Krista Macomber

Editor’s note: Look for growth from EMC this quarter. But the storage tech giant, which has big operations in the Triangle, also faces transformation costs, concludes Krista Macomber of Technology Business Research. HAMPTON, N.H. – EMC will achieve moderate top-line growth in 2Q15 per TBR estimates, but its bottom line will be dragged down by transformation-focused spending. TBR expects EMC to post 2Q15 corporate revenues of $6.2 billion, up 5.1% from the year-ago quarter, driven by EMC’s majority ownership of VMware. We estimate core EMC Information Infrastructure (EMC II) revenues dipped a slight 0.3% as EMC incrementally increases the...

Editor’s note: EMC acquired a modern cloud value proposition that maps to legacy strengths with Virtustream in a deal announced last week that is worth $1.2 billion, writes Technology Business Research analyst Krisa Macomber. HAMPTON, N.H. – EMC made a significant portfolio evolution by entering the managed cloud services space with its $1.2 billion acquisition of Virtustream on May 26, 2015. Historically hardware-centric, EMC has struggled to evolve its brand perception during the rapid industry transition to “as a Service” IT delivery. Per TBR estimates, 80% of the cloud revenue that EMC generated in 2014 came from the sale...

Editor’s note: EMC’s profitability fell last quarter as the tech giant shifts investment to new storage models. So what’s next for the company, which has a major presence in the Triangle? Technology Business Research analyst Krista Macomber offers a detailed analysis. HAMPTON, N.H. – EMC’s 1Q15 financial performance WAS challenged by declines in the traditional storage market In 1Q15 EMC continued to reposition its portfolio and business structure to solidify its leadership in the declining traditional storage market. The vendor’s financial performance was weakened by internal go-to-market execution challenges and external pressures such as declines in the high-end disk market...

Editor’s note: Red Hat delivered again on revenues and earnings with a quarterly report Thursday that topped Wall Street expectations but must replace CTO Brian Stevens. So what are the key factors driving growth and bigger deals? What will help red Hat recover from Stevens’ departure to Google? Analyst Krista Macomber offers an inside look. HAMPTON, NH. – Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) is strengthening its alliances with developers and partners to raise its profile through OpenStack cloud infrastructure and management Red Hat continues making incremental progress in driving higher-value and higher-profile engagements with customers by evolving its expertise in...

Editor’s note: Krista Macomber is an analyst with Technology Business Research. HAMPTON, N.H. – Noting customer demand for payment flexibility and reduced processing fees, Dell is backing bitcoin to expand its customer base As of July 18, Dell is the largest company to accept digital peer-to-peer payment system bitcoin, with the PC giant accepting the currency as a payment method for consumer and SMB Dell.com purchases in the U.S. Although supporting bitcoin will help Dell expand its customer base in the consumer and SMB sectors by providing a wider selection of payment methods, TBR believes the announcement will have...

Editor’s note: Krista Macomber is an analyst with Technology Business Research. She goes inside EMC’s latest earnings report. EMC is a big tech employer in the Research Triangle Park, N.C. area. HAMPTON, N.H. - As EMC’s federated businesses make strides in targeted growth initiatives, long-term success will depend on careful go-to-market execution The EMC federation reported record second-quarter revenue of $5.9 billion during 2Q14, representing an increase of 4.7% over the year-ago quarter. Each of EMC’s federated businesses — EMC Information Infrastructure (EMC II), VMware, Pivotal and RSA — achieved growth, indicating success in evolving their portfolios and executing around...

Editor’s note: Krista Macomber, an analyst at Technology Business Research, analyzes Red Hat’s latest quarterly financial report, which exceeded Wall Street expectations. She projects more growth ahead. HAMPTON, N.H. –  With a focus on Linux evolution and OpenStack monetization, Red Hat will deliver double-digit revenue growth through 2015. Red Hat’s (NYSE: RHT) investments in sales headcount and cloud-focused engineers enabled successful execution of corporate cross-selling initiatives and helped revenue grow 16.7% year-to-year to $424 million during 2Q14. Subscription revenues climbed 18% year-to-year to $372 million during the quarter; within this segment, application development and emerging product licenses climbed 45% to...

Editor’s note: In its latest earnings report, NetApp (Nasdaq: NTAP) reported less than expected revenue but higher earnings. However, revenue projections were below Street consensus. Kris Macomber of Technology Business Research analyzes what’s up with NetApp, which has a huge campus in RTP. Two rounds of cost cutting have led to more than 1,000 layoffs over the past year across the company. HAMPTON, N.H. - NetApp remains true to its data management roots to navigate cloud disruption, but cost cutting will challenge long-term differentiation. NetApp closed its FY14 with fourth-quarter revenue down 4.7% year-to-year to $1.64 billion — close to...

Editor’s note: Krista Macomber is an analyst with Technology Business Research. She analyzes Red Hat’s acquisition last week of Inktank. HAMPTON, N.H. - Inktank rounds out Red Hat’s software-defined storage capabilities, and as a result will serve as a pillar to Red Hat’s OpenStack-led growth. Last week, Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) announced its intent to acquire open-source software-defined storage provider Inktank to strengthen OpenStack tie-ins to its corporate hybrid cloud and software-defined storage strategies. Inktank’s Ceph Enterprise platform positions Red Hat to enable the full range of software-defined object, block and file storage on commodity hardware — building on Red Hat’s...