RNG - This Is the Next Big Opportunity in Tech and Microsoft Is Leading the Pack
The past several years for the technology market have overwhelmingly been about cloud computing, with a generous helping of artificial intelligence on the side. Both industries will remain big tech focal points for the foreseeable future, too.
The advent of the coronavirus pandemic, however, has rushed another major technological trend into the spotlight. That's work-at-home tools and video conferencing platforms. Enough employers liked them before, but COVID-19-related shutdowns have all but forced businesses to fall in love with them.
Likewise, some big businesses have fallen in love with the idea of being the go-to solutions provider. One only has to look at last week's developments on the work-at-home front to realize to what degree companies are suddenly taking this opportunity very seriously. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) -- which didn't have a particularly unique role to play in the business world -- announced the acquisition of video conferencing service BlueJeans. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) requested a trademark for the term Google Meet at the same time it updated its virtual meeting platform Meet to integrate with Gmail and look more like the similar service offered by small rival Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM).