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☆ It’s Not All About ChatGPT. Less Flashy Business Software Draws Investors Too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Salesforce CEO shakes up top ranks, hints at succession plan - Insider
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Miguel Milano, who moved back from Celonis, has been appointed Salesforce's chief revenue officer, according to the Insider report, which added that Ariel Kelman, previously the chief marketing officer at Amazon Web Services (AMZN.O) and Oracle (ORCL.N), has been named the new CMO. President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Millham will be taking on a host of new responsibilities, including marketing, employee success and business technology, the memo said. Salesforce did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The company last month posted an 11% rise in its quarterly revenue, the slowest pace of growth in 13 years. Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Marc Benioff, Miguel Milano, Ariel Kelman, Brian Millham, Salesforce, Kanjyik Ghosh, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: Salesforce, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, Inclusive, Thomson Locations: Celonis, Bengaluru

The moves add to a trio of Barclays U.S. investment bankers that UBS announced it hired last month. Many Credit Suisse bankers are based in the United States. These bankers follow Barclays ex-colleagues Marco Valla, Jeff Hinton and Kurt Anthony, whose moves to UBS were announced in April. Sources told Reuters last month that UBS plans to retain only a small number of Credit Suisse senior bankers with strong client relationships. At Barclays, Braham was global chair of investment banking for technology, while Hardegree served as vice chair and head of technology M&A.

Persons: Laurence Braham, Richard Hardegree, Richard Casavechia, Ozzie Ramos, Jason Williams, Neil Meyer, Ken Tittle, Marco Valla, Jeff Hinton, Kurt Anthony, dealmaker Michael Klein, Braham, Hardegree, Casavechia, Ramos, Meyer, Tittle, Milana Vinn, Anirban Sen, Greg Roumeliotis, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: YORK, Barclays Plc, UBS Group AG, Barclays U.S, UBS, Credit, Group, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Reuters, Broadcom, VMware Inc, Thomson Locations: United States, Swiss, Zurich, New York

☆ The Relief: Finding an Apartment. The Remorse: Living In It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Alix Strauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She had a deep and important relationship that lasted four years — with her studio apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It was an open layout with two huge closets and a separate, small kitchen,” said Ms. Strassberg, 31, who is a branded content editor at the Hearst Corporation. In April 2021, she met William Muschinske, a 30-year-old graphic designer from Oklahoma, on the dating app Bumble. Their relationship grew quickly. Most of his time was spent working and living at Ms. Strassberg’s.

Persons: Rebecca Strassberg, “, ”, Strassberg, I’d, Ms, William Muschinske, Muschinske, Fran Organizations: Hearst Corporation Locations: Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, Midwood , Brooklyn, Oklahoma, Bazaarvoice, Gowanus , Brooklyn

June 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave Salesforce Inc's (CRM.N) Slack Technologies another chance to avoid a lawsuit over the workplace communications software company's 2019 direct listing. A direct listing is an alternative to a traditional initial public offering. The registration statement was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That differs from an IPO, under which newly registered shares are offered to the public while existing shareholders are typically barred from selling their unregistered shares for months. Slack's direct listing released 118 million shares that were registered under its registration statement and 165 million pre-existing shares that were exempt from registration.

Persons: Salesforce Inc's, Fiyyaz Pirani, Pirani, Slack, Neil Gorsuch, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Slack Technologies, San, Circuit, Securities, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, falsities, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, New York

☆ Salesforce forecasts current-quarter revenue above estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 31 (Reuters) - Business software maker Salesforce Inc (CRM.N) forecast second-quarter revenue above market estimates on Wednesday, as demand for its cloud-based offerings stays strong in the face of a turbulent economy. The company expects revenue of between $8.51 billion and $8.53 billion for the quarter, compared with analysts' estimates of $8.49 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Revenue was $8.25 billion for the quarter ended April 30, compared with the expectations of $8.18 billion. Shares of the San Francisco, California-based company fell nearly 5% in trading after the bell, after rising as much as 3% in regular trading. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tiyashi Datta, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Salesforce Inc, Revenue, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, Bengaluru

The demise of the deal negotiations underscores the challenges facing private equity firms seeking to put together leveraged buyouts. New Relic has been negotiating with potential acquirers since last year, Reuters has reported, and it's possible that deal talks resume some time in the future, the sources added. New Relic and Francisco Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while TPG declined to comment. San Francisco-based New Relic develops cloud-based software to help websites and application owners track the performance of their services. New Relic has previously been targeted by several activist hedge funds including Jana Partners, Engaged Capital and Eminence Capital.

☆ The Optimist’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence and Work
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Sarah Kessler | Ephrat Livni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Brynjolfsson and his co-authors of a study compared the call center employees who used the tool to those who didn’t. Customer sentiment was also higher and employee turnover lower in the group that used the tool. “That offers an opportunity to enable more workers to do valuable work that relies on some of that expertise,” he said. tool for some tasks may free up workers to expand their work on tasks that can’t be automated. Of course, there’s no guarantee that workers will be qualified for new jobs, or that they’ll be good jobs.

