Best Buy has chosen Neal Sample, former Walgreens tech leader, as their new chief of digital, analytics and technology. He takes over from Brian Tilzer, who spent seven years building Best Buy's tech foundation.

The company faces economic pressures from new global trade rules and needs to be smart with money. Their sales in the US dropped slightly, and they've adjusted their expectations for the year.

Best Buy isn't slowing down on artificial intelligence though. Under the previous leader, they worked with Google Cloud and Accenture to create AI tools that help both customers and employees.

The results speak for themselves - customers are happier, and it costs less to help them. Best Buy reports fewer transferred calls and better satisfaction scores.

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The cloud computing market is changing in 2025, with two companies making waves: Cloudflare and Oracle. They're challenging the big three cloud providers (Amazon, Microsoft, and Google) in different ways.

Cloudflare makes it simple for developers to build and run applications. Their new container service lets developers run apps across their worldwide network with minimal setup.

They have servers in over 330 cities, which means faster response times for users worldwide. Instead of complex setups, developers can write code once and it works everywhere.

Oracle is growing by focusing on what they do best - databases and business software. They've added AI features to their database products, helping companies use AI with their private data.

They've also changed their approach by letting customers use Oracle products on other cloud platforms, making it easier for companies to choose Oracle.

These two companies show different paths to success in cloud computing. Cloudflare wins by making things simple for developers. Oracle succeeds by helping big companies use their existing data better.

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Cloud storage security shows both good and bad news, according to a recent Tenable report looking at data from late 2024 to early 2025.

The concerning part: About 1 in 10 public cloud storage spaces had sensitive information that should have been private. Amazon Web Services (AWS) had the most exposed data at 16.7%, followed by Google Cloud at 6.5% and Microsoft Azure at 3.2%.

The good news: More companies are using better security methods. Over 80% of AWS users now use identity-checking services to protect their data. Some interesting findings:

The report shows that while companies are getting better at protecting their cloud data, there's still work to be done to keep sensitive information safe.

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Accenture is making big changes to how it works. The company is taking five different parts of its business and putting them all together into one new group called "reinvention services."

This change comes as more companies want to use AI in their work, but are being careful with their spending. Here's what's happening:

The company is combining these groups:

Some key changes in leadership are also happening:

Money matters:

Companies are spending less on small tech projects but are still investing in big changes, especially those involving AI. This is happening while businesses deal with three main challenges:

Accenture's move shows how the tech industry is changing to help companies use AI while being smart with their money.

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We talk with Ido Kotler (CPO of Pelanor) about how artificial intelligence is radically transforming financial operations in the Cloud. From smart alerts to autonomous agents, discover why the future of FinOps depends on AI more than you might think.

The big cloud providers are seeing a shift in what customers want. Companies now care more about basic features than fancy new tools.

AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud have always tried to win customers by showing off new, complex features. But when we look at what companies actually use, it's much simpler.

Even with AI, which was supposed to make the big providers stand out, the difference between providers is getting smaller. Smaller cloud companies now offer similar AI tools, often at lower prices.

Cost is becoming a major concern. As companies use more cloud services, their bills get bigger and more complex. This makes many businesses question if they need to pay extra for big-name providers.

Other options are gaining ground:

What does this mean? Cloud computing is becoming more like a basic service, similar to electricity. Companies care more about reliable service and good prices than having the newest features.

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A large financial company learned a tough lesson about moving too quickly to cloud computing. They wanted to move everything from their mainframes to the cloud, ignoring their experienced mainframe team's warnings.

The results were not good:

They had to bring back their mainframe experts and return key work to the mainframes. Only then did things improve.

Mainframes are still very important for big banks, governments, and insurance companies. They're really good at:

The best approach combines both mainframes and cloud:

Don't throw away something that works well just because something new comes along. Success comes from using both old and new technologies wisely.

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Developer Advocate at Upbound, a member of the Google Developer Experts, GitHub Stars, And CD Foundation groups, and published author.

His big passions are DevOps, Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices, Continuous Integration, Delivery and Deployment (CI/CD) and Test-Driven Development (TDD).

He often speaks at community gatherings and conferences.

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