But analysts have questioned whether the Microsoft move truly addresses those European business concerns. Phil Brunkard, executive counselor at Info-Tech Research Group UK, said, commenting on last month’s announcement of the EU Data Boundary for the Microsoft Cloud,  “Microsoft says that customer data will remain stored and processed in the EU and EFTA, but doesn’t guarantee true data sovereignty.” And European companies are now rethinking what data sovereignty means to them. They are moving beyond having it refer to where the data sits to focusing on which vendors control it, and who controls them. Responding to the new Euro cloud plan, another analyst, IDC VP Dave McCarthy, saw the effort as “signaling a growing European push for data control and independence.” “US providers could face tougher competition from EU companies that leverage this tech to offer sovereignty-friendly alternatives. Although €1 million isn’t a game-changer on its own, it’s a clear sign Europe wants to build its own cloud ecosystem—potentially at the expense of US market share,” McCarthy said. “For US providers, this could mean investing in more EU-based data centers or reconfiguring systems to ensure European customers’ data stays within the region. This isn’t just a compliance checkbox. It’s a shift that could hike operational costs and complexity, especially for companies used to running centralized setups.” Adding to the potential bad news for US hyperscalers, McCarthy said that there was little reason to believe that this trend would be limited to Europe. “If Europe pulls this off, other regions might take note and push for similar sovereignty rules. US providers could find themselves adapting to a patchwork of regulations worldwide, forcing a rethink of their global strategies,” McCarthy said. “This isn’t just a European headache, it’s a preview of what could become a broader challenge.” source

By Patrick Hoff ( April 3, 2025, 10:54 AM EDT) — The Second Circuit on Thursday reopened a proposed class action accusing IBM of shorting retirees on pension payments by using outdated mortality data, saying the trial court should’ve sought clarity about certain documents before tossing the case…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

By Tom Zanki ( March 31, 2025, 9:43 PM EDT) — Nasdaq is seeking to weed out volatile stocks by tightening listing standards for small companies conducting initial public offerings or uplistings, although lawyers caution that new rules could prompt capital-hungry companies to pursue other listing strategies, including reverse mergers…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

OCBC has emerged as a leader in enterprise AI adoption, seamlessly integrating generative AI (genAI) across its operations. I recently spoke with Donald MacDonald, head of OCBC’s Group Data Office, about the bank’s AI journey. Q: Donald, OCBC’s success with AI seems to stem from a long-term vision rather than a sudden pivot. How did this foundation come about? Donald MacDonald: One of our core principles has always been “achieve greater results with the same resources.” We never had multiple data platforms or multiple teams — it was always going to be one central team taking the lead on analytics for OCBC. This became a strength. Two decades ago, we made a strategic bet on a single, centralized data platform rather than fragmented solutions across business units. That decision drove us to integrate and scale our analytics consistently over the years. When generative AI came along, we already had the necessary foundations — clean, structured data; robust deployment processes; and a strong AI team — to move fast. If you’re spending your time fixing data pipelines while trying to innovate, you’re already behind. Q: OCBC’s approach to generative AI is notably pragmatic. How do you balance rapid deployment with regulatory constraints? Donald MacDonald: We’ve built a governance-first approach without letting it become a bottleneck. Our model management platform (MMP) and Hydra framework ensure that AI models are rigorously monitored, but they also streamline deployment. We don’t wait for perfection; we roll out solutions incrementally while keeping a close eye on performance and risk. Take OCBC GPT, for example. This is the bank’s internal enterprisewide generative AI assistant, which helps our employees create content and generate ideas. This application is freely available to every employee within the bank, used around 250,000 times a month. At the same time, because it was built within our secure on-premises environment, we could iterate safely and improve it in real time. Regulation isn’t a barrier when you bake it into your AI strategy from day one. This creates the trust that’s essential to high-performance IT. Q: One of OCBC’s strengths has been democratizing AI access within the organization. How do you ensure AI adoption at scale? Donald MacDonald: AI adoption isn’t about flashy demos; it’s about usable tools that add business value. We’ve made AI tools like Buddy and OCBC GPT available to all employees, not just data scientists. But access alone isn’t enough; you need an open culture where people aren’t afraid to experiment. Our AI team operates more like an internal open-source hub, where employees can experiment and build on existing tools rather than waiting for centralized