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☆ Tech Spending Pressures Fuel Demand for Specialized Industry Clouds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. PREVIEWMost industry clouds began to hit the market early last year, in part sparked by demand for better healthcare data systems during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. Though Oracle doesn’t break out revenue from industry cloud sales, its industry cloud offerings are a “multibillion-dollar business,” Mr. Sicilia said. Microsoft last year rolled out industry clouds for retail, financial services, manufacturing, sustainability and nonprofit businesses, according to Kees Hertogh, Microsoft’s general manager for global industry product marketing. A Microsoft-developed industry cloud helped Tarrytown, N.Y.-based MVP Health Care implement a system to streamline its healthcare data, according to CIO Michael Della Villa.

☆ Edgy Campaigns Are Out, TikTok Won’t Stop and Other 2023 Predictions for Marketers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +11 min

Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CMO Today CMO Today delivers the most important news of the day for media and marketing professionals. Most campaigns will focus on discounts to customers or showcase the usefulness of a company’s products, he said. Under this form of marketing, ad firms generally get paid upon completion of a desired end, such as a sale or download. In short, consumers should expect less “vacuous virtue-signaling” from marketers in the coming months, according to Mr. Proulx. But these platforms’ very struggles could result in ad bargains for marketers, said Mr. Solomon of Therabody.

☆ Werner CIO Looks to Outfit Company Trucks With AI-Enabled Tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Mr. Mahon was hired in 2020 to help the 66-year-old trucking and logistics company modernize its technology—much of it built on legacy systems. Nearly 50% of Werner’s systems, data and applications have already been moved to the cloud from its data centers, Mr. Mahon said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. While Werner is putting its costs “under the microscope heading into next year,” Mr. Mahon said technology is still an area of investment given its priority for company executives. “They understand that if we want to get to that stated goal of $5 billion in the next few years, and beyond that, we have to improve and increase our spend in technology,” Mr. Mahon said.

☆ Blockchain Fails to Gain Traction in the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Some companies say they haven’t found a compelling enough reason to use it. Many didn’t have digital record-keeping systems and had to make large upfront investments before they could start using blockchain, Walmart said. Walmart is using blockchain to track leafy greens and green bell peppers. Earlier this year, the state of Jharkhand in eastern India began using blockchain to track seed distributions to farmers.

☆ Cutting Costs, Not Jobs, Is Focus for Many CFOs Facing Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

At the same time, many employers are looking for workers, with job openings well above the number of job seekers. That leaves some finance chiefs scouting for savings that don’t involve job cuts, or that supplement layoffs, advisers and analysts said. Other ways to cut costs include exiting leases, reducing the number of suppliers, automating tasks, trimming software spending and finding less expensive components, advisers said. Many companies over the past year have raised prices to keep up with escalating input costs, in addition to trimming expenses. Still, the company’s restaurant-level profit margin during the quarter ended Oct. 2 fell to 16.2% from 20.1% a year earlier.

☆ Rakuten’s Super Bowl Ad Return Will Emphasize Savings in an Uncertain Economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Shopping platform Rakuten plans to return as a Super Bowl advertiser in February to highlight how it can help consumers save money shopping during an uncertain economic time. The company, a U.S.-based division of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Group Inc., earlier this year made its first appearance as a Super Bowl advertiser to raise its awareness with U.S. customers. Super Bowl LVII will air Feb. 12, 2023, on Fox. Fox said in September that 95% of its Super Bowl ad inventory had been sold. “A Super Bowl ad may seem incongruent with layoffs or declining general health of the business or category.”Marketers more broadly are responding to inflation by emphasizing the value of their brands, whether by pushing lower prices or by showing how their products last longer.

☆ Leased Robots Roll in to Help Logistics Firms Handle Holiday Crush
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Sally Miller, chief information officer of DHL’s North American supply-chain business, a unit of Deutsche Post AG , said she is planning to deploy “a good number” of temporary robots at several of the company’s retail-focused sites. The Locus Robotics robots—which the manufacturer calls “surge bots”—will be used for picking up orders and fulfillment, Ms. Miller said. Photo: Locus RoboticsKnown as robots-as-a-service, leased robots are employed widely in manufacturing, but are relatively new to the logistics industry, analysts said. The extra robots, provided by Berkeley, Calif.-based Ambi Robotics Inc., helped the company handle a surge of packages, it said. Mr. Faulk, of Locus Robotics, said the company hopes many logistics firms will hold on to their temporary robots well after seasonal highs, as a way to eke out year-round efficiencies.

☆ Cramer's lightning round: I like Morgan Stanley over SoFi Technologies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Loading chart...Morgan Stanley : "That's the kind of stock that we like here. ... We are in real companies that make real things, return real capital and Morgan Stanley is one of those." Loading chart...Gartner Inc : "Gartner Inc is a very good, solid growth stock." Loading chart...SoFi Technologies Inc : "I think this thing is going to make money eventually, but let's just say that the first bank stock, Morgan Stanley, is a better thing to own." Cramer's Charitable Trust owns shares of Morgan Stanley.

