2018 was an unmatched year for the tech industry, with several sectors including artificial intelligence (AI), big data and analytics garnering increased investment and innovation. With 90 percent of enterprises already investing in AI technologies, the steady momentum shows immense opportunities for growth – for both technology providers as well as the customers they serve. Databricks, the leader in unified analytics and founded by the original creators of Apache Spark^TM, sees 2019 as the year that more companies solve the world’s toughest data problems that have hindered AI initiatives across industries. This perspective is shared by data thought leaders who advise on AI, big data and analytics trends that inspired them in 2018, and those on the horizon for 2019:

ClearCube Technology, Inc. an American technology leader in centralized computing and desktop virtualization announces at Citrix Summit 2019 in Orlando, the launch of the new C3xPi Thin Client. The only low-cost, virus-proof, single-case dual monitor thin client in the market, based on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, has been verified as Citrix Ready.

The C3xPi Thin Client features include Cloud Desktop Operating System, 1.4 GHz Broadcom BCM2837B0 64-bit CPU, 8 GB high-speed microSD card, and Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU and two full-size HDMI® 1.3 ports for graphics and full-motion HD video playback (1920 ×1080) on two displays. Network features include Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11.b/g/n/ac WLAN, and Bluetooth 4.2 (BLE). Additional connectors include three USB 2.0 ports and one 3.5 mm audio jack.

"Performance is fast: From unboxing to working on Citrix desktops, it’s just a matter of minutes", said Doug Layne VP of Global Sales. "Its high speed and performance, breadth of networking features, and its low cost make the C3xPi a compelling VDI solution for many Citrix customer use cases like enterprise, education, healthcare, state and local government, and kiosk applications" he said.

Morpheus Data today announced that it has been recognized as a Leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Management Platforms based on its ability to execute and completeness of vision.

"Morpheus is thrilled to have been named a Leader in this first-ever Gartner Magic Quadrant for CMP," said Brad Parks, VP Business Development at Morpheus Data. "The demand for unified multi-cloud orchestration and DevOps automation has never been greater. We believe the placement in the report, as well as scores in the Critical Capabilities use cases, are a testament to our engineering roots as a tool built by practitioners to solve real-world problems."

[ Watch this video interview with Morpheus Data from VMworld to learn more ]

Enterprises undertaking digital transformation initiatives often struggle due to an increasingly difficult set of opposing forces, including development and operations conflicts, on-premises and public cloud options, as well as traditional and cloud-native application frameworks.

Red Hat, Inc., the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the general availability of Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4, the latest version of its enterprise framework for automating across IT operations including infrastructure, networks, cloud and security. Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4 includes workflow enhancements including nested workflows and workflow convergence, designed to simplify challenges inherent in managing complex hybrid cloud infrastructure.

With Red Hat’s management portfolio, including Red Hat Satellite for Red Hat Enterprise Linux management and Red Hat CloudForms for bare metal, virtual machine and private cloud operations, integrated with Red Hat Ansible Tower, IT teams are able to more consistently orchestrate workflows across their full enterprise IT infrastructure estate.

Small and mid-sized businesses across the Americas are making bold moves to the cloud as a way to compete with larger enterprises, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The ISG Provider Lens Cloud Transformation/Operation Services & XaaS Report – Pan America finds many large enterprises are struggling to exchange their "legacy crown jewel" IT systems for more innovative business models. But smaller businesses see the cloud as offering them easily available and affordable tools, including analytics and cognitive computing, the report said.

"Infrastructure costs and access to technology were once barriers to competition, but the cloud allows access to a broad range of software, platforms and services," said Esteban Herrera, partner and global leader of ISG Research.