IT to do everything. The result? We see genAI adoption spread organically, often in ways we wouldn’t have anticipated. This flexibility enhances our organizational adaptivity, allowing us to respond quickly to emerging opportunities. Q: OCBC has also developed AI copilots tailored to specific roles. What has been the impact of these specialized tools? Donald MacDonald: The real magic happens when AI goes beyond generic use cases and starts solving deeper role-specific problems: Take HOLMES AI, our relationship manager (RM) copilot that generates curated talking points based on investment research, saving the front line hours of prep work, or our compliance copilot, which reduces some customer onboarding tasks from days to potentially just minutes. These AI copilots aren’t gimmicks; they tangibly improve workflow efficiency and decision-making. We’re now exploring multiagent AI systems that can automate even more complex processes, like customer onboarding in private banking. Strategic alignment between business needs and technology is key here. Q: Looking ahead, how do you envision AI transforming the banking industry? Donald MacDonald: The future of banking will be fundamentally altered by AI, changing how we operate and engage with customers. At OCBC, we’ve already seen how generative AI enhances efficiency and personalization. For instance, our Buddy chatbot helps employees navigate over 400,000 internal documents, while our agentic AI systems significantly reduce lengthy private banking onboarding times. Looking forward, I see banking becoming more predictive and personalized, with AI enabling us to anticipate customer needs before they even realize them. This will free our staff from routine tasks, allowing them to focus on more complex, value-added activities that require human judgment. Of course, we’ll continue to approach this transformation responsibly, maintaining robust data privacy protections and governance frameworks. The AI-powered bank of the future will blend advanced technology with human expertise, delivering services that are both efficient and deeply personalized. Conclusion OCBC’s journey demonstrates how a thoughtful approach to AI can deliver significant business value while managing risk effectively. By building strong foundations, aligning technology with business objectives, and creating a culture of innovation, the financial services group has positioned itself at the forefront of AI adoption in financial services. Forrester clients can read our complete case study to explore how OCBC exemplifies high-performance IT through its strategic alignment, trust-building governance, and adaptive capabilities in AI implementation. source

Through its RISE with SAP offering, SAP gives customers a rapid transition to the cloud. This offering combines SAP S/4HANA Cloud with complementary SAP services to support companies in their digital transformation. This transformation takes place in three steps: redesigning processes, technical migration, and building the intelligent enterprise. S/4HANA On-Premise With SAP S/4HANA On-Premise, the customer manages the S/4HANA system, the HANA database, applications, data center, operating systems, middleware, and network on-premises. The customer is also responsible for maintenance and development. This allows for maximum flexibility. In this variant, the customer is responsible for adapting the software to company-specific requirements, controlling the frequency and scheduling of upgrades, and installing support packages. S/4HANA Hybrid In principle, a combination of S/4HANA Cloud and S/4HANA On-Premise is also possible. This is referred to as a hybrid approach. Companies can run selected processes, such as core processes, locally on their own servers with SAP S/4HANA On-Premise. Other processes that do not require individual adaptation can be outsourced to the cloud. source

Last week’s mega deal of Google acquiring CNAPP provider Wiz for $32 billion has some lamenting the future of IPOs in the cybersecurity space. Wiz was on a high growth trajectory, and given that Wiz had previously rebuffed Google’s interest in the summer of 2024, many assumed Wiz was on target for a 2025 IPO, the success of which was meant to serve as a bellwether for the overall health of the cybersecurity market. With Wiz no longer an IPO candidate, has momentum for cybersecurity IPOs stalled? In the short term, the answer is yes, but that is more to do with the health of the overall tech IPO market, not just cybersecurity. Genesys, a provider of AI-driven call center software, recently postponed its planned spring 2025 IPO, citing market uncertainty, with plans to revisit an IPO in the second half of 2025. And despite last year’s uneven macroeconomic environment, there were still over 220 IPOs in the US stock markets last year, up from 150 in 2023. While approximately 10% of the 2024 IPOs were of the SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company) variety, there were still several significant tech IPOs in 2024, including Reddit, OneStream, Ingram Micro, and ServiceTitan, to name a few. Rubrik’s April 2024 IPO also marked the first cybersecurity-related IPO in two years. While the cybersecurity IPO market may be muted right now, there are still several possible cybersecurity IPO candidates for 2025. While there is a lot of discussion on