Intel is soon going to land into the bad books of cloud companies. Because Meltdown and Spectre processor flaws have started to show their effect on the business, as some of its data center customers are looking to part ways by using microchips manufactured by its rivals.
As customers grow or the technology gets refreshed, new infrastructure is built by cloud companies in order to stay in competition with their business rivals. As a result, they need to say goodbye to the legacy systems and build new infrastructure as per the needs of their clients and customers.
According to IDC, from early this week, Intel has seen a slew of defectors who have either canceled their contracts or are not interested in going forward with the present ones.
And as a result of the security flaws, the processor giant is forced to offer discounts to new customers or to the prevailing ones in order to retain them.
In an interview given to CNBC on this issue, Backblaze, a San Mateo based cloud services provider admitted that it is looking for alternatives to Intel for its new data center. It was initially inclined towards working with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). But dropped its plan and is now seeking the help of British based company ARM Holdings.
As ARM provides equivalent computing power at a lower cost than x86, Backblaze is planning to go for a two year supply contract with the company by this month end.
Similarly, Infinitely Virtually, a Los Angeles based cloud computing vendor is also looking to replace Intel processors in its data center with other efficient brands. Adam Stern, the CEO of the company said that his company cannot afford loose customers just due to the Meltdown and Spectre flaws. So, is planning to replace the silicon chip vendor with another who has a good reputation in the market.
Thus, if Intel doesn’t step up and do something in this issue, it can lose most of its valued customers within no time.
Is someone listening from Intel….?
NOTE- AMD is also facing a similar situation and might follow the footsteps of Intel soon.