☆ TPG, Francisco Partners in talks to buy analytics firm New Relic - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 17 (Reuters) - Private-equity giants Francisco Partners and TPG (TPG.O) are jointly planning a bid of more than $5 billion to acquire data analytics company New Relic (NEWR.N), a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Reuters was the first to report in July that the U.S. business software company was preparing to explore a potential sale following interest from private equity firms. The San Francisco-based company had a market capitalization of roughly $5.78 billion, as of Wednesday's close. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Francisco Partners and TPG declined to comment. New Relic develops cloud-based software to help websites and application owners track the performance of their services.

☆ SAP raises 2025 outlook, launches 5 bln euro share buyback
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, May 16 (Reuters) - SAP (SAPG.DE) on Tuesday raised its 2025 total revenue outlook for continuing operations by around 4 billion euros ($4.40 billion) and announced a share buyback of up to 5 billion euros, boosted by strong demand for its cloud business. For 2025, the company now expects revenue of more than 37.5 billion euros with cloud revenue of more than 21.5 billion euros. It now sees non-IFRS operating profit of around 11.5 billion euros. "Our strong, resilient cloud growth drives accelerating total revenue and operating profit growth," Chief Executive Christian Klein said in a statement. Last month, SAP reported first-quarter revenue above analysts' expectations, backed by 24% growth in its cloud business revenue.

The moves add to a trio of Barclays U.S. investment bankers that UBS announced it hired last month. Many Credit Suisse bankers are based in the United States. Sources told Reuters last month that UBS plans to retain only a small number of Credit Suisse senior bankers with strong client relationships. At Barclays, Braham was global chair of investment banking for technology, while Hardegree served as vice chair and head of technology M&A. Williams, Meyer and Tittle were managing directors in the investment banking group.

☆ The CEO of this edtech company says A.I. can help unlock growth in the space. Here’s how
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

PWSC YTD mountain PowerSchool shares have fallen sharply since January, when they traded as high as $26.05. "For us, it's not a disruption from a negative perspective, it's actually phenomenal," he said, of the advancements in generative AI. Gulati expects generative AI will make it possible for PowerSchool to accelerate its goals to offer personalized learning plans. Still, PowerSchool shares are down 27% since the start of the year. Generative AI systems must be "trained" on data.

☆ Siemens, SAP say EU draft Data Act puts trade secrets at risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign with the logo of Siemens company is on display outside its office in Moscow, Russia, May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaBRUSSELS, May 8 (Reuters) - German business software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) and German engineering company Siemens (SIEGn.DE) have joined U.S. tech giants in criticising draft EU laws on the use of data generated by smart gadgets and other consumer goods. EU countries and EU lawmakers are working on the details of the Data Act, proposed by the European Commission last year before it can be adopted as legislation. U.S. criticisms have included that the proposed law is too restrictive, while the German companies say a provision forcing companies to share data with third parties to provide aftermarket or other data-driven services could endanger trade secrets. "Effectively, this could mean that EU companies will have to disclose data to third-country competitors, notably those not operating in Europe and against which the Data Act's safeguards would be ineffective," they said.

☆ Software AG supports Silver Lake's improved bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Software AG has received multiple offers according to media reports but has chosen to go ahead with the first bidder - Silver Lake. Silver Lake in April offered 30 euros per share for Software AG. Following Silver Lake's increased bid, Software AG said it does not intend to enter into discussions with a "US competitor". Software AG said in a subsequent filing that the competitor's non-binding offer was subject to specific conditions that were "not achievable". Silver Lake previously said in a regulatory disclosure that it had acquired additional 5% stake in Software AG, bringing its total holding in the company to over 30%.

Box customers testing the product have already experienced “revolutionary” productivity gains, Box CEO Aaron Levie told Reuters. He cited a Box customer whose employees were reviewing tens and thousands of files manually. The new AI features were able to do it automatically “within a matter of seconds.”Box partnered with OpenAI, the AI startup backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) behind the chatbot sensation ChatGPT, to build the AI enhancements. While Box is initially building its AI offering with OpenAI’s technology, the goal is to allow customers to select among different AI providers, he said. Box said the new AI features include the ability to summarize financial documents, surface insights from customer surveys and tailor onboarding documents to a specific customer's needs.

☆ This earnings season has been 'pretty darn good' and several companies stand out, Jim Cramer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

After hearing from around two-thirds of companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average this earnings season so far, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the market is so high, Jim Cramer said Monday. "This was supposed to be a bad earnings season, but it's been pretty darn good," he added. In a wide-ranging group of winners Cramer identified, some standout names include Honeywell, Microsoft, and JPMorgan. Honeywell "could be one of the great stories of the entire quarter so far," Cramer said, as its aerospace business accelerates and its refining chemicals business improves. Microsoft has "stolen the earnings season along with Honeywell," according to Cramer, thanks to its impressive numbers from its cloud division plus good numbers from its business software and gaming divisions.

