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☆ What to expect at work in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-02 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Another recent survey by consulting firm Mercer found that employers expect to promote just under 10% of their employees this year. Expect, too, to see a wider variety of employers offer more financial wellness benefits in 2024. “After three years of turmoil it finally looks like [work from home] has stabilized and 2024 will look a lot like 2023. Employees who can work a hybrid schedule are generally working from home roughly 30% of the week (or about 1.5 days), Bloom noted. For example, someone with a busy work schedule may opt to take them via text or chat on their phone on a Sunday morning, he said.

Persons: WTW, Mercer, ” Mercer, Rich Fuerstenberg, Emily Rose McRae, ” McRae, McRae, ”, Nick Bloom, Bloom, Anthony Reynolds, Reynolds Organizations: New, New York CNN, Gartner Inc, …, Stanford University, Employees Locations: New York

☆ Gartner lifts annual earnings forecast on stable demand for research, consulting
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 3(Reuters) - Information Technolgy Consultant Gartner Inc (IT.N) beat third-quarter results estimates on Friday and nudged up its annual earnings forecast, as it benefits from stable demand for its research and consulting services. The Stamford, Connecticut-based company also upgraded its annual earnings forecast and now expects revenue of $5.89 billion, up from its prior forecast of $5.85 billion. Gartner expects adjusted earnings for the year to be $10.9 per share, up 90 cents per share from its previous projection. The company's core research business saw a nearly 6% jump in revenue to $1.22 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Gartner earned $2.56 per share on an adjusted basis in the three months ended Sept. 30, beating analyst estimates of $1.96 per share.

Persons: Gartner, Juby Babu, Tasim Zahid Organizations: Gartner Inc, Gartner, PayPal, Comcast, Revenue, Thomson Locations: Stamford , Connecticut, Bengaluru

☆ Pressured to Cut Plastic Use, McDonald’s Aims to See What Works and What Doesn’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The McDonald’s report will draw on those experiences and others to assess the opportunities, risks and environmental impact of reusables, a McDonald’s spokeswoman said. PREVIEWMcDonald’s commissioned an industrywide study on reusable packaging in Europe that published in February. Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.comCorrections & AmplificationsMcDonald’s Corp. doesn’t put individual burgers in reusable containers for meals served in its French outlets. Separately, in Germany, reusable containers are available on request for drinks and ice cream. An earlier version of this article didn’t specify which items were available in reusable packaging in Germany.

☆ McDonald’s to Study Pros and Cons of Reusable Packaging
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The McDonald’s report will draw on those experiences and others to assess the opportunities, risks and environmental impact of reusables, a McDonald’s spokeswoman said. PREVIEWMcDonald’s commissioned an industrywide study on reusable packaging in Europe that published in February. “Reusable packaging is one potential solution when applied correctly, but sustainable packaging is complicated,” said John Blake, senior director analyst at Gartner Inc.’s supply chain practice, who wasn’t involved in the report. Although no large-scale reusable packaging laws exist in the U.S., a handful of states including California and Colorado have placed producer-paid fees on disposable packaging to boost recycling rates. “We continue to learn from our reusable packaging system pilots and are focused on implementation of our policy to address this important issue,” a Yum spokesman said.

☆ Enterprise Tech Firms Push Further Into Generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Generative AI, the technology underlying the viral ChatGPT chatbot, runs on algorithmic language models trained on vast amounts of online data. “We think 2023 will be the year that generative AI will become prevalent and a key component of modern office work,” he said. On Tuesday, the company launched a $250 million investing fund targeting generative AI startups. Yet despite assurances from the enterprise market’s biggest players, most corporate tech chiefs are taking a wait-and-see approach to ChatGPT-like generative AI technology, analysts said. Steve Santana, chief information officer at educational-testing company ETS, said he is more open to working with large enterprise-technology firms on generative AI capabilities, rather than small niche providers.

☆ Technology Chiefs Seek Help Wrangling Cloud Costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Some chief information officers have turned to cloud management tools and established internal teams to oversee their cloud spending. Mr. Nimboorkar said the company has since built a dedicated team to manage its Amazon Web Services spending and invested in a third-party cloud spending management tool. Executives from all three cloud giants have said customers are optimizing or reining in their cloud spending, citing economic factors. Many of the best practices in cloud spending management have been codified by the nonprofit FinOps Foundation, which promotes cloud financial literacy and accountability, she said. That model allows Mr. Kanchi to wholly manage cloud spending, he said, but was only possible after UST figured out how to tag cloud usage by its various business units.

