斯諾登效應成爲年科技業最大新聞

The top technology vendor story for 2014 does not involve a shiny new smartphone nor a new public cloud, but crudely rendered PowerPoint slides.

2014年科技行業的最大新聞不是關於一款閃亮的新智能手機，也不是一個新的公共雲服務，而是一堆不加掩飾呈現的PPT幻燈片。

Starting in June, a series of stories started documenting a global intelligence operation last seen on Showtime's 'Homeland.' Those PowerPoint slides, provided by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, taught businesses that the convenience of the cloud cuts both ways. By tapping into the pipes exiting data centers belonging to Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and other tech vendors, the NSA found a 'convenient' way to vacuum vast amounts of data. The NSA's reach was also revealed to extend to cellphone data

從6月份開始，一系列文章開始記述一場全球情報行動，這類行動通常只有在Showtime頻道播出的電視劇《國土安全》(Homeland)中才會看到。這些PPT幻燈片由美國國家安全局(NSA)曝光者斯諾登(Edward Snowden)提供，它們向企業顯示了雲服務的便利性有利也有弊。通過監控谷歌(Google Inc.)和微軟(Microsoft Corp.)等科技公司數據中心的數據傳輸通道，NSA發現了一種“便捷”的途徑獲得大量數據。有人披露，NSA監控的範圍還延伸到了手機數據。

In the wake of the revelations-henceforth called the 'Snowden Effect'- tech vendors have worked to identify and apply security fixes, while assuring clients that their data remains safe. Abroad, businesses and politicians have touted local solutions. But this is just the beginning. Mr. Snowden is said to retain many more documents and it is quite likely that the Snowden Effect will remain the top tech industry story of 2014.

事情曝光後（以下稱“斯諾登效應”），科技公司努力確定並使用安全補丁，同時向客戶保證他們的數據仍是安全的。在海外，企業和政界人士鼓吹局部解決方案。但這還只是開始而已。據說斯諾登手裏還有更多的文件，2014年斯諾登效應將很可能仍舊是科技行業的最大新聞。

Meanwhile tech vendors in 2013 had their hands full operating multi-billion-dollar businesses. While many of the younger companies have achieved success, traditional and legacy vendors have struggled. CIO Journal looks back at the most significant news generated by some of the world's leading tech giants in 2013.

與此同時，2013年科技公司忙於運營規模數十億美元的業務，分身乏術。很多創辦時間更短的公司取得了成功，而傳統老牌公司卻陷入困境。CIO Journal欄目回顧了2013年一些全球頂級科技巨頭製造的重大新聞。

Microsoft: Microsoft announced in August that CEO Steve Ballmer would retire in 12 months. Mr. Ballmer, who took the CEO reins from founder Bill Gates in 2000, is in the midst of transforming Microsoft from a PC-based software maker to a device and services company, with an emphasis on mobile and cloud computing. Mr. Ballmer admitted that evolution was taken too long, setting the stage for his departure. On Dec. 17, John Thompson, Microsoft's board director, said Microsoft would name Mr. Ballmer's replacement - from a pool of 20 people - in 2014.

微軟(Microsoft)：微軟8月份宣佈，首席執行長鮑爾默(Steve Ballmer)將在12個月後退休。鮑爾默2000年接替微軟創始人蓋茨(Bill Gates)出任首席執行長，他正在努力將微軟從一家基於個人電腦的軟件生產商轉變爲一家設備和服務公司，重點是移動和雲計算。鮑爾默承認，轉型花了太長的時間，這是他離職的原因之一。12月17日，微軟董事湯普森(John Thompson)說，2014年微軟將從20名人選中任命鮑爾默的繼任者。

Google: The company's biggest reveal this year was its strategy to place 'moonshot' bets on game-changing technology efforts, such as driverless cars. The company this year released to limited availability its Google Glass wearable computer. Google also unveiled Project Loon, an audacious effort to build a global network of high-altitude balloons that bring Internet access to people in remote areas. The company is also mounting a significant foray into robotics. Google is also targeting enterprise customers with cloud infrastructure software, which it released to general availability in December.

谷歌(Google)：該公司今年披露的最大一則消息是它計劃探索具有劃時代意義的科技領域，比如無人駕駛汽車。該公司今年限量推出了谷歌眼鏡(Google Glass)可穿戴電腦。谷歌還發布了“Project Loon”，這是一項構建一個全球高空氣球網絡的大膽計劃，使偏遠地區的人們也可以上網。該公司還將大舉進軍機器人學領域。谷歌還面向企業客戶推出雲基礎設施軟件，12月份全面推出。

Apple Inc.: For Apple, it was another year, another refresh of its iPhone and iPad. In September, Apple's iPhone 5S received plaudits for its fingerprint scanning technology, which promises to make it easier and more secure for users to log in to their device. Announced in October, the iPad Air is a thinner, lighter but souped-up version of its market-leading tablet computer. The company also lured Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts to run its retail and online store businesses. But CEO Tim Cook, along with the company's stock price, took some hits for failing to bring the long-rumored Apple TV product to market. However, he hinted that a wearable computer of some sort could be on the horizon. Anyone up for an iWatch?

