nd, Microsoft 4th and Amazon 9th
- IBM 13th, HP 23rd and Cisco 31st
So whilst IBM, HP and Cisco are diverse businesses and at different stages of evolution, they are hardly laggards.
Not everyone can be Apple…

Microsoft example, offers IBM, Cisco and HP hope

Doubters on the ability of Cisco, IBM and HP to bounce back might recall that Microsoft’s future 18-24 months ago, was also shrouded in uncertainty
But with new CEO Satya Nadella and a focus on the Cloud, its come roaring back (albeit still grappling with an aging software licensing business and a mobile unit lagging the market)
And Microsoft is partnering like never before:
- Its forged ahead with partnerships to bolster its Cloud computing platform called Azure (e.g Dell and HP); leveraged its installed base and huge ecosystem
- And its even working with Red Hat to offer Linux on Azure! Linux is an open source operating system that competes with Microsoft Windows
Microsoft shares hit a 15 year high in October 2015 and it appointed former CTO at Cisco, Padmasree Warrior, as a new board member

Future articles

We’ll look at the more positive aspects of Cisco, IBM & HP in future articles (including financials and a more balanced view of their competitive positions)
This is part 1 of a series of articles on: 'Cisco, IBM, HP: still a cloud of uncertainty ?’
In part 2, we’ll be looking at ‘Defining Cloud’ in simple terms and in part 3: 'Digital Disruption and Enterprise IT'

What's your perspective ? It would be great to know...

(All views are my own)