Mažmenininkas „Walmart“ padidina debesies galimybes

  „Walmart Inc. ketvirtadienį pranešė, kad sukūrė galimybę sklandžiai perjungti debesies tiekėjus į savo serverius, taip sutaupant milijonus dolerių ir pasiūlydama veiksmų planą kitoms organizacijoms, norinčioms sumažinti savo priklausomybę nuo milžiniškų technologijų įmonių.

 

    Mažmenininkas teigė, kad naudojo savo serverius ir programinę įrangą, kad įdiegtų vieną didžiausių vadinamųjų hibridinių debesų. Bendrovės hibridinė sistema remiasi trečiųjų šalių platformomis iš Microsoft Corp. ir Alphabet Inc. Google, taip pat vidinio serverių tinklo, kurį ji greitai sukūrė Walmart įrenginiuose visoje šalyje.

 

    „Hibridinis debesis leidžia mums gauti geriausią, ką gali pasiūlyti viešųjų debesų paslaugų teikėjai, ir suderinti tai su kažkuo, kas tikrai sukurta mums“, – sakė „Walmart“ pasaulinis technologijų vadovas Sureshas Kumaras.

 

    Naujoji technologija padėjo mažmenininkui sumažinti debesijos išlaidas ir padidinti našumą – tai žygdarbis, kuris daugumoje įmonių gali būti sudėtingas, naudojant esamą programinę įrangą ar galimybes.

 

    „Walmart“ žingsnis rodo, kad debesų pramonėje vyksta platesni pokyčiai, nes įmonės siekia įgyti daugiau nepriklausomybės nuo didelių debesų paslaugų teikėjų. Pastaruosius dvejus metus bendrovė kūrė serverių tinklą „Walmart“ parduotuvėse ir jos platinimo patalpose.

 

    Bendrovė teigė, kad dabar turi 10 000 kraštinių mazgų visoje JAV „Walmart“ taip pat sukūrė pasirinktinę programinę įrangą, leidžiančią vykdyti savo galines operacijas bet kurioje debesų sistemoje, pranešė bendrovė.

 

    Per pastarąjį dešimtmetį perėjimas prie debesies buvo didžiulis informacinių technologijų pokytis, nes milijardai dolerių išlaidų perkeliama nuo organizacijų, perkančių ir prižiūrinčių savo duomenų centrus, prie tų kompiuterių nuomos iš trečiųjų šalių modelio. Rinkos tyrimų bendrovės „Synergy Research Group“ duomenimis, versle dominuoja trys JAV pardavėjai – „Amazon.com Inc.“, „Microsoft“ ir „Google“, kurie sudaro 65 % pasaulinės rinkos.

 

    Jų įtaka pandemijos metu tik išaugo, nes organizacijos suskubo palengvinti nuotolinį darbą.

 

    Tačiau dabar, siekdamos sumažinti išlaidas ir gauti prieigą prie geriausių technologijų, įmonės bando atgauti daugiau kontrolės iš debesų gigantų. Viena iš populiarių naujų strategijų buvo kelių debesų naudojimas, o ne pasikliauti vienu pardavėju. Kiti mato išlaidų kontrolės naudą investuodami į savo serverių tinklus.

 

    „Daugelis įmonių daro diversifikaciją“, – sakė rinkos tyrimų bendrovės „International Data Corp.“ tyrimų viceprezidentas Ericas Burgeneris. „Jos turi du ar daugiau viešųjų debesijos paslaugų teikėjų ir prižiūri savo infrastruktūrą.

 

    „Walmart“ teigė, kad jos debesų sistema sutaupė bendrovei nuo 10% iki 18% metinių debesų išteklių išlaidų ir padėjo sumažinti debesų gedimų skaičių. Bendrovės serveriai padeda padidinti greitį, kuriuo galima pasiekti tam tikras programas. 

 

Vienas iš galimų naudojimo būdų parduotuvėse būtų padėti darbuotojams savo darbe naudotis papildyta arba virtualia realybe.

 

    Būdama viena didžiausių debesų kompiuterijos vartotojų, „Walmart“ jau seniai strategiškai siekė, kaip ji stengiasi išlikti nepriklausoma nuo debesų gigantų.

 

    2017 m. „Walmart“ kai kuriems įmonės programinės įrangos pardavėjams pasakė, kad jei jie nori „Walmart“ verslo, jie negalėtų paleisti savo produkto „Amazon“ debesyje ir pasiūlė „Microsoft“, kaip alternatyvą, pranešė „The Wall Street Journal“.” [1]

1. Business News: Walmart Steps Up Cloud Capability
Tilley, Aaron. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 24 June 2022: B.3.