tariffs and the current market volatility hindering IPOs, indexes such as the Cboe’s VIX Index (which analyzes S&P 500 index options to derive a forward-looking projection of volatility) have not moved as much as the overall market indices. Some have suggested that this is because much of current volatility is derived from policy decisions (like tariffs), meaning they can be quickly reversed and are also not tied as directly to structural economic factors. Despite this current uncertainty, the resilience of the US stock market, and the fact that there are still several cybersecurity companies seeking a liquidity event, mean that cybersecurity IPOs could still happen in 2025, especially in the second half of the year. The current tech IPO bellwether is AI darling CoreWeave. Despite a tepid initial trading day, CoreWeave has since rebounded and its shares are up. This current (but by no means comprehensive) list of potential cybersecurity IPO candidates for the fall of 2025 can be put into two distinct categories: Category one: venture-backed, with $500 million or more in VC funding and high annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth of over 40% Netskope: In October 2024, Netskope CEO Sanjay Beri indicated plans to proceed with an IPO in the second half of 2025, depending on market conditions and investor appetite. Netskope has raised over $1 billion in venture capital, reported over $500 million in ARR, and competes in the high demand Zero Trust edge network security segment. While Netskope has not filed an S-1 form with the SEC yet, it is a vendor to watch in 2025 as a strong contender for an IPO. Snyk: Like Netskope, application security developer Snyk has raised over $1 billion in venture capital, hit $300 million in ARR last year, and is growing ARR 40% annually. While Snyk has not filed an S-1 with the SEC, it is long rumored to be an IPO candidate and fits the criteria for this category. Application security remains a high growth area. OneTrust: This privacy management company has raised over $1 billion and is exceeding $500 million in ARR. While the firm has been mum on any IPO plans, it meets the size, valuation, and growth metrics for an IPO. Armis has not reached the $500 million ARR milestone yet but is growing rapidly and has raised over $800 million in venture capital. According to Bloomberg, it is looking at 2026 for an IPO, so continued success and growth in 2025 will position the company for an IPO next year. Category two: established cybersecurity firm owned by private equity (PE) firms for two or more years and seeking exit This category already has a successful 2025 IPO: identity management and governance vendor SailPoint, which PE investor Thoma Bravo took public in February, raising $1.4 billion in the IPO at a $12 billion valuation. Some other IPO candidates in this category include: Proofpoint: Email and data security vendor Proofpoint was taken private by Thoma Bravo for $12 billion in 2021. Last fall, Proofpoint indicated plans to return to public markets within 12 to 18 months. Thoma Bravo has held Proofpoint for five years; this would be a good IPO candidate once market conditions improve. Illumio: Also owned by Thoma Bravo since 2021, Illumio has raised more than $500 million in funding, is growing fast, and had a $2 billion-plus valuation when acquired by Thoma Bravo. Illumio was a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024, last year and competes in the high-demand cloud security and Zero Trust segments. Delinea: Last week, the PE owner of privileged identity management vendor Delinea indicated that it’s considering IPO plans. TPG has owned Delinea since 2021 when it merged Thycotic and Centrify and renamed the new entity Delinea. With Delinea’s ARR at almost $400 million, it fits the criteria, especially if the PE owner is looking to exit this investment in 2025. While macroeconomic factors or geopolitical events could affect the public market’s appetite for tech IPOs, this post has hopefully shown that there are plenty of well-funded and capitalized cybersecurity companies capable of going public in the next 12 months based on market conditions. And seeing as all these companies are growing and investing in their product offerings, security professionals should view pending cybersecurity IPOs as a positive validation of the overall cybersecurity market and their supplier’s position within that market. source

Let’s face it: As a US government leader, you are facing unprecedented change. The speed, depth, and widespread nature of the current change in the US government is dramatic, and you are uniquely challenged at this moment in helping your people stay engaged to deliver great outcomes while under significant mental stress. Our research shows that government workers who see how their work contributes to their organization’s overall success are four times more likely to put effort into their growth and development. They’re also three times more likely to be productive at work than those who do not see how their work contributes. Consider further that 41% of employees who remain after a layoff experience a 36% decline in organizational commitment and a 20% decline in job performance. When you pair both factors together, it is easy to see the importance of keeping your employees engaged and connected to their work after a