☆ Sam’s Club Adding Distribution Centers to Speed Up Online Fulfillment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Sam’s Club is expanding its supply-chain network as it looks to build on recent e-commerce sales growth by speeding up order fulfillment while cutting shipping costs. Sam’s Club said its plan is to shrink the average distance between its supply-chain facilities and its stores and members. Sam’s Club said it is designing its new stores to have more space for curbside pickup and delivery orders. The first new Sam’s Club fulfillment center is expected to open near Atlanta in the third quarter of this year. Mr. Godsey said Sam’s Club will employ the same number of people it would have without automation so it can handle more volume.

☆ Target Investing $100 Million to Expand Next-Day Delivery
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Target is one of several retailers using stores to fill orders to help manage inventory and the high costs of last-mile delivery. A Target worker loads packages for last-mile delivery at the retailer’s Minneapolis sortation center. Despite slowing growth, online orders make up a substantial portion of Target’s sales. The sortation centers are meant to relieve stores of the burden of sorting packages for final delivery, speeding shipments up in the process. The facilities handled 26 million packages last year, and Target expects that number to double this year.

☆ Uber Signs Cloud Deals With Google and Oracle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Over 95% of Uber’s IT is currently housed in those data centers, he said. Uber declined to comment on how it plans to spread its data and applications between Google and Oracle’s cloud platforms. While Uber and Google have an existing partnership, the new cloud deal brings them closer together in other areas including launching new services, said Google Cloud Chief Executive Thomas Kurian. With Oracle, Uber is planning to integrate its freight business into Oracle’s cloud-based enterprise resource planning system, as well as other database-related projects, said Oracle Cloud Executive Vice President Clay Magouyrk. Mr. Zargahi said Uber eventually expects the cloud to cost less than its data centers, and will not renew certain data center leases as it moves to the cloud.

☆ Uber, Spurred by Hardware Supply Disruptions, Moves to Multiple Cloud Providers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Over 95% of Uber’s IT is currently housed in those data centers, he said. Uber declined to comment on how it plans to spread its data and applications between Google and Oracle’s cloud platforms. PREVIEWA tipping point came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when supply-chain disruptions pushed IT hardware delivery timelines to more than 12 months, according to Mr. Zargahi. Mr. Zargahi said Uber eventually expects the cloud to cost less than its data centers, and won’t renew certain data center leases as it moves to the cloud. With Oracle, Uber also is planning to integrate its freight business into Oracle’s cloud-based enterprise resource planning system, as well as other database-related projects, said Oracle Cloud Executive Vice President Clay Magouyrk.

☆ Security Gets Blended With Corporate Networks in New Cloud Platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

As everything moves to the cloud, a new generation of cybersecurity platforms has emerged, combining corporate networks with security tools such as malware protection into a single system that tech leaders can manage centrally. Older technology can be upgraded to lay the groundwork for implementing a new platform, Mr. Franch said, but it needs to happen without disrupting the existing corporate network. PREVIEWAt Carriage Services, Mr. Franch wants to undertake a network modernization similar to one he oversaw as chief technology officer of commercial real-estate services company Cushman & Wakefield. Modernization tends to reduce complexity and increase visibility of what’s on the network, which can benefit security, according to Mr. Franch. Goya Foods Inc. CIO Suvajit Basu said the Jersey City, N.J.-based company uses cybersecurity services from about seven vendors and a total of about 12 cybersecurity tools, many purchased and implemented over time.

☆ Shopify Bulks Up Online Fulfillment Logistics Services
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Shopify Inc. is stepping up its logistics and fulfillment services as it expands efforts to help merchants compete with Amazon.com Inc. The challenges for small retailers in competing for sales are “almost always logistics and fulfillment,” said Aaron Brown, chief executive of Shopify Logistics. Shopify faces challenges, he said, in pushing into logistics services. Other companies, including retailers, have been seeking to market logistics services to other retailers, echoing Amazon’s warehousing and delivery operations through its Fulfillment by Amazon division. Apparel retailers American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and Gap Inc. offer fulfillment services to other merchants through their networks while Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. allow businesses to use their local same-day delivery services.