蘋果(Apple Inc.)：對蘋果來說，2013年是新的一年，是iPhone和iPad更新換代的又一年。9月份，蘋果的iPhone 5S憑藉其指紋識別技術獲得了好評。指紋識別技術可以使用戶更輕鬆、更安全地登陸設備。10月份，蘋果發佈了iPad Air，這是其領先市場的平板電腦的最新款，更薄、更輕，但功能更強大。該公司還請來博柏利(Burberry)首席執行長阿倫茨(Angela Ahrendts)負責其零售和網絡商店業務。但由於蘋果沒有推出外界猜測已久的蘋果電視(Apple TV)，首席執行長庫克(Tim Cook)受到質疑，該公司的股價也受到了一定的打擊。不過，庫克暗示，可能有望推出一款可穿戴電腦。有人想要一個iWatch嗎？

Hewlett-Packard Co.: Hewlett-Packard Co. faced significant challenges in 2013, the second full year in CEO Meg Whitman's multi-year turnaround plan. The company said it would focus on making more competitive servers, storage and networking gear, as well as analytics software. Although H-P is accelerating research and development to boost sales, smaller commodity hardware and cloud software rivals are pressuring the company. Disappointing sales in H-P's enterprise group prompted Ms. Whitman in August to replace division head David Donatelli. In November, H-P posted weaker fourth-quarter sales, the ninth consecutive top-line decline. Ms. Whitman said 2014 would be a 'pivotal year' for H-P.

惠普(Hewlett-Packard Co.)：2013年惠普遭遇了相當大的挑戰，這是首席執行長惠特曼(Meg Whitman)推出多年業務扭轉計劃後的第二個整年。該公司說，它將專注於生產更有競爭力的服務器、存儲設備和聯網設備，以及分析軟件。儘管惠普正在加快研發以便推動銷售，但規模較小的商業硬件和雲軟件競爭對手正向該公司施加壓力。惠普企業集團令人失望的銷售促使惠特曼今年8月份撤換了部門主管多納泰利(David Donatelli)。11月份，惠普說第四季度銷售收入下滑，這是連續第九個月營收下滑。惠特曼說，2014年對惠普來說將是至關重要的一年。

IBM Corp.: Like H-P, IBM Corp. is shaking up leadership as it struggles in some of its core businesses. Following disappointing third-quarter results in October, CEO Virginia Rometty reassigned James Bramante, the IBM senior vice president who ran growth markets. IBM has missed Wall Street's revenue targets in six of the last seven quarters. IBM also disappointed some customers, some in grand fashion. In August, the premier of the state of Queensland in Australia, Campbell Newman, said he had banned IBM from entering into new contracts with the state until it improved its governance and contracting practices. The company has also been at loggerheads with state officials in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Texas over technology implementations.

國際商業機器公司(IBM Corp.)：與惠普一樣，在一些核心業務上舉步維艱的IBM也正在重組領導層。今年10月發佈了令人失望的第三季度業績之後，IBM首席執行長羅梅蒂(Virginia Rometty)將負責成長市場的高級副總裁布拉曼特(James Bramante)調職。IBM在過去七個季度中有六個季度都未達到華爾街預計的營收目標。IBM還讓一些客戶感到失望，有時候是大失所望。今年8月，澳大利亞昆士蘭州州長紐曼(Campbell Newman)說，他已經禁止IBM與該州簽訂新合約，直到IBM改善治理和承包業務爲止。IBM還與美國賓夕法尼亞、印第安那和德克薩斯州的官員在技術實施的問題上發生爭執。

Dell Inc.: Following a contentious buyout battle with Carl Icahn and other investors, Dell Inc. went private in November to work on its strategic reinvention as a cloud software and services company. The company is helping customers pick and integrate public cloud software from vendors such as Microsoft and Google. To cultivate innovation, the company is investing $300 million over the next several years in startups. Dell said it hopes this effort will generate capital gains for the company, while providing a window into emerging technologies in cloud, security, storage, mobility and analytics.

戴爾(Dell Inc.)：經過了與伊坎(Carl Icahn)和其他投資者頗具爭議的私有化之爭後，戴爾於今年11月完成了私有化目標，力圖實現向一家雲軟件和服務公司的戰略性轉變。戴爾正幫主客戶挑選並整合來自微軟(Microsoft)和谷歌(Google)等供應商的公共雲軟件。爲了促進創新，戴爾將在未來幾年向初創公司投資3億美元。戴爾說，希望這樣的舉措能夠爲公司帶來資本收益，並打開一扇通往雲、安全、存儲、移動和分析等方面的新興科技的窗口。

Oracle Corp.: Oracle CEO Larry Ellison infamously skipped his final keynote at the business software maker's customer conference in September to watch his yacht take the America's Cup. The move overshadowed major announcements the company made at Oracle OpenWorld, including a deal to run Oracle software on Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud service. In an acknowledgment that more software is moving to the cloud, Oracle in June partnered with rival Inc. to integrate business applications in the cloud. Oracle in December acquired Responsys Inc., a maker of cloud marketing software, for $1.5 billion.