layoff, when motivation is a challenge. Even if it is a deliberate strategy by executive leadership to further reduce headcount in response to continued uncertainty, you, as the directly aligned manager of your people, need to assume that they will stay for the long term. Forrester can help you navigate this uncertainty with some practical guidance. Go Beyond Surface-Level Conversations And Tactics This is not a time for leaning too heavily on team lunches, “How are you?” statements in a one-on-one, or other surface-level approaches. Colleagues losing their jobs around you can trigger deeply rooted psychological fears and emotions. Consider that many of your employees might be the sole or primary earner of a household. Many may be concerned about feeding their family if they are “next.” How do you, as their leader, respond to this moment of strong emotion? You respond by leaning into it and doing the uncomfortable work of connecting with your people on a deeper level: Open the door to deep sharing of how your people are feeling by telling a relatable story from your past (along with how you currently feel about the environment). Share the immense impact it had on you, how you navigated it, and what the end result was. If you do not have this story or are uncomfortable with this approach, find someone in your network who is willing and ensure that this employee is fully open to this type of dialogue before beginning. Focus on what you can control by continuing the dialog. Stay committed to it; not every conversation needs to be deep and painful, but your employees should know that this door is always open to them. Check in on them regularly after your initial deep work to let them know that you are there for them any time they need. As with any organizational change, you cannot control every variable. Focus on what you can control with your teams to stay focused on the task at hand. Delivering outcomes while change swirls around you will build resilience both within your team and in yourself as a leader. After you cover the personal side of the conversation, keep a sharp focus on how their work drives meaningful outcomes for overall goals. Make a plan that establishes a strong and purposeful line of communication between you and your team. Employees who have a strong understanding of how their work ties to organizational goals are much more likely to deliver strong results because they can see a tangible impact. Failure to establish this linkage will result in a precipitous decline in results. Do Not Forget To Practice Self-Care It is imperative as a leader to routinely practice self-care. If you are not in the best mental state, you will not be able to optimally support your employees and the aforementioned tactics will not succeed at achieving high engagement in your teams. Self-care takes many forms and is highly individualized. Some people exercise, read, or sit on a riding lawn mower for 3 hours. Our guidance is to deploy any techniques that bring about mental calm and help reduce stressors so that you can bring absolute clarity to supporting your teams. Effective self-care mindfulness routines have been found to moderately reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, two very common conditions experienced during times of stress such as a period of layoffs. Don’t make the mistake of believing that the highly productive people you are relying on to steer your ship in a new direction aren’t also burning out. Our research finds that employees can be both burning out and highly engaged — and this includes you. As a leader, practice what you preach. Leverage the power of storytelling to share what you are doing to manage your emotions during these difficult times. It is easy to avoid these difficult topics and stay focused on the day’s tasks. To be truly effective as a change leader, we urge you to lean heavily into the challenge — for yourself and your people. If you want to dig deeper into managing change in these unprecedented times, please reach out to us by scheduling a guidance session or an inquiry via email: . source

In Italy alone, over 60% of large companies hinge their strategies for success on digitalization, indicating a lack of awareness and perspective of what digital transformation actually means. Investment isn’t the issue, but there’s a culture of thinking that technological change alone, rather than organizational change, creates digital transformation, which is a big first mistake to make on a path to evolution and modernization. “Whatever your needs are, the technology is there; that’s not the problem,” says Tommaso Pagnini, CIO of global aluminium processor Profilglass. “You might evaluate which type of cloud to choose or whether an AI application is useful, but the real issue is management and process, and how to effectively address challenges by putting the focus on people.” For Marco Foracchia, CIO of AUSL, thelocal health authority that administers services in Italy’s Reggio Emilia province, the biggest mistake is not thinking strategically. “Taking many unrelated steps without an overall vision gets you nowhere,” he says. “You risk buying ICT systems randomly and accumulating technologies, and losing the possibility of grafting wider logic into strategies for cybersecurity, privacy, cloud, and AI. These aren’t individual purchases, but transversal elements of a broad strategy.” source