☆ Uncertain Economy Spurs Growth in AI-Powered Office Automation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Corporate technology leaders are leaning on artificial intelligence and other software automation tools to help companies grow without hiring additional workers anytime soon. Diogo Rau, chief information and digital officer at Eli Lilly. The reports are often filled with scientific terms that require professionals to decipher, Mr. Rau said. Similarly, Mr. Rau is applying natural-language models to produce in-house clinical reports, replacing on-staff medical writers. All told, Gartner expects global enterprise spending on AI and other software automation systems this year to reach $728.9 billion, up from $643.3 billion in 2022.

☆ As Deal Making Picks Up, Tech Chiefs Worry About Software Integration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

That is a potentially costly process that can require overhauling existing enterprise tech stacks, or even hiring high-priced experts to manage new IT tools, analysts said. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How can tech executives smooth the integration of new digital tools when their vendors make acquisitions? Hewlett Packard Enterprise this month said it acquired Pachyderm and would integrate new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. HPE this month said it acquired Pachyderm, a San Francisco-based software startup, and would integrate the new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. “Our existing customer base will want to know they won’t be forced to replace an existing technology they already buy,” Mr. Hotard said.

☆ Tech Chiefs Fear ‘Frankenstein’ Software Integrations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Microsoft Corp. this month said it plans to incorporate AI into all of its enterprise software, while boosting its multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, the startup behind chatbot ChatGPT. That is a potentially costly process that can require overhauling existing enterprise tech stacks, or even hiring high-priced experts to manage new IT tools, analysts said. Hewlett Packard Enterprise this month said it acquired Pachyderm and would integrate new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. HPE this month said it acquired Pachyderm, a San Francisco-based software startup, and would integrate the new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. “Our existing customer base will want to know they won’t be forced to replace an existing technology they already buy,” Mr. Hotard said.

☆ Cyber Startup Snyk Raises $25 Million From ServiceNow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Cybersecurity company Snyk Ltd. announced on Tuesday a $25 million investment from enterprise software maker ServiceNow Inc. The Boston-based startup also announced an integration with ServiceNow that aims to provide cybersecurity and information-technology executives a view of potential security vulnerabilities originating from open-source code. “Security is a team issue that requires developers, security and IT professionals to work together,” Mr. Bedi said. “Vendors are starting to talk with each other more often and being able to exchange data,” Mr. Horvath said. The eight-year-old startup cut 14% of its workforce last year and now has over 1,000 employees, according to Mr. McKay.

☆ Capital One Job Cuts Signal Trouble for IT Labor Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Technology sector employment overall has remained stable, but job postings for future tech hiring have declined for the second consecutive month, according to IT trade group CompTIA. Companies across industries hired 137,000 tech workers in December, compared with 130,000 the month prior, CompTIA estimates based on an analysis of U.S. Labor Department data. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. News of the job cuts was reported earlier by Bloomberg. Some employers might be shedding the additional technology workers they hired to ramp up remote-work capabilities during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution.

☆ Guitar Center Details Cloud Move
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Guitar Center Chief Technology Officer Ravi Balwada Photo: Guitar Center Inc. Such downtimes can result in losses of more than $5 million for retailers like Guitar Center, Mr. Balwada said. Guitar Center had filed for bankruptcy in November 2020, citing Covid-19-related store closures and looming debt maturity, and emerged from bankruptcy in December of that year. Guitar Center has also reduced its cost per transaction by about 1.5% and increased its online shopping conversion rates by an estimated 1.6%, Mr. Balwada said. PREVIEWMr. Balwada said he aims to more fully integrate Guitar Center’s offerings so that customers are interacting with a single, common platform that is built on Oracle’s cloud.

☆ LG, Whirlpool Target Customers Disconnected From ‘Smart’ Appliances
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Whirlpool Corp. said that more than half of its smart appliances remain connected, but the company declined to be more specific. Development of these smart devices is a core priority for Whirlpool and LG, the companies said. The smart-home trend began gaining traction around 2014, according to Mr. Kim, and has grown since then. Whirlpool declined to comment on the percentage of its sales represented by smart appliances. According to Murat Genc, Whirlpool’s global data, experiences & transformation officer, smart appliances are generating data from consumers and are producing new revenue opportunities.