☆ Logistics Companies Are Diversifying Hiring, but Challenges Persist
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

Photo: Sarah Oden/Associated PressWomen and people of color are being hired into top roles in the logistics industry. United Parcel Service Inc. turned to Carol Tomé, a former finance chief at Home Depot Inc., in 2020 to become chief executive officer. Raj Subramaniam, who is from India, was chosen to succeed FedEx Corp. founder Fred Smith as chief executive earlier this year. Judy McReynolds has been chief executive of ArcBest Corp. , one of the largest trucking companies in the U.S., since 2010. Studies also show there is a big gap in pay across the logistics industry.

☆ CIOs Can Play Key Role in Guiding Companies Through Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

The market for cloud computing, business software, artificial intelligence and other so-called enterprise technologies has been a relative bright spot. “During times of economic uncertainty, companies look for ways where technology can drive growth and create more economic value faster,” said Juan Perez, chief information officer at Salesforce Inc. When budgets are under scrutiny, companies tend to focus on short-term solutions that can drive efficiency and productivity, Salesforce’s Mr. Perez said. Companies should take this opportunity to reconsider the pace of hiring and employ freelance workers where it makes sense. Additionally, CIOs say they are looking at the opportunity to hire valuable workers who lost their jobs at other companies or renew technology contracts on more favorable terms.

☆ Duke Energy Enters Into Amazon Cloud Deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Duke Energy Corp. said it has signed a three-year deal with Amazon. com Inc.’s cloud-computing unit as the electric power and natural gas holding company aims to advance its power grid improvements and clean energy goals. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke will use Amazon Web Services to run applications that predict electricity needs on its power grid, and where and how the grid should be updated to meet those needs. Ms. Titone oversees an information-technology department of more than 2,000 people, with about 400 focused on accelerating Duke’s cloud transition. There are certainly things that we need to house and maintain in our own data center,” Ms. Titone said.

☆ Airbnb Details Road Map to Lower Cloud Costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

PREVIEWMany companies that have shifted their enterprise-technology tools to the cloud in recent years are similarly seeking to reduce their cloud costs, especially in the market downturn. Corporate cloud spending will moderate from recent highs, analysts say, as companies seek more discipline in that spending. “That reduced a significant amount of our storage costs right off the bat,” Mr. Nagle said. Airbnb, one of Amazon’s largest cloud customers according to Amazon, also worked with the cloud provider to figure out what it was overpaying for. By putting its spending toward lower-cost cloud services it uses more often, Airbnb is allocating its cloud budget “in a smarter way,” Mr. Bala said.

☆ Startups, Investors Bet on Remote Work Future
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Even as more employers signal an end to remote work, tech startups and their investors are betting that it is here to stay, offering a range of digital tools designed to support a permanent workforce outside of the office. “Investors are super-pumped on remote,” Mr. Salam said. “Remote work is a durable phenomenon,” said Ravi Gupta, a partner at Sequoia who led the firm’s investment in Remote. Mr. Riggs said Frameable currently has hundreds of commercial customers, who rent its software with rates varying by the number of users. “I may be a bit biased, but I absolutely believe remote work is here to stay,” said Remote’s Mr. van der Voort.

☆ Cybersecurity Tops the CIO Agenda as Threats Continue to Escalate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Cyber and information security has been at the top of their agenda since 2020. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Gartner forecasts that worldwide information security and risk-management spending by end-users will reach $188.336 billion in 2023, up 11.3% from the current year. It’s what boards are talking about,” said Truist Financial Corp. Chief Information Security Officer Howard Whyte. He and Truist CIO Scott Case work closely to understand the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank’s changing attack surface and cybersecurity risk.

☆ PC Shipments Plunge Nearly 20%, Steepest Drop in More Than 20 Years
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Kathryn Hardison | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sales of personal computers have been weak despite promotions and price drops, according to data from research firm Gartner Inc.Demand for personal computers is sliding at the fastest pace in decades after elevated pandemic-related sales were followed by a slowdown in consumer spending on electronics. Worldwide shipments in the third quarter dropped 19.5% from a year ago, marking the steepest decline in more than two decades, according to data from research firm Gartner Inc. Computer makers shipped 68 million PCs in the recent quarter, down from 84.5 million units the year prior.

☆ Tighter IT Budgets Hit Global Laptop, PC Shipments
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Global shipments of desktop and laptop computers fell in the third quarter by a record 18% on a year-over-year basis to a total of 69.4 million units, according to market research firm Canalys. International Data Corp., a technology industry research firm, reported similar declines in third-quarter consumer PC sales. The firm is expected to report commercial PC sales next week, said IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani. On Monday, Gartner said laptop demand among large enterprises fell sharply in the third quarter, while overall global PC sales saw their steepest decline in over two decades, Gartner said. In the third quarter, worldwide shipments of personal computers dropped 19.5% from a year ago, Gartner reported.

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