The ITAM Roundup: 9/8/24

roundup Sep 8, 2024

📰 News

AT&T sues Broadcom for refusing to renew perpetual license support

AT&T has filed a lawsuit against Broadcom, accusing it of refusing to renew support services for perpetual VMware licenses unless AT&T agrees to costly subscription bundles. AT&T claims Broadcom’s actions, following its acquisition of VMware, could jeopardize the functioning of 75,000 virtual machines, including those used for critical services like first responder communications. Broadcom argues that the shift to subscription models is standard industry practice and that AT&T did not meet renewal requirements, with both parties awaiting a legal resolution.

SHI’s Sustainability and Action 2023 Report is now published

SHI’s 2023 Sustainability and Action Report highlights the company's commitment to sustainability, including science-based climate targets for reducing GHG emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3. Key goals include using 100% renewable electricity by 2025, having 70% of OEMs adopt climate targets by 2029, and reducing emissions by 50% by 2030. The report also details SHI’s initiatives in environmental protection, DEI, and community investment, alongside achievements like an EcoVadis Silver score and hosting a successful Sustainability Summit with customers and partners.

Microsoft Licensing Updates for September 2024

Microsoft's September 2024 Licensing Updates introduce new Frontline Worker products such as 10-year Audit Log Retention, Defender Vulnerability Management, and Python in Excel, each with specific licensing prerequisites, like F5 Compliance or M365 E3/E5. Extended Security Updates (ESU) now clarify that support is only available with Unified Support, Partner Premier Support, or Pay-per-incident plans, and GitHub services can now be bought directly through Azure contracts, eliminating credit card payments. Additionally, promotions include a 10% discount on Microsoft 365 E3 CSP subscriptions in select markets and a 15% discount for new Microsoft 365 Copilot customers.

Verizon bets on fiber’s staying power as it acquires Frontier for $20B

Verizon announced its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, aiming to expand its fiber network and increase its market reach, particularly in areas where it currently lacks coverage. Frontier, which provides internet, phone, and TV services to 2.2 million customers across 25 states, is expected to reach 10 million homes by 2026. Verizon's acquisition is a strategic move to bolster its fiber presence, especially as its wireless revenue growth slows, and to enhance competitiveness in the U.S. market.

Salesforce to acquire data protection specialist Own Company for $1.9 billion

Salesforce announced plans to acquire data protection and management company Own Company for $1.9 billion, aiming to strengthen its data security, availability, and compliance offerings across its platform. The acquisition is part of Salesforce's strategy to address growing customer concerns around AI-driven data management, following its unsuccessful bid for Informatica earlier this year. Own Company, a long-time Salesforce Ventures portfolio company with nearly 7,000 customers, will complement Salesforce's existing data protection tools like Backup, Shield, and Data Mask.

Palo Alto takes a big $500M bite out of IBM QRadar

Palo Alto Networks has acquired IBM's QRadar SaaS offering for $500 million, aiming to transition its customers to Palo Alto's Cortex platform. IBM has promised a smooth, cost-free migration for QRadar users, with over 1,000 IBM consultants trained to support the shift. Additionally, IBM is adopting Palo Alto's Prisma SASE 3.0 to secure its 250,000 employees, signaling a deeper strategic partnership between the two companies in cybersecurity, with a focus on advanced threat protection and AI-driven security operations.

Red Hat unleashes Enterprise Linux AI - and it's truly useful

Red Hat has launched Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) AI, an AI platform aimed at simplifying enterprise AI adoption by offering optimized bootable model runtime instances across hybrid cloud environments. RHEL AI integrates tools like IBM's Granite large language models and InstructLab alignment tools to streamline AI model development and deployment, making it accessible to domain experts without requiring specialized AI knowledge. The platform is flexible, running across on-premise, edge, and cloud environments, and will soon be available on AWS, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

📖 Tips

Migrating From VMware: Guide to a Successful Transition

With Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware raising concerns about product offerings and pricing, the report provides insights on moving to more scalable and cost-efficient solutions. It also encourages users to use migration as an opportunity to redesign their infrastructure strategy, offering detailed steps for those moving to Hyper-V.

A Customer’s Guide to ServiceNow Release Families

ServiceNow introduces two release families each year, often bringing changes to product capabilities and licensing metrics, which may drive up costs without necessarily adding value for customers. To maximize outcomes, customers should focus on their true business needs, strategically plan around key vendor deadlines, and approach negotiations with a clear roadmap to mitigate unnecessary spending.

The Ultimate Guide to Intune Migrations to Ivanti UEM: Connect to your Enterprise Resources

Migrating from Intune to Ivanti UEM provides secure access to both on-premises and cloud resources using Ivanti Sentry and Ivanti Access, leveraging conditional access to ensure only compliant devices authenticate. Ivanti Sentry manages VPN connections and ActiveSync proxy services, while Ivanti Access secures access to business cloud services using device, user, and app identities. With integrations for Entra Conditional Access and support for password-less authentication, Ivanti UEM offers flexibility in managing device compliance and authentication policies, enhancing both security and user experience.

🐛Bugs & Exploits

Cisco's Smart Licensing Utility flaws suggest it's pretty dumb on security

Cisco's Smart Licensing Utility has two critical security vulnerabilities that need immediate attention. The flaws, which include hardcoded admin credentials and excessive verbosity in debug logs, could allow unauthorized remote access and exposure of sensitive data. Cisco has issued updates to address these issues, but no workarounds are available, so affected users should patch their systems promptly.