The weekend review: EVs and active defense
This week was a busy one for big executive transitions, as Steve Ballmer announced his imminent departure from Microsoft and HP reshuffled its corporate lineup (again), just ahead of its quarterly earnings call. Meanwhile, on GigaOM Research, our analysts have been focused on looking ahead, with an eye toward the electric vehicle and cybersecurity markets.
First, as the electric vehicle (EV) industry progresses beyond the nascent stage, it’s time for a close look at the market. We collaborated with Navigant Research’s Smart Transportation group to produce “Electric vehicle business models,” an analysis of the most promising business models in the market with a focus on identifying how the market can continue to expand and build its customer base and revenues. The report looks at vehicle sales and the thorny startup EV ecosystem, identifying key differences among the business models that led to Fisker’s downfall and Tesla’s relative success. Current and future market opportunities are also addressed, such as EVs in car-sharing programs, EV battery leasing, and other EV charging infrastructure issues that could determine the near-term success of EVs in the mainstream market.
Next, in “Proactive security: integrating active defense in cybersecurity,” Keren Elazari looks at the rising trend of proactive attack detection in the security industry as standard detection methods have become less reliant. Elazari defines active defense as a strategy that “preempts data breaches, identifies what the attackers are out to get, and makes it harder for them to get what they need,” and she identifies the technique as the new paradigm for corporations to protect their digital assets. With its roots in the military world, Elazari outlines the shift in corporate thinking and strategy as the private sector has adopted proactive methods for “mitigating cyberespionage,” and she delves into current options, use cases, and technical implementations at play in the enterprise. While some tactics currently verge on a legal gray area, Elazari is careful to highlight a series of cases where active defense has been put into place legally, including examples from Microsoft and the FBI.
Last, in “Evernote signs Telefonica as part of a smart strategy,” Stowe Boyd‘s latest weekly update, he weighs in on Evernote’s recently announced partnership with Telefonica, which will expand Evernote’s reach in Brazil (with other regions presumably to follow). It’s the latest in a series of smart deals that get Evernote in front of an increasingly global audience: Evernote has inked similar agreements with Asian and European carriers, in an effort to make its organization and productivity tools a global standard on par with Google and Dropbox. But besides being a smart business strategy, Boyd notes that it’s indicative of the fact that today, work is personal: The blurred lines between office and home are further obscured by the use of constantly connected mobile devices, and Evernote is wise to capitalize on this early and globally.
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