Constellation Insights

Microsoft looks to seed quantum developer base: In September, Microsoft laid out its quantum computing vision, which included the unveiling of Q#, a new programming language. Now Microsoft is hoping to get its large base of Visual Studio developers working on quantum projects with the release of a counterpart toolkit.

Classical computers are binary, storing bits as either a one or a zero. But quantum systems take advantage of the behavior of subatomic particles, which can hold multiple states in a phenomena known as that stands to give quantum systems vast amounts of processing power.

The new toolkit is "deeply integrated" with Microsoft's Visual Studio IDE, comes with a set of libraries and tutorials, and also includes a quantum simulator that runs on a laptop. For bigger quantum projects, Microsoft has a simulator that runs on Azure. Any quantum applications written with the kit will be future-proofed in a sense, as they'll work on general-purpose quantum hardware now under development at Microsoft.

POV: Microsoft has been working on quantum computing for more than 10 years. Still, it is playing catchup somewhat to rivals such as IBM, who has already pledged to have commercial quantum systems to market in just a few years. Google says it is getting close to reaching "quantum supremacy," referring to a quantum system that can complete a task faster than the world's most powerful classical supercomputers.

But giving millions of developers access to quantum tooling and educational resources now, consumable from within the familiar confines of Visual Studio, is a long and smart play from Microsoft. There are fundamental conceptual differences in programming a quantum system that the vast majority of developers will need to wrap their heads around. The toolkit and language, which will surely be continuously refined, provide an abstraction layer that gives developers a head start.

Google Cloud Platform plays catchup on MSP ecosystem: In a move that both suggests increased interest from enterprises and acknowledges their needs, Google Cloud Platform is steadily increasing the number of managed service providers in its orbit.

In March, Google announced that Rackspace would be GCP's first MSP; today, that number has grown to 12. While not a jaw-dropping total, it's nonethless progress for GCP's ecosystem and a sign that partners are becoming more willing to make their own substantial investments in building out GCP practices. Here's how Google describes the MSP program:

From hands-on support to the ongoing operation of customer workloads, these partners offer proactive services to both large and small cloud adopters. With their staff of dedicated technical experts, MSPs can tackle high-touch projects, covering engagement to migration and execution, to post-planning and ongoing optimization. Specifically, Google Cloud MSPs offer at minimum:

Consulting, assessment, implementation, monitoring and optimization services 

24x7x365 support with enterprise-grade SLAs 

L1, L2, L3 tiered support models 

Certified support engineers

One big addition to the ranks is Accenture. The rest is a mix of smaller companies: Cascadeo, Claranet, Cloudreach, DoIT International, Go Reply, Pythian, RightScale, SADA Systems, Sutherland and Taos.

POV: A robust MSP ecosystem is a proof point that a platform has matured and has market traction. As for GCP, 12 MSPs on board is certainly better than one, but to compete for more enterprise business Google will need to grow the ecosystem significantly, both from an expertise and geographic availability perspective. Google says more MSP partner announcements are coming soon.

Internet pioneers throw a Net Neutrality hail Mary: Later this week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's board is expected to overturn net neutrality regulations along party lines. The vote seems inevitable (although net neutrality proponents have a number of options to pursue next), but a group of 21 well-known technologists are asking members of Congress to step in at the eleventh hour.

The group, which includes Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, has written an letter to members of the House and Senate committees for technology-related matters, with the rather tart title, "Internet Pioneers and Leaders Tell the FCC: You Don’t Understand How the Internet Works." Here is an excerpt from the letter:

This proposed Order would repeal key network neutrality protections that prevent Internet access providers from blocking content, websites and applications, slowing or speeding up services or classes of service, and charging online services for access or fast lanes to Internet access providers’ customers.

It is important to understand that the FCC’s proposed Order is based on a flawed and factually inaccurate understanding of Internet technology. These flaws and inaccuracies were documented in detail in a 43-page-long joint comment signed by over 200 of the most prominent Internet pioneers and engineers and submitted to the FCC on July 17, 2017.

Despite this comment, the FCC did not correct its misunderstandings, but instead premised the proposed Order on the very technical flaws the comment explained. The technically-incorrect proposed Order dismantles 15 years of targeted oversight from both Republican and Democratic FCC chairs, who understood the threats that Internet access providers could pose to open markets on the Internet.

POV: Net neutrality bars ISPs from slowing legal Internet traffic based on payments or other considerations. The rules passed in 2015 determined that Internet service should be governed under Title II of the Commmunications Act, a law that dates to 1934. Opponents argue that the rules overreach and are anticompetitive.

As for the group's letter, it's highly unlikely to have any effect on the vote but does serve to bring attention to the issue. It's a sure bet that once the FCC votes, net neutrality proponents will file a lawsuit and it's conceivable that the rule change will be stayed by the court pending an outcome. This debate is far from over.