甲骨文(Oracle Corp.)：甲骨文首席執行長埃利森(Larry Ellison)今年9月份爲了觀看他的遊艇參加美洲盃帆船賽(America’s Cup)而取消了在公司客戶大會上的終場發言，這個頗受非議的舉動給甲骨文在Oracle OpenWorld大會上宣佈的重大消息蒙上了陰影，其中包括在微軟Windows Azure雲服務平臺上運行甲骨文軟件的協議。在認識到越來越多的軟件正在轉向雲服務之後，甲骨文於今年6月份與競爭對手 Inc.合作，整合了雲服務商業應用。甲骨文今年12月份以15億美元收購了雲營銷軟件生產商Responsys Inc.。

SAP AG: On the whole, it was a relatively quiet year for SAP, the enterprise software maker that is the frequent target of Mr. Ellison's ire. The company made available its HANA in-memory database to run predictive analytics against data housed in SAP's business software. The company also rolled out a cloud version of HANA for businesses. Also significant: SAP said Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-CEO with Bill McDermott, will swap his current role for a position on SAP's supervisory board in May 2014. But SAP also closed out 2013 with some bad news. Avon Products Inc. said it is cancelling a $125 million SAP software system after sales workers in Canada left because it proved too onerous to their routines.

SAP AG：總的來說，今年對SAP AG是平淡的一年，這家企業軟件生產商經常成爲埃利森憤怒的目標。SAP AG讓其HANA內存數據庫可以對SAP商業軟件內包含的數據進行預測性分析。該公司還面向企業推出了HANA的雲服務版本。同樣值得注意的是：SAP宣佈與孟鼎銘(Bill McDermott)共同擔任首席執行長的施傑翰(Jim Hagemann Snabe)將在2014年5月從當前職位調任SAP監督委員會的一個職位。但SAP今年也有一些壞消息。雅芳(Avon Products Inc.)宣佈將取消一個1.25億美元的SAP軟件系統，因爲雅芳駐加拿大的許多銷售人員覺得這個系統對他們的日常工作來說過於繁瑣，因而辭去了工作。

Inc.: Cloud software maker spent the last seven years buying companies in marketing engagement, social media, and human resources. In June, it paid $2.5 billion for ExactTarget, its biggest acquisition to date. In November, the company revealed how those purchases fit into its Salesforce1 strategy. Its mission is enabling sales workers to collaborate with coworkers to sell products and services, at any time, from any device, through 's cloud platform. In addition to the Oracle deal, also partnered with H-P to run software on the systems provider's infrastructure.

Inc.：這家雲軟件生產商過去七年一直在收購市場營銷、社交媒體和人力資源方面的公司。今年6月，該公司斥資25億美元收購了ExactTarget，這是該公司迄今最大的收購行動。11月，該公司披露了這些收購行動與其Salesforce1戰略相融合的情況。其任務是讓銷售人員能夠通過的雲平臺與同事協作，在任何時間、通過任何設備銷售產品和服務。除了與甲骨文的交易，還與惠普合作，在後者的基礎架構上運行軟件。

BlackBerry Ltd.: Perhaps no company has endured a more difficult time in 2013 than BlackBerry Ltd., whose business has stumbled as the iPhone and Android phones have soared. After failing to sell many phones based on its revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system, the company in November abandoned a $4.7 billion plan to go private, choosing to continue as a public company with new leadership. BlackBerry replaced CEO Thorsten Heins, who failed to right the ship after he was promoted from within to turn the company around almost two years ago, with former Sybase Inc. CEO John Chen. On Dec. 20, BlackBerry reported a $4.4 billion third-quarter loss quarter, after which Mr. Chen said 2014 would be an 'investment' year for the company.

黑莓(BlackBerry Ltd.)：或許2013年沒有哪個公司的境況比黑莓更糟，黑莓的業務隨着iPhone和安卓手機的迅速崛起而步履蹣跚。由於採用改進版黑莓10操作系統的手機銷量不佳，該公司今年11月放棄了規模47億美元的私有化方案，選擇在新領導層管理下保持上市公司身份。黑莓撤掉了首席執行長海因斯(Thorsten Heins)，他在近兩年前從公司內部晉升這一職位，但未能讓公司調整好方向。取代海因斯的是前Sybase Inc.首席執行長John Chen。12月20日，黑莓宣佈第三季度虧損44億美元，之後Chen說，2014年將是黑莓的“投資年”。