Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Collaborate on Cloud Computing Initiative

Three of the giant tech companies namely Microsoft, Google, and Amazon that rely heavily on cloud computing have announced an industry initiative that covers protections of customer data contained in cloud computing services and abides by governmental regulations.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and several other companies have committed to engaging in protecting cloud-based data, reported CNET. The initiative is called the Trusted Cloud Principles and consists of guidelines regarding government access and customer rights and protections.

Key points include that governments should, with very few exceptions, always engage customers first, that customers should have a right to notice, that cloud providers should have the right to protect customers’ interests, that the responsibility of resolving conflicts of law falls on government, and that governments should support and enable cross-border flows of data.

“Through this initiative, we commit to working with governments to ensure the free flow of data, to promote public safety, and to protect privacy and data security in the cloud,” Microsoft wrote in a LinkedIn post about the new initiative, called the Trusted Cloud Principles.

Putnam’s PGRO Invests in the Cloud Computing Thematic

The Putnam Focused Large Cap Growth ETF (PGRO) is an actively managed, non-diversified fund that focuses on large, growth-oriented U.S. companies that profit in the midst of recovery and a growing economy, and it invests along 12 different growth themes.

The fund selects companies similar in size to those in the Russell 1000 Growth Index whose market caps are between $2 billion and $2.1 trillion. Putnam Investment considers a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows, and dividends when buying and selling investments.

As a semi-transparent fund using the Fidelity model, PGRO does not disclose its current holdings daily. Instead, it publishes a tracking basket of previously disclosed holdings, liquid ETFs that mirror the portfolio’s investment strategy, and cash and cash equivalents. The tracking portfolio is designed to track the actual fund portfolio’s overall performance closely, and actual portfolio reports are released monthly.

One of the growth themes is a focus on cloud infrastructure and software, and it recognizes that businesses continue to move their IT systems from local databases onto cloud-based ones. Microsoft’s Azure is the second most widely used cloud computer service behind Amazon’s Web Services, and Putnam believes that Azure has the potential to reach over 30% growth by 2023 per their thematic brochure.