Analyst's Research
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Analyst Photo
Al Gillen
Program Vice President, System Software

Team:
Client Computing
Directions 2012 (U.S) Participating Analysts
IDC Predictions Team
Infrastructure
Open Source
Virtualization
Worldwide Software Research
Microsoft's FY 3Q13 Earnings: A Balanced Portfolio Strategy Prevails
Rajani Singh, Al Gillen
May 2013 - Doc # lcUS24102213      IDC Link
Outperforming analysts and Wall Street's expectations in most of the financial metrics, Microsoft reported on April 18, 2013, 18% year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, settling at $20.5 billion, with gross prof ...
Worldwide Private Cloud IT Infrastructure 2013–2017 Forecast
Mary Johnston Turner, Richard L. Villars, Jed Scaramella, Rohit Mehra, Laura DuBois, Dan Iacono, Al Gillen, Gary Chen, John Grady, Tim Grieser, Matthew Eastwood
Apr 2013 - Doc # 240624      Market Analysis
This IDC study presents our first five-year forecast for the worldwide private cloud IT infrastructure market. IDC estimates this market totaled $12.3 billion in 2012 and will increase to more than $22.2 billion in 2017. This is the firs ...
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Worldwide Public Cloud Enabling IT Infrastructure 2013–2017 Forecast
Mary Johnston Turner, Richard L. Villars, Jed Scaramella, Rohit Mehra, Laura DuBois, Dan Iacono, Al Gillen, Gary Chen, John Grady, Tim Grieser, Matthew Eastwood
Apr 2013 - Doc # 240635      Market Analysis
This IDC study presents an updated five-year forecast for the worldwide public cloud enabling IT infrastructure market. IDC estimates this market totaled $9.2 billion in 2012 and will increase to more than $20.1 billion in 2017. This is ...
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The Windows 8 Challenge: Being All Things to All People
Brett Waldman, Al Gillen
Feb 2013 - Doc # 238679      Insight
This IDC Insight looks at the recent launch of Windows 8 and how Microsoft has been marketing the new version of its operating system and how Microsoft can improve its messaging going forward.

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Microsoft Q2 Financials: A Record Quarter for the Wrong Reasons
Al Gillen, David Daoud, Rajani Singh, Susan G. Middleton
Jan 2013 - Doc # lcUS23924613      IDC Link
Microsoft’s financial reporting for its second quarter of fiscal 2013, which ended December 31, 2012, showed a dramatic recovery from the previous quarter’s disappointing $16 billion tally, with a record-high $21.5 billion in revenue for th ...
Worldwide Operating Systems and Subsystems 2012–2016 Forecast Update
Al Gillen
Dec 2012 - Doc # 238736      Forecast Update
This IDC Forecast Update presents an updated five-year forecast for revenue associated with the operating systems and subsystems market. It updates the previous operating systems and subsystems revenue forecast published in Worldwide ...
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IDC Predictions 2013: System Infrastructure Software
Al Gillen, Jean S. Bozman, Gary Chen, Iris Feng, Tim Grieser, Mary Johnston Turner, Brett Waldman
Dec 2012 - Doc # WC20121213      Event Proceeding
IDC's System Infrastructure Software team presents its annual Top 10 Predictions Web conference. In this presentation, the team will address hot topics such as the growing use of open source cloud system software, the changing dynamics o ...
Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Operating Environments, 2012 — Morphing into the Emerging 3rd Platform
Al Gillen
Dec 2012 - Doc # 238610      IDC Presentation: Forecast
This IDC Presentation includes an overview of the operating environment market and considers the dynamics of the market in 2011 and 2012, the key competitors, and macrotrends such as the impact of cloud computing, virtualization, and the ...
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Worldwide System Infrastructure Software 2013 Top 10 Predictions
Al Gillen, Mary Johnston Turner, Tim Grieser, Brett Waldman, Gary Chen, Iris Feng, Jean S. Bozman
Dec 2012 - Doc # 238121      Top 10 Predictions
This IDC study provides IDC's top 10 predictions for the system infrastructure software market for 2013. It discusses how the convergence of virtualization, cloud, automation, analytics, and the consumerization of IT are setting the stag ...
