Staying informed is a constant challenge. There’s so much to do, and so little time. But we have you covered. Grab a coffee and take five while you nibble on these tidbits.
Google Chrome support for pre-Windows 10 ceasing
On Jan. 10, Microsoft’s extended support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 will terminate, and in conjunction, Google has announced that the next version of the Google Chrome browser (Chrome 110), due for release around Feb. 7, will require a minimum Windows version of Windows 10.
Rackspace kills Hosted Exchange service
After a major outage beginning on Dec. 5, 2022, later revealed to be a ransomware attack, and recovery efforts that are still ongoing, Rackspace has announced that, although it continues to recover customer data, the Hosted Exchange service itself will not be rebuilt. The company said it had already planned to migrate customers to Microsoft 365, which, it said, has a more flexible pricing model and more modern features. A long blog post published yesterday on its status site provides additional details about the situation.
Fluent Commerce appoints global CTO
Distributed order management vendor Fluent Commerce has appointed Rob Crowley as its global chief technology officer (CTO). Crowley joins the company after serving as CTO at Vix Technologies. He will lead all aspects of technology and product development for the Fluent Commerce business worldwide, and will be responsible for Fluent Commerce’s next growth phase.
Amazon announces more layoffs than expected
After announcing last November that it planned to eliminate around 10,000 jobs, Amazon chief executive officer (CEO) Andy Jassy revealed this week that the actual number will be just over 18,000. Affected employees will be notified on Jan. 18.
“Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economic times in the past, and we will continue to do so. These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure. Businesses that last for a long time go through different phases. They’re not in massive staff expansion mode every year,” Jassy said in a message to employees.
AWS now encrypts S3 buckets by default
As of yesterday (Jan. 5), the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3) encrypts all newly-added objects by default. The server-side encryption (SSE-S3) has been available since 2011, but until now, AWS left it up to the user whether to enable it.
However, AWS points out in a blog post, “SSE-S3 is now the new base level of encryption when no other encryption-type is specified. SSE-S3 uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption with 256-bit keys managed by AWS. You can choose to encrypt your objects using SSE-C or SSE-KMS rather than with SSE-S3, either as ‘one click’ default encryption settings on the bucket, or for individual objects in PUT requests.”
The post also provides a link to instructions for retroactively encrypting existing objects in previously unencrypted buckets.
Cisco to cut almost 700 jobs in the Bay area
As part of its previously announced cost saving plan, Cisco Systems is chopping almost 700 positions in the San Francisco Bay area. Mainly affected are software engineers, technical engineers, hardware engineers, product managers and supervisors, according to the company’s notice to the California State Employment Development Department.
Salesforce reducing workforce by 10 per cent
Salesforce announced this week that it plans to reduce its workforce by 10 per cent, eliminating more than 7,000 jobs based on its current head count. It also plans to close several offices, according to its SEC filing, although it has not yet specified which ones.
Cloud Software Group appoints new channel chief
Cloud Software Group, the company formed through the merger of Citrix and Tibco, has appointed Ethan Fitzsimons, former vice president and chief operating officer for Citrix worldwide partner sales and ecosystems, as its new head of global channels.