Walmart Steps Up Cloud Capability

"Walmart Inc. said on Thursday it has developed the capability to switch seamlessly between cloud providers and its own servers, saving millions of dollars and offering a road map to other organizations that want to reduce their dependence on giant technology companies.

The retailer said it has used its own servers and software to deploy one of the largest so-called hybrid clouds in existence. The company's hybrid system draws on third-party platforms from Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google as well as an internal server network it has rapidly built out across Walmart facilities around the country.

"The hybrid cloud allows us to be able to draw the best that the public cloud providers can offer and to be able to combine that with something that is really purpose-built for us," Walmart Global Chief Technology Officer Suresh Kumar said.

The new technology has helped the retailer reduce cloud costs and boost performance -- a feat that can be difficult with existing software or capabilities at most companies.

Walmart's move points to a broader shift happening in the cloud industry as companies have sought to gain more independence from large cloud providers. For the past two years, the company has been building out a network of servers that sit at Walmart stores and in its distribution facilities.

The company said it now has 10,000 of what it refers to as its edge nodes across the U.S. Walmart has also built custom software that allows it to run its back end operations across any cloud system, the company said.

For the past decade, the movement to the cloud has been an enormous shift in information technology, as billions of dollars in spending shifted away from organizations buying and maintaining their own data centers to a model of renting those computers from third-party vendors. Three U.S. vendors -- Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft and Google -- dominate the business, accounting for 65% of the global market, according to market research firm Synergy Research Group.

Their clout only grew during the pandemic as organizations rushed to facilitate remote work.

But now, as they move to cut costs and get access to the best technology, companies are trying to grab more control back from the cloud giants. One popular emerging strategy has been the use of multiple clouds instead of relying on a single vendor. Others are seeing the benefits of controlling costs by investing in their own server networks.

"What many enterprises are doing is diversifying," said Eric Burgener, research vice president at market researcher International Data Corp. "They have two or more public cloud providers and maintain their own infrastructure."

Walmart said its cloud system has saved the company between 10% and 18% in annual cloud spending and has helped reduce cloud outages. The company's servers help increase the speed in which particular applications can be accessed. One possible use in stores would be to help employees use augmented or virtual reality in their work.

As one of the largest consumers of cloud computing, Walmart has long been strategic about how it tries to stay independent from cloud giants.

In 2017, Walmart told some enterprise software vendors that if they wanted Walmart's business, they couldn't run their product on Amazon's cloud and suggested Microsoft as an alternative, The Wall Street Journal reported." [1]

1. Business News: Walmart Steps Up Cloud Capability
Tilley, Aaron. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 24 June 2022: B.3.

Number of questions about Kaliningrad transit are only growing: the price for such a policy will not only be Russia's response

"As Russia caused hysteria over restricting the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad region, politicians reiterated this week that things were going according to plan: European sanctions were in place, which were known in March. But limited to abstract assurances that everything is fine talking is scarry and questions are growing.

 

For example, why, knowing in the spring that the transit of certain goods would have to be restricted, the Lithuanian representatives who participated in the adoption of this decision later asked the European Commission (EC) whether this ban was really valid. Public policy statements have shown that Russia could have been informed of the sanctions even without a response from the EC.

 

Questions also arise as to why, in anticipation of Russia's turbulent reaction, no one has bothered to devise any strategy to counter it.

 

Foreign media, based on sources in Brussels, are already suggesting that Lithuania may have broken the stick - that it is really about increased cargo inspections so that there are no attempts to circumvent sanctions, rather than a ban on transporting certain goods to Russia's domestic market.

 

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the EC could theoretically change its mind about restricting transit in Kaliningrad, and President Gitanas Nausėda confirmed that the EC's interpretation would be clarified.

 

Nobody wants to explain in detail how the issue was handled in Lithuania for almost a week during the discussions on Kaliningrad transit.

 

There was no EC explanation on Saturday yet?

 

The news about the ban on the transportation of certain goods to Kaliningrad, which came into force on Saturday midnight, was first published in the foreign media, according to a statement by the governor of Kaliningrad.

 

On the same Saturday, Lithuanian Railways explained that it was implementing EU sanctions, and Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas stated that the Russians would use it for propaganda.

 

"We are currently awaiting the EC's clarification regarding the application of the European sanctions regime to Kaliningrad's commercial transit," M. Adomėnas told LRT radio on the same Saturday.