☆ Ballooning Software Prices Complicate Tech Spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Last year, Microsoft raised prices from 8% to 25%, depending on the software and subscription type, for some of its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 business software. Photo: lucy nicholson/ReutersBusiness software price hikes are outpacing the rate of inflation, according to corporate technology chiefs who say they’ve been charged increases of 20% or more for certain cloud-based software than in previous years. Amid pressure to cut costs in a sluggish economy, more IT leaders are rethinking vendor relationships. Thomas Phelps , chief information officer of Long Beach, Calif.-based software firm Laserfiche and executive chair of the nonprofit IT executive leadership group Innovate@UCLA, said some cybersecurity vendors have asked for a 30% increase to renew a three-year software contract.

☆ Ballooning Software Prices Complicate Tech-Spending Calculus for CIOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Silver Lake adds to Software AG stake amid acquisition bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Silver Lake said in a regulatory disclosure that it had acquired a 5% stake in Software AG at or below its acquisition bid of 30 euros per share from existing shareholders. This adds to its agreement to buy a 25.1% stake in Software AG from a charitable foundation that is the principal shareholder in the company. The consummation of that agreement is not subject to Silver Lake's offer being accepted by a majority of Software AG's shareholders, Silver Lake said. Software AG has said it is "highly supportive" of Silver Lake's offer and intends to recommend it to the company's shareholders. Silver Lake also disclosed on Friday that it had secured debt financing for its offer for Software AG.

☆ Microsoft-backed tech group pushes for A.I. regulation: Here's what it's suggesting
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

BSA, a tech advocacy group backed in part by Microsoft , is advocating for rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in national privacy legislation, according to a document released on Monday. Microsoft is one of the leaders in AI due to its recent investment in OpenAI, the creator of the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. The group is advocating for four key protections:Congress should make clear requirements for when companies must evaluate the designs or impact of AI. "If it is, we should have a national agenda for digital transformation," he said, which would include rules around AI, national privacy standards and robust cybersecurity policy. Though the bill still faces a steep road ahead to becoming law, BSA said it already has the right framework for the sort of national AI guardrails the government should put in place.

☆ Software AG CEO sees operating profit margin in high twenties in medium term
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - Software AG (SOWGn.DE) is aiming for an operating profit margin in the high twenties percentage range in the medium term, Chief Economist Sanjay Brahmawar said on Monday. Last week, private-equity firm Silver Lake offered to buy Software AG in a deal that values the German business software developer at 2.2 billion euros ($2.42 billion). Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Kirsti KnolleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Silver Lake to buy Germany's Software AG in $2.42 bln deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 22 (Reuters) - Private-equity firm Silver Lake has offered to buy Software AG (SOWGn.DE) in a deal that values the German business software developer at 2.2 billion euros ($2.42 billion). The offer price of 30 euros per share in cash by Silver Lake-controlled Blitz 22-449 SE represents a premium of 53% to Software AG's closing price of 19.59 euros on Thursday. In February 2022, Silver Lake had invested 344 million euros in the software developer's convertible bond, which upon conversion would represent nearly 9% of issued Software AG shares, the company said in a statement. Software AG's board and takeover committee are "highly supportive" of the offer and intend to recommend it to its shareholders, the company said. ($1 = 0.9102 euros)Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SAP slightly lowers outlook after Qualtrics divestment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 21 (Reuters) - Business software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) on Friday slightly lowered its outlook due to the divestment of its Qualtrics unit while reporting first-quarter revenue growth that beat expectations. SAP reported revenue growth of 10% in the first three months of 2023, to 7.44 billion euros ($8.15 billion), beating expectations of 7% in company-provided consensus. The tech giant now expects non-IFRS operating profit in the range of 8.6-8.9 billion euros, 200 million euros less than before. For cloud revenue, it now targets between 14 and 14.4 billion euros, down 1.3 billion euros from previous guidance. Additionally, the IFRS operating result was affected by restructuring costs associated with SAP's recent cost-cutting program.

The logo of German software group SAP is pictured at the headquarters of SAP (Schweiz) AG in Regensdorf, Switzerland January 22, 2021. Revenue from SAP's lucrative cloud business grew 24% year-on-year, broadly in line with consensus. For the year, SAP expects non-IFRS operating profit in the range of 8.6-8.9 billion euros, 200 million euros less than before. Cloud revenue forecast is seen down by 1.3 billion euros to between 14 and 14.4 billion euros. "Underlying guidance is essentially unchanged, although updated to reflect the disposal of Qualtrics," Jefferies analysts wrote in a client note.

Generative AI, which the tech industry has embraced, has the ability to synthesize large amounts of data and answer complex questions. Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar said because companies use its software to track and document projects, Atlassian is in a unique position to use AI to help knowledge workers dramatically increase their productivity. Starting Wednesday, customers can join a waitlist to access the new features, the company said. Atlassian said the new AI features include the ability to extract action items and decisions from a meeting transcript, and draft Tweets and software testing plans based on product documentation. Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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