PwC 2023 Cloud Business Survey Identifies Successful Cloud Practices

PwC 2023 Cloud Business Survey Identifies Successful Cloud Practices

cloud written on blocks As organizations continue to move to the cloud , some companies are benefiting more than others, according to management consulting firm PwC’s 2023 Cloud Business Survey . The report found that 78% of corporate leaders surveyed by PwC stated that cloud has been adopted in most or all aspects of their business. Simply adopting cloud, however, is not enough for an organization to be what PwC refers to as a "cloud-powered" company. Only 10% of organizations surveyed by PwC fit into the cloud-powered category. The so-called cloud-powered companies have experienced more benefits, including improved decision-making, productivity, cyber posture, and cost savings. PwC’s research found that there are four primary characteristics that define a cloud-powered organization: Holistic and unwavering approach to cloud C-suite collaboration from the get-go Formal data, analytics, and AI strategy Focus on trust and controls "Cloud-powered organizations are those that are reinventing their business through cloud, experiencing fewer barriers to reach its value, and expect revenue growth of 15% or greater despite the current business environment," Danielle Phaneuf, partner, Cloud & Digital Strategy at PwC, told ITPro Today . PwC 2023 Cloud Business Survey Details Cost Management Techniques Among the findings in the […]

Women Business Collaborative Announces Appointment of Gwen K. Young as Chief Executive Officer

Women Business Collaborative Announces Appointment of Gwen K. Young as Chief Executive Officer

Founding CEO Edie Fraser to Assume Responsibilities as Chair of the Board of Directors WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Board of Directors of Women Business Collaborative (WBC) announces their unanimous selection of current Chief Operating Officer Gwen K. Young to serve as the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer. Young succeeds Edie Fraser who will transition to Chair of the Board and will remain active in WBC. Both will assume their new roles on March 13, 2023, at the annual board meeting. Continue Reading Women Business Collaborative Announces Appointment of Gwen K. Young as Chief Executive Officer. Founding CEO Edie Fraser to Assume Responsibilities as Chair of the Board of Directors Left, Edie Frasier, CEO of WBC; Right Gwen Young, COO of WBC Founded in 2019, Women Business Collaborative (WBC) has quickly grown into the unprecedented alliance of over 80+ women’s business organizations and hundreds of business leaders committed to achieving equal position, pay, and power for all women and business. Through collaboration, advocacy, action, and accountability, WBC mobilizes thousands of diverse professional women and men, business organizations, and public and private companies to accelerate change. "I am extremely humbled and deeply honored that the Board has placed […]

Northwestern Mutual to exit Franklin campus, move thousands of jobs downtown under $500M project

Northwestern Mutual to exit Franklin campus, move thousands of jobs downtown under $500M project

Northwestern Mutual plans to move 2,000 employees from its Franklin campus to downtown Milwaukee and is seeking city support for a $500 million renovation of a downtown office building it owns to make it happen. Northwestern Mutual chairman, president and chief executive officer John Schlifske said the company is consolidating to encourage collaboration and attendance in the office, versus working remotely. He said the proposed project “nurtures both the culture and the attractiveness of return to campus.” About 70% of Northwestern Mutual employees are in-office during any given day, compared with about 85% before the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. “We want to do everything we can to get back closely to that,” Schlifske told the Milwaukee Business Journal. “We think that 70 (percent) is going to continue to go up, and that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.” Northwestern Mutual would leave its Franklin office campus and the two office buildings in the Milwaukee County municipality, resulting in a smaller physical footprint overall in the region. The 80-acre Franklin property would eventually be added to the life insurance giant’s about $10 billion investment real estate portfolio, and could be sold or leased out to a new company. “We’re growing, we’re […]

Nine Factors To Consider Before Upgrading Or Replacing Your Business Equipment

Nine Factors To Consider Before Upgrading Or Replacing Your Business Equipment

When it comes time to upgrade or replace your business’s equipment—such as computers, vehicles, tools or anything else your team may use to get the job done—it would be quicker and far simpler to merely purchase the newest model or renew your subscription without much thought. However, to truly ensure you’re getting the best return on investment in terms of cost and team productivity, careful research and reflection is necessary. But what exactly should you consider before making a purchase? Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss just that, each offering up one factor you should consider first before upgrading or replacing your equipment and why it can ultimately help you make a better decision for your business. Members pictured from left to right. Photos courtesy of the individual members. 1. What Your Team Really Needs Ask your team what they really need. I can speak from the perspective of a marketing and software company. We used to buy all sorts of digital tools to make our processes more efficient, but we ended up canceling a lot of subscriptions because a tool is just a tool. It’s pretty much useless if people don’t know how to use it […]

Shell profits double to record $40 billion

Shell profits double to record $40 billion

Watch Congress members question oil executives about sky-high gas prices Hong Kong/London CNN — Shell made a record profit of almost $40 billion in 2022, more than double what it raked in the previous year after oil and gas prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Europe’s largest oil company by revenue reported adjusted full-year earnings of $39.9 billion on Thursday — more than double the $19.3 billion it posted in 2021 — driven by a strong performance in its gas trading business. The company’s stock was up 2.6% in London at midday. Just over 40% of Shell’s full-year earnings came from its integrated gas business, which includes liquified natural gas trading operations. The unit was responsible for almost two thirds of Shell’s $9.8 billion profit in the final three months of the year. Shell CEO Wael Sawan said the results “demonstrate the strength of Shell’s differentiated portfolio, as well as our capacity to deliver vital energy to our customers in a volatile world.” ExxonMobil earnings more than double to annual record The earnings are the latest in a series of record-setting results by the world’s biggest energy companies , which have enjoyed bumper profits off the back of […]