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Operating Systems Used in Clouds: Legacy Investments Count for Something
Al Gillen, Jean S. Bozman
Nov 2012 - Doc # 237778      Survey
This IDC study discusses the use of operating systems through a transition from an in-house captive datacenter to a cloud-based deployment. This study draws on data collected as part of IDC's Server Platform Migration Study ...
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Sinofsky Out: Surprise or Not?
Al Gillen, Tom Mainelli
Nov 2012 - Doc # lcUS23786712      IDC Link
The sudden departure of Steven Sinofsky adds significant fuel to the firestorm discussion of whether Windows 8 will be successful or — intentional or not — casts a cloud over the Windows 8 product only two weeks after the formal launch of t ...
Microsoft's 1Q FY13 Earnings Summary: The Windows 8 Factor
Rajani Singh, Al Gillen, David Daoud
Oct 2012 - Doc # lcUS23749712      IDC Link
Consistent with IDC's projected and preliminary PC market performance for the third quarter of 2012, Microsoft reported on October 18, 2012, an 8% year-over-year revenue decline for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, settling at $16.008 ...
Worldwide Client and Server Operating Environments 2012–2016 Forecast: The Changing Dynamics and Demographics
Al Gillen, Iris Feng
Aug 2012 - Doc # 236428      Market Analysis
This IDC study reviews shipment growth of the overall client and server operating environments market during 2011, and it also provides a shipment and installed base forecast through 2016. Revenue growth is measured through 2010, with re ...
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Worldwide Linux Client and Server Operating Environments 2012–2016 Forecast and 2011 Vendor Shares: Digging in for the Long Term
Al Gillen, Iris Feng
Jul 2012 - Doc # 236064      Market Analysis
This IDC study reviews the growth of the Linux client operating environment and Linux server operating environment market during 2011 and provides a shipment and installed base forecast through 2016.: "Linux has clearly established ...
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Worldwide Windows Server Operating Environments 2012–2016 Forecast: Windows Server 2012 Ups Microsoft's Competitiveness
Al Gillen
Jul 2012 - Doc # 235571      Market Analysis
This IDC study reviews the growth of the Windows Server product family during 2011 and provides shipment and installed base forecast through 2016 for Windows server operating environment products.: "Windows Server 2012 looks like a ...
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Windows Server 2012: Available in Black and White
Al Gillen
Jul 2012 - Doc # lcUS23585712      IDC Link
Responding to shifting market requirements, on July 5, 2012, Microsoft revamped licensing and use rights for its forthcoming Windows Server 2012 product.This move includes a number of related adjustments, the most visible of which is the di ...
Worldwide Windows Client Operating Environment2012–2016 Forecast: Will Windows 8 Be a Boom or a Bust for Microsoft?
Al Gillen
Jun 2012 - Doc # 235549      Market Analysis
This IDC study provides a top-down sizing of the Windows client operating environment segment of the worldwide operating systems and subsystems market in 2011, with a 2012–2016 forecast for the Windows client operating environment market ...
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Microsoft Announces Surface-Branded Windows 8 and Windows RT Tablets
Tom Mainelli, Al Gillen, Danielle Levitas
Jun 2012 - Doc # lcUS23550112      IDC Link
Microsoft announced plans Monday to launch two self-branded tablets — one called Surface for Windows RT and one called Surface for Windows 8 Pro — later this year. The announcement, made at an invitation-only press event reminiscent of past ...
AWS Cites Seven Transformations of Cloud
Al Gillen
Apr 2012 - Doc # lcUS23452512      IDC Link
On April 19, 2012, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit kicked off in New York. As one of the industry’s leading cloud providers since 2006, Amazon has invented new services to expand its set of cloud offerings with little direct competitio ...
The Emergence of the 3rd Platform: How Is System Software Impacted?
Al Gillen, Gary Chen, Jean S. Bozman
Apr 2012 - Doc # 234111      Industry Development and Models
This IDC study considers the forthcoming broad industry movement to what IDC calls the 3rd Platform and the impact of that movement on the server side of next-generation solutions. The 3rd Platform is the next-generation compute platform ...
