Research Feed: Steve McDowell
Research Note: Snowflake Evolves into AI Platform at Summit 2025
Snowflake recently held its annual Snowflake Summit in San Francisco where the announcements show the company evolving from a data warehouse provider to an AI platform orchestrator. The announcements address three core enterprise challenges: democratizing data access beyond technical teams, accelerating AI development workflows, and reducing data integration overhead.
Research Note: Broadcom Releases VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0
Broadcom has announced the general availability of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a major release that advances its unified private cloud platform across on-premises, edge, and managed service provider environments.
This release consolidates infrastructure management and developer operations into a single interface while integrating support for AI workloads, modern applications, and advanced cost transparency and security features.
Research Note: AMD Raises its Game at its Advancing AI 2025 Event
AMD announced a comprehensive portfolio of AI infrastructure solutions at its recent Advancing AI 2025 event, positioning itself as a full-stack competitor to NVIDIA.
The announcements include the immediate availability of MI350 Series GPUs with 4x generational performance improvements, the ROCm 7.0 software platform achieving 3.5x gains in inference, and the AMD Developer Cloud for broader ecosystem access.
AMD also previewed its 2026 “Helios” rack solution, which integrates MI400 GPUs, EPYC “Venice” CPUs, and Pensando “Vulcano” NICs.
Research Note: Cisco Introduces AI Canvas
Earlier this week at Cisco Live San Diego 2025, Cisco unveiled AI Canvas, a groundbreaking Generative UI designed to redefine IT operations. This initiative is
Cisco Live Day 1 Recap
San Diego- the sun’s shining, the breeze is cool, and Cisco Live! 2025 just kicked off, bringing all sorts of cool vibes and as expected, a boatload of announcements. But here’s the real talk: Cisco has come to play with their AI powered networking gear.
Research Note: VDURA Data Platform 11.2
Earlier this month, VDURA announced Version 11.2 of its Data Platform, featuring native Kubernetes CSI support, end-to-end encryption, and the VDURACare Premier support package.
The release also includes a technology preview of V-ScaleFlow, a data movement capability that VDURA claims will reduce flash requirements by over 50% through intelligent tiering between QLC flash and high-capacity HDDs.
The Unsung Hero: How Edge AI and ZTNA are Transforming Industrial IoT Connectivity
As the number of connected devices explodes on sprawling factory floors, in remote oil & gas fields, and across utility grids, the dual challenge of handling massive data volumes and securing vulnerable endpoints becomes paramount.
The solution lies not just in more bandwidth but in the synergy of Edge AI and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA).
Research Note: Snowflake’s Crunchy Data Acquisition
At its annual Snowflake Summit in San Francisco, Snowflake announced its intent to acquire Crunchy Data for approximately $250 million. The deal brings enterprise-grade PostgreSQL capabilities into Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud through a new offering called Snowflake Postgres. This acquisition addresses a critical gap in Snowflake’s platform, while intensifying competition with Databricks for dominance in AI infrastructure.
HPE Aruba Networking Levels Up for the AI Age
Big news from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)! Its Aruba Networking crew just dropped some major upgrades for both wired and wireless networks. The goal? To tackle the huge demands of AI, IoT, and other super-fast apps, proving HPE’s serious about keeping businesses ahead of the game.
Quick Take: Dell Tech World 2025
Last week I was back in Las Vegas for Dell Technologies World 2025. The company has a broad portfolio but was telling a single-minded story: Dell has a relentless focus on AI, emphasizing the Dell AI Factory and the shift towards on-premises enterprise AI solutions.
DataCore Acquires StarWind, Expands HCI Capabilities from Core to Edge
DataCore Software, a long-time player in software-defined storage (SDS) and data infrastructure, announced the acquisition of StarWind Software, a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) vendor best known for serving edge and ROBO environments
Arista Eyes VeloCloud: A Strategic Move in the Networking Game?
The SDWAN world is buzzing with reports suggesting that Arista Networks is set to acquire VeloCloud, Broadcom’s software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) business. While no official announcement confirming the deal has been made, the potential acquisition has sparked considerable discussion about the strategic implications for both companies and the broader networking market.