Happy Friday, everyone! Miss the news? Don’t worry, the SDxCentral weekly news roundup is here to deliver the news bits surrounding software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), and more. Get ready, ‘cuz it’s coming atcha:

During AzureCon -- an online conference held by Microsoft -- the company announced updated features for its public cloud, Azure, including application container workloads, IoT endeavors, new VMs, and the possibility of offering graphics processing units (GPUs) for extra compute firepower. Mesosphere, the application container based on Docker and Apache Mesos, will make its debut by the end of the year.

VMware issued a security alert regarding versions 5.0, 5.1, and 5.5 of both vCenter and ESXi.

An HP memo obtained by Re/code outlined plans for the cloud organizations of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The cloud R&D and cloud product management groups will be folded into HPE's software organization, while cloud go-to-market will become part of HPE's Enterprise Group. HPE will come into being on Nov. 1, when HP divides in two.

EMC will get most of October to decide how to respond to demands by activist hedge fund Elliott Management, sources told Reuters.

Palo Alto Networks welcomed retired U.S. Army Major General John Davis and Sir Iain Lobban to the team as federal chief security officer and a member of the public sector advisory council, respectively. Both are decorated military and intelligence leaders with years of experience in cybersecurity.

Mirantis unveiled OpenStack 7.0, based on Kilo, in an effort to focus on Day-2 operations. The company hypes the release as "the most stable Mirantis OpenStack release so far."

Cisco announced the acquisition of a UK-based consultancy that offers cybersecurity assistance in the government sector. Portcullis Computer Security, Ltd. is expected to come under the Cisco umbrella in Cisco's second quarter (which ends in January), but other details about the deal were not released.

Riverbed released results of a survey at this year's VMworld that prodded respondents about  SDN and SD-WAN plans. More than 75 percent of those surveyed were already looking into or using SDN, while one-third are exploring or deploying SD-WAN.

Apple, Docker, and LinkedIn joined forces to cultivate talent for software engineering by announcing the Holberton School. Acting as an alternative to "typical" schooling, Holberton looks to train full-stack software engineering in a two-year program. The model, based on a system used in Europe, is to bring more talent and diversity to the industry.

Corsa SDN metering and QoS features are now a part of Energy Sciences Network's 100 Gb/s testbed.

NetStar partnered with Qosmos to integrate NetStar inCompass with Qosmos ixEngine.

Here’s what else SDxCentral covered lately: