excerpts below, full article here:
Wal-Mart uses some tech vendors' cloud apps that run on AWS, said Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Toporek. He declined to say which apps or how many, but acknowledged instances when Wal-Mart pushed for AWS alternatives.
"It shouldn't be a big surprise that there are cases in which we'd prefer our most sensitive data isn't sitting on a competitor's platform, " he said, adding that it's a "small number."
An Amazon spokeswoman referred to Wal-Mart's moves as attempts to "bully" tech suppliers. "Tactics like this are bad for business and customers,"
Snowflake Computing Inc., a data-warehousing service, was approached by a Wal-Mart client about handling its business from the retailer, Chief Executive Bob Muglia said. The catch: Snowflake had to run those services on Azure.
"They influence their vendors, which has influence on us," Mr. Muglia said of Wal-Mart.
The San Mateo, Calif., company had been developing an Azure offering, and "Wal-Mart has expedited our work," said Mr. Muglia, a former senior Microsoft executive. Snowflake won the business from Wal-Mart's client.
Other large retailers also have requested, as Wal-Mart did, that service providers move away from AWS, according to technology vendors that work with retailers.
While Wal-Mart's efforts aren't likely to staunch AWS's growth, it could boost rivals.
"People jump through hoops to do business with Wal-Mart all the time," said Robert Hetu, an analyst with the research firm Gartner Inc. "That should absolutely accelerate the competition from Azure."
It has, Microsoft said. "The nudge from Wal-Mart has been pretty consistent," said Judson Althoff, executive vice president in charge of Microsoft's global sales to business customers.
Lofty Labs, a software-development firm in Fayetteville, Ark., worked with a retail-analytics consulting company to build cloud-based forecasting tools for Wal-Mart. To win the business, Lofty Labs had to develop the application for Azure.
"That was a deal breaker," Lofty Labs President Casey Kinsey said. The service is the only one Lofty Labs ever developed to work on Azure. "Everybody knows that Wal-Mart will not play ball with you if you use AWS."
Submitted June 22, 2017 at 02:09AM by wanmoar http://ift.tt/2rTHZKp