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Leveraging Open Source Big Data for Fun and Profit: What Can Linux Teach Us?
Dan Vesset, Al Gillen
Mar 2012 - Doc # DR2012_T2_DV      Event Proceeding
The following was presented at the IDC Directions conferences in San Jose and Boston in March 2012.

Microsoft Revs Up Windows 8 Excitement with Consumer Release
Brett Waldman, Al Gillen
Mar 2012 - Doc # lcUS23353312      IDC Link
After months of relative silence, Microsoft has started to rev up the discussion around the forthcoming Windows 8 rollout, most recently with a broad release of beta code in conjunction with a consumer preview event held in Barcelona on Feb ...
NComputing: From Hardware to Software — Providing an End-to-End Client Virtualization Solution
Al Gillen, Brett Waldman
Feb 2012 - Doc # 233023      Vendor Profile
This IDC Vendor Profile examines virtualization and thin-client provider NComputing and considers the market opportunity for companies in this market space.

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Windows 8 on ARM: Important New Disclosures
Al Gillen, Tom Mainelli, Al Hilwa
Feb 2012 - Doc # lcUS23318012      IDC Link
Microsoft quietly made several Windows 8 on ARM (WOA) announcements that could help redraw the PC and media tablet markets over the course of the next two years. In a blog post that went live February 9, Windows client chief Steven Sinofsky ...
IDC's Worldwide Cloud System Software Taxonomy, 2012
Gary Chen, Al Gillen
Feb 2012 - Doc # 232819      Industry Development and Models
This IDC study provides a detailed description of IDC's cloud system software market taxonomy. This taxonomy provides technology definitions as well as a description of IDC's approach to segmenting the cloud software market. IDC's cloud ...
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Microsoft Q2 Financial Results: Still a Relevant Company
Al Gillen
Jan 2012 - Doc # lcUS23275312      IDC Link
I have fielded a number of press calls in recent months asking me a simple question: Is Microsoft still a relevant company? The question invariably originates from one of two directions: because Microsoft is so late to the tablet market and ...
System Center 2012 Licensing Optimized for Private Cloud
Mary Johnston Turner, Al Gillen
Jan 2012 - Doc # lcUS23272012      IDC Link
On January 17, 2012, Microsoft announced it had delivered the Release Candidate version of System Center 2012, which the firm described as being optimized to build and manage application-focused private clouds. Microsoft also introduced a n ...
IDC Predictions 2012: System Infrastructure Software
Al Gillen, Jean S. Bozman, Frederick W. Broussard, Gary Chen, Tim Grieser, Mary Johnston Turner, Brett Waldman
Dec 2011 - Doc # WC20111215      Event Proceeding
IDC's System Infrastructure Software team presents its annual Top 10 Predictions Web conference. In this presentation, we will address hot topics such as the rapid advance of private cloud deployments, the impact from the expected releas ...
Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Operating Environments, 2011: The Era of Cloud
Al Gillen, Brett Waldman
Dec 2011 - Doc # 232151      IDC Presentation: Forecast
This IDC Presentation includes an overview of the Operating Environments market, and considers the dynamics of the market in 2010 and 2011, the key competitors, and macro trends such as the impact of cloud computing and virtualization. T ...
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Oracle Solaris 11, Aimed at Cloud Deployments, Enhances Network Virtualization
Jean S. Bozman, Al Gillen
Dec 2011 - Doc # lcUS23195211      IDC Link
Oracle's announcement of Oracle Solaris 11 deepened the operating system's support for server, storage and network virtualization, even as it carried forward support for earlier generations of Solaris applications for SPARC and x86 server p ...
Worldwide System Infrastructure Software 2012 Top 10 Predictions
Mary Johnston Turner, Al Gillen, Tim Grieser, Brett Waldman, Gary Chen, Frederick W. Broussard, Jean S. Bozman
Dec 2011 - Doc # 231593      Top 10 Predictions
This IDC study provides IDC's top 10 predictions for the system infrastructure software market for 2012 and how the convergence of virtualization, cloud, automation, analytics, and the consumerization of IT are setting the stage for majo ...
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