Governments and Business Are Key Partners Against Cybercrime

Governments and Business Are Key Partners Against Cybercrime

Baker McKenzie partner Cyrus Vance, the former Manhattan District Attorney, analyzes some high-profile cyber attacks and offers advice to governments and companies on how to combat digital crimes against industry and agencies. Last month, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit, California’s largest transit system, suffered a ransomware attack that exposed highly sensitive data from the agency’s own police department. Vice Society, the prolific ransomware group that claimed responsibility for the attack, stole everything from master employee lists to crime lab reports and made them public, putting lives at risk. This was just the latest in a long list of cyber attacks targeting transit systems and national infrastructure, and it certainly won’t be the last. During my 12 years as Manhattan District Attorney, I witnessed the harmful effects of cybersecurity threats. Cybercrime in New York City impacts massive financial institutions, retailers, and infrastructure providers every day. These entities are attractive targets of cybercriminals, whether for financial or political reasons. Range of Actors When an organization is attacked, it’s hard to know the source—could it be a nation state, a cybercrime group, or someone from within the organization? Nation-state actors and their proxies are constantly re-branding and re-inventing to avoid detection. […]

The Four Personalities You Need In Business

The Four Personalities You Need In Business

Scott Oldford , founder of The Oldford Company, is an Advisor & Investor with 15 years of experience helping entrepreneurs scale businesses. getty In 2017 I closed the doors to a successful business even though it continued to make good money and had the potential to make a lot more. Financially speaking, I was in a good place. Life should have felt amazing. Yet, it didn’t for me. So I closed up shop and jumped into a new business venture. By the end of 2018, I had scaled the new business to eight figures. Each month, we pushed the boundaries, hiring new team members and investing in all areas of the business. Part of me felt whole again because I was once more an entrepreneur. Yet another, much bigger part of me wasn’t happy. So, as before, I ended up closing the business in 2019, even though it was—at least on the outside—a success. I learned a lot during this period, but arguably the biggest takeaway was why I was feeling unfulfilled, which led me to the four personalities you need to have for a healthy, long-term business. The Four Personalities I’ve associated myself as an entrepreneur my entire […]

Meta Revenue Beats As Company Announces $40 Billion Buyback

Meta Revenue Beats As Company Announces $40 Billion Buyback

Facebook owner Meta Platforms ( META ) reported fourth-quarter results late Wednesday that beat on revenue as the company struggles through the most difficult period since its founding 19 years ago. Meta stock soared as the company announced a $40 billion stock buyback. Also, Meta provided revenue guidance that beat estimates. For its first quarter, the company expects revenue in the range of $26 billion to $28.5 billion. The midpoint of $27.4 billion is above estimates of $27.1 billion. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.76 a share on revenue of $32.16 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $31.55 billion, according to FactSet. Meta stock soared 17.9% to 180.85, during after-hours trading on the stock market today . Difficult Year For Meta The earnings report comes amid a highly difficult year for Meta, which announced plans in November to cut 11,000 jobs . The job cuts involve 13% of Meta’s workforce. Meta also said it announced Wednesday a $40 billion increase in its share authorization. Like other social media companies, including Snap ( SNAP ), Etsy ( ETSY ) and Pinterest ( PINS ), Meta is challenged not only by macroeconomic weakness but also by a painful drop in digital […]

How Can Business Leaders Help Solve Absenteeism In The Office?

How Can Business Leaders Help Solve Absenteeism In The Office?

Roei Friedberg is CEO of Aura Americas , the air purification company offering solutions that make air clean and safe. getty The phrase "back to normal" is often used by business leaders to describe how they expect their employees and businesses to operate following the significant disruptions over the past three years. Normal, however, still takes different forms compared to what the acceptable business routine was before the pandemic. Even as businesses prepare for their employees to return to the office, there are still unpredictable factors that create an even bigger challenge than predicted for the "big return." In my discussions with thousands of executives on returning to work, three factors are among the biggest hurdles to battling absenteeism in the workplace—and here are some ways executives can soothe concerns around these challenges. 1. Address child-care challenges and change expectations around working while sick. One factor preventing employees with children from regularly coming to the office is the need to look after their children. A 2021 study by McKinsey & Company shows that about one in five children missed 15 days or more of school in a year. Now, hit with the perfect storm of RSV, Covid and the […]

China Private Sector Sees Big-Business Share Drop a Second Year

China Private Sector Sees Big-Business Share Drop a Second Year

A worker leaves the China Evergrande Group Royal Peak residential development in Beijing, China. Bloomberg China’s regulatory crackdowns and a property-market slump reduced the private sector’s share of the country’s big businesses for the second successive year. That’s according the Peterson Institute for International Economics, which tracked the value share of privately owned companies in the total market capitalization of China’s 100 largest listed companies going back to 2010. The private sector’s share at the end of 2022 dropped 5 percentage points from the previous year, to 42.8%. State owned companies gained ground amid property market slump Last year saw the longest-ever slump in China’s property market, following Beijing’s policies to rein in real estate credit — hitting the valuation of large privately owned companies such as China Evergrande Group and Country Garden Holdings, which had dominated that sector. The shares of private-sector tech groups continued to be affected by a regulatory tightening aimed at that industry. Part- and wholly state-owned companies account for the rest of the market capitalization measured by the PIIE. The private sector share peaked above 54% in 2020. “The data at end-2022 suggest that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ‘corporate rectification campaign’ started in the […]