Public cloud was flying high as we turned the corner from 2016 to 2017. Amazon Web Services continues to be a dominant force, while a research report said the public cloud services market grew at a 50 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. There was other big news during the week from other players in the technology space.

50 percent – Annual growth rate in the public cloud services market during the fourth quarter of 2016, according to Synergy Research. The market surpassed $7 billion during the quarter. Meanwhile, financial data revealed the hyper-scale cloud providers chasing the industry's leader, Amazon Web Services (AWS), are gaining market share, but they're taking it from smaller players, Synergy said.

$14 billion – Annual run rate for Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud during the fourth quarter of 2016, even as its pace of growth slightly fell short of those in previous quarters, Amazon reported. AWS released more than 300 new features released on the cloud platform in the quarter, and more than 1,000 during the year, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said during the company's Q4 earnings call. Rapid innovation remains Amazon's primary strategy for winning new users to its cloud, Olsavsky said.

17 percent – Expected year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter for security vendor Fortinet after it reported solid fourth-quarter earnings, crediting the sales force reorganization it undertook last year that it says is now paying off. CEO Ken Xie said North American enterprise sales improved during the quarter due to enhancements around marketing, lead generation and channel programs.

$2.69 billion – Annual sales in 2016 for solution provider giant Connection (formerly PC Connection), a company record. Sales for the year rose 4.6 percent from $2.57 billion the year before. Net income grew to $48.1 million, or $1.80 per diluted share, up 2.7 percent from $46.8 million, or $1.76 a share, last year, the Merrimack, N.H.-based company said. CEO Tim McGrath expects the growing acceptance of electronic health records and the potential for financial services deregulation to boost sales.

$100 million – Money Xerox has set aside this year for mergers and acquisitions to convert more multi-branded dealers into Xerox-exclusive agents and gain a foothold in newer technologies. The Norwalk, Conn.-based vendor said its Global Imaging Systems (GIS) business unit plans to continue to buy independent, multi-branded resellers and convert them to resellers focused exclusively on Xerox, according to CFO Bill Osbourn.