 

The Russians were informed that a ban on the transport of steel and other ferrous metals had come into force on Saturday, followed by a ban on the transport of cement, alcohol, coal and oil, a total of about 50 percent of goods in transit.

 

Russian officials, calling it the blockade of Kaliningrad, began to throw threats against Lithuania.

 

Andrei Klimov, head of the commission of the Russian Federation's Council for the Defense of Russia's State Sovereignty, said that if the situation did not change, Moscow would have "free hands" to resolve the situation by any means. Representative of the Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova assured that "there will be consequences" and the response will not be diplomatic but practical.

 

It was placed on the table

 

"On March 14, sanctions were adopted, all postponements were public, everything was clear, who would drive, who would not, it was still on the table, "G. Landsbergis told reporters after the joint meeting of the Seimas Foreign Affairs and National Security and Defense Committees on Wednesday.

 

But if everything, as the minister says, was put on the table, who needed further EC clarification? Which, as can be seen from M. Adomėnas' comment to LRT radio, has not been received on Saturday.

 

On Thursday, questions increased after the influential Politico quoted EC spokesman Eric Mamer as saying that additional guidelines would be provided to Lithuanian authorities and that Lithuania should further inspect goods traveling to Kaliningrad to avoid attempts to circumvent sanctions but ensure free transit.

 

Politico's Brussels Playbook newsletter quoted two unnamed officials as saying the new guidelines would make it clear that Lithuanian customs officials should step up inspections but let through transported metals if they were destined for the Russian domestic market. The publication writes that there are contradictions between the statements of the Lithuanian Prime Minister and the EC spokesperson.

 

The question of whether Brussels is turning back and telling Lithuania to withdraw is answered in the negative.

 

Politico interlocutors say this is not the case, as the sanctions were never intended to block Kaliningrad, "they are intended to allow the EU to carry out additional inspections".

 

On Thursday, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė explained that there is no contradiction here - that inspections are necessary in order to administer the application of sanctions.

 

At the time, the full statement of the EC representative E. Mamer on Twitter reads: “Lithuania is implementing the EU restrictive measures imposed by the Council on Russia unanimously. Secondly, it is not, of course, a 'blockade'. We have always said that the supply of essential goods to Kaliningrad remains unhindered. Sanctions for certain Russian exports (steel products, construction materials) are now in place (after short transition periods). This means that Lithuania must perform additional road and rail transit checks through the EU. Of course, these checks are targeted, proportionate and effective. They will be designed to prevent attempts to circumvent sanctions while ensuring free transit. We are cooperating closely with the Lithuanian authorities and will provide additional guidance."

 

 The price will not be the only Russian response

 

Klaudijus Maniokas, the Chairman of the Board of the European Social, Legal and Economic Projects, who drew attention to the Politico article, asked on Facebook who was lying - the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs or the EC.

 

"I believe that the Lithuanian representatives have consulted with the Commission, but I do not think they have received a very clear answer. "I know from my own experience that expecting unambiguous explanations from the Commission is the same as looking for Hepatica in the winter," he writes.

 

K. Maniokas emphasized that he hoped that without great efforts Lithuania would not have received an exception, but an interpretation to maintain the status quo, which is beneficial for us.

 

“It’s been 29 years since those famous 1993 rules. Lithuanian rulers chose the path of the expected escalation, exhibiting the weakness of cargo transit regulation.

 

It was necessary to provide for the EC to be able to change its position, and serious written guarantees of support were needed on such an important issue. Where are they?” - He asks.

 

According to K. Maniokas, the price for such an irresponsible policy will be not only Russia's response, but first and foremost Lithuania's growing isolation in the Western camp.

 

"I will remind you that not only the EU, nor any country in the world has followed Lithuania's example in terms of Taiwan's representation. No EU country has sent home a Russian ambassador, as Lithuania did. When no one is following you, it's not leadership, it's jumping out, it's isolation, it's stupidity. With consequences for Lithuanian security, such as the issue of the German brigade. I believe that Lithuanian leaders and politicians will have a cold and common sense to manage the situation. But obviously, this is not the first time we have climbed on the same rake. To prevent this from happening again, change is needed, first and foremost, in terms of staffing,” - he said.

 

A few days ago, K. Maniokas pointed out that despite the current form of regulation of Kaliningrad cargo transit, it has always been clear that that transit is not the same Russian cargo transportation as in other EU countries, because it takes place from one part of Russia to another. Through another sovereign state.

 

"When considering EU sanctions, Lithuania had to pay attention to this, anticipate possible consequences and propose possible solutions. Has that been done? And again - maybe someone could explain? You really don’t need to panic, but you want to understand if the people in charge understand what they’re doing.

 

Now everyone is under the guise of EU rules and enforcing them, they pretend to have not created those rules themselves,” - he wrote.

 

Karoblis: We have expressed risks in the EC

 

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Raimundas Karoblis replied that the question was not simple, but asked here whether Lithuania should have defended Russia and its Kaliningrad region in the EU discussions on EU sanctions.

 

"Yes, in theory we could loudly demand an exemption for Kaliningrad transit. But that would certainly be absolutely against our consistent position on support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia. And not in our interests and not in accordance with our values. Have we consulted the EC? Yes, constantly. Even expressing potential risks. Both in writing and in bilateral meetings, as well as at expert and ambassador and vice minister levels. "We have come to the same conclusion: sanctions must be applied in accordance with EU regulations," he emphasized.

 

The Deputy Minister explained that it was necessary to choose between a bad and a very bad option.

"If we had chosen the other option (exception), we would have looked similar to one EU member state" Here are the values. But also about interests." "This challenge must be managed throughout Europe and beyond," said Karoblis.

 

Decided not to explain anything

 

So what explanations did Lithuania receive from the EC and how was it decided to deal with the issue of Kaliningrad transit?

 

Asked how it was clarified whether the sanctions adopted by the EU also apply to transit, Gabrielė Vasiliauskaitė, a spokeswoman for the Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis, suggested asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), who decided not to answer any questions.

 

The Delfi asked Ministry of Foreign Affairs what reasons the EC had given in its reply to Lithuania, stating that the sanctions for transit were valid, or that the Commission had been contacted again after the implementation of the sanctions, but the Ministry chose not to respond to them. Instead, Delfi was assured that "land transit is not suspended or blocked, and the transit of unsanctioned goods continues," and that Lithuania has not imposed individual restrictions.

 

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not comment on the decisions of other countries that may or may not occur in the future," the ministry said when asked what steps, not just languages, Russia could take in retaliation and what scenarios were being prepared.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also did not go to clarifications on the wording of the restrictions on the movement of goods are contained in the sanctions adopted by the EU in mid-March.

 

As politicians reiterated that Lithuania was complying with the sanctions imposed by the EU, but without providing additional explanations, various marginalists, and not only on Facebook, began to share doubts as to whether the adopted sanctions actually banned Russia from transporting goods to its market.

 

Indeed, in a document adopted on 15 March, EU countries agreed that, in addition to a ban on imports and purchases, "the transport of iron and steel (ferrous metals) products if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia to any other country" is prohibited.

 

Although there was no more specific explanation in this document on how to deal with Kaliningrad transit, on 8 April it was established that any road transport company established in Russia was prohibited from transporting goods by road within the EU, including transit.

 

However, there is an exception for mail and it is stated that the exemption also applies to goods in transit through the EU between the Kaliningrad region and Russia, but "unless otherwise prohibited by this Regulation".

 

Maybe he could have been better informed

 

The question of why a communication strategy has not been developed, given the knowledge that sanctions will be in place since mid-March, and the implications of Russia's response, has also remained open.

 

Tomas Janeliūnas, a professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University (VU TSPMI), called the situation another communication crisis on Wednesday in the news radio show "Question of the Day". By the way, he pointed out that it was not only Russia that reacted to this storm - there were also signs of concern from our partners in the West.

 

"We were not able to react in time and we are trying to put out some kind of fire again," T. Janeliūnas stated.

 

European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius said he had no doubt that Russia had planned its stormy reaction in advance.

 

"What I don't like most is that we haven't had that line of communication with us in the past, and perhaps with the Commission," he said.

 

Mr Landsbergis told reporters on Thursday that the authorities "could have been better informing" in response to the situation."

 

Lithuania's foreign policy is all the same. We are not delving into it, we are making a big mistake (as with China). Then there is a scandal. We are running to our mother, the European Commission, asking to defend us. When will we release the fools from power? 

European Commission is protecting itself. If the Russians will escalate in court and win, the European Commission will tell: “Oops, this is all Lithuania’s fault. We said only temporarily stop the trains and make sure nothing illegal is hidden in the loads of metal. Stupid Lithuanians blocked the transit instead”.  Should we always be stupid?