☆ Global IT Spending Decreased in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Companies worldwide made deep cuts in enterprise technology spending last year, with tighter information-technology budgets likely to stretch well into the year ahead. Global IT spending contracted 0.2% in 2022, dropping to $4.38 trillion—a rare instance of corporations spending less on digital business tools than in the previous year, according to IT consulting and research firm Gartner Inc.Gartner had initially estimated that IT spending had increased 0.8% last year. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Spending on business software and IT services is expected to remain steady year-over-year, together accounting for more than $2.16 trillion in projected spending in 2023, Gartner said. Within IT services, spending on consulting services alone is projected to reach $264 billion, up 6.7% from 2022, Gartner said.

☆ Google Cloud Introduces Shelf Inventory AI Tool for Retailers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Google Cloud said it has developed a new artificial intelligence tool designed to help big-box retailers better track the inventory on their shelves, aiming to improve a technology that has struggled to work well in the past. Google Cloud said Friday its algorithm can recognize and analyze the availability of consumer packaged goods products on shelves from videos and images provided by the retailer’s own ceiling-mounted cameras, camera-equipped self-driving robots or store associates. Google Cloud said its product is trained on a database of over a billion products, including images that are publicly available, licensed and provided directly by manufacturers. He said the Google Cloud product has shown above 90% accuracy during early tests in a Giant Eagle innovation lab, which is designed to replicate store conditions. For now Giant Eagle provides continuous feedback to Google Cloud about where the tool isn’t working so that it can fine-tune, he said.

☆ PC Shipments Drop Sharply in a Slump Expected to Last Until 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Denny Jacob | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PC makers are in for another difficult year after shipments fell sharply in 2022, with industry estimates not projecting a full recovery until 2024. Worldwide shipments dropped nearly 29% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, marking the largest quarterly decline since the mid-1990s, according to preliminary data from research firm Gartner Inc. A similar report from International Data Corp. said it is clear the pandemic boom is over for the personal-computer market.

☆ Salesforce Customers Not Swayed by Slack, Analysts Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Salesforce reported about $402 million in Slack subscription and support revenue in the fiscal third quarter ending Oct. 31. Meanwhile, on Wednesday Salesforce said it would lay off 10% of its workforce as customers take a more cautious approach to spending. “The Slack acquisition by Salesforce has not changed the trajectory of Salesforce up or down,” said Tim Crawford, CIO strategic adviser at Los Angeles-based enterprise IT advisory firm AVOA. “That’s really the struggle for customers, to maintain the pace with a company like Salesforce,” he said. Forrester’s Ms. Herbert said the recent departures of Mr. Taylor and the Slack executives might signal that Salesforce is shifting the focus back to its core products.

☆ Going Into 2023, CIOs Weigh Tech Priorities Against Economic Realities
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Bonnie Titone, chief information officer at Duke Energy Corp., a Charlotte, N.C.-based power producer, said CIOs are being told to get by with less, but without decreasing output or positive outcomes. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. One resource to keep top of mind is talent, said Brad Peterson, Nasdaq Inc.’s chief technology and chief information officer, adding that economic slowdowns can provide opportunities to reassess talent development and succession planning. Diogo Rau, chief information and digital officer at Eli Lilly Photo: Eli Lilly & Co. “My perceptions of the economy haven’t changed the way I plan to approach my role,” said Diogo Rau, chief information and digital officer at Eli Lilly & Co.

☆ Corporate Tech Leaders Untangle Their Cybersecurity Roles
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Information technology and cybersecurity chiefs grew closer than ever in 2022, a dynamic allowing for more comprehensive threat mitigation, but raising new questions over responsibilities. About 50% of the company’s threat planning simulations, in which IT plays an active role, involve ransomware scenarios, according to Ms. Smart. Ms. Allison is retiring at the end of the year, the company said, and will be succeeded by Gary Harbison. Photo: Adobe Inc.Prasad Ramakrishnan, the CIO and former CISO of software maker Freshworks Inc., said IT and security have shared roles in evaluating the cybersecurity resiliency of corporate software purchases. And in securing a hybrid work environment, his joint cybersecurity and IT roles included adding a new cybersecurity layer on top of cloud-based software on company laptops.

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