Enterprise CRM software is a customer relationship management platform specifically designed for midsize to large organizations that need a solution that can handle the bandwidth of a large-volume business. With the right software, businesses can scale high-level automation, such as deal tracking, client engagement, and team management. Some of the most notable providers include Zoho CRM, HubSpot, and Pipedrive for their scalability, cost efficiency, and marketing and sales features (they’re also among the best AI-powered CRMs). The providers I examine below organize and track current and past client activity through custom workflows and pipelines with advanced tech features. These tools help teams, departments, and entire enterprises access the same up-to-date information through visually digestible dashboards. 1 monday CRM Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Calendar, Collaboration Tools, Contact Management, and more 2 Pipedrive CRM Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Calendar, Collaboration Tools, Contact Management, and more 3 Creatio CRM Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Large, Enterprise Features Dashboard, Document Management / Sharing, Email / Marketing Automation, and more Top enterprise CRM software compared The top enterprise CRM tools offer a variety of core features, like contact and account management, basic reports and dashboards, and activity tracking. After building pipelines and reports in the software, information and activity updates can be shared through the CRM’s integrations with other applications, both native and third-party. This way, accounts and pipelines are visible across teams and entire departments. Key enterprise features Marketing automation: Manage campaigns with marketing attribution, send mass emails, and use the Social Tab to launch Facebook and X campaigns. Advanced CRM analytics: Run anomaly detection, comparator, cohort analysis, and quadrant analysis for an in-depth understanding of customer behavior. Zia AI: Zoho CRM’s native AI tools include smart lead scoring, recommendations, data enrichment, email summarization, sentence auto-complete, call transcription, and sentiment analysis. Advanced customizations: You can customize page layouts, subforms, web tabs, reports, dashboards, email templates, and buttons. Zoho CRM social media analytics. Image: Zoho Pros and cons Pros Cons Social Tab for social media marketing and management Workflow rules and automation are available across all plans 24/7/365 data security Difficult UI due to advanced and robust features 24/7 customer support requires an add-on User-reported issues with data migration and deduplication HubSpot CRM: Best all-in-one enterprise CRM Overall rating: 4.62/5 Cost: 4.31/5 Core features: 4.53/5 Ease of use: 5/5 Support: 4.38/5 Expert score: 4.38/ Image: HubSpot HubSpot CRM offers a variety of sales, marketing, and customer service management tools. You can organize and engage with clients through phone, live chat, and email, and manage activities within a custom dashboard. Then, you can sync customer data across an array of third-party integrations. Moreover, despite its robustness, it uniquely maintains a low learning curve, making it great for those who want to deploy an easy-to-use CRM across a large organization. Why I chose HubSpot CRM HubSpot CRM is top-rated for its robust set of features. In addition to its sales, marketing, and service capabilities, it also offers specialty tools for managing commerce, content, and operations. Its notable features include company insights, an AI email writer, live chat software, and a meeting scheduler. Enterprise-level features include lead form routing, recurring revenue tracking, deal journey analytics, and custom user roles. For more information, read our HubSpot CRM review. Pricing Free CRM: Free for up to two users with contact management, quotes, live chat, and more. Sales Hub Starter: $15 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly. The Starter plan includes all free tools, simple automation, e-signature, conversation routing, and more. Sales Hub Professional: $90 per seat per month, billed annually, or $100 when billed monthly, and a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. This plan includes all Starter features and prospecting workspace, playbooks, forecasting, and more. Sales Hub Enterprise: $150 per seat per month, with an annual commitment and a one-time $3,500 onboarding fee. Users of this plan receive all Professional tools plus advanced permissions, predictive lead scoring, conversation intelligence, and lead form routing. Key enterprise features Breeze Prospecting Agent: Leverage AI-powered research to build a qualified sales pipeline and personalized outreach strategies. Sensitive data storage: Securely store sensitive data like demographics, financial data, and government ID inside your HubSpot database. Advanced permissions and notifications: Create custom user roles, granular permissions, and default notifications for all users or profiles in your HubSpot account. HubSpot CRM email marketing template. Image: HubSpot Pros and cons Pros Cons All-in-one CRM with sales, marketing, service, and commerce tools Intuitive user interface Offers specialty tools for content and operations management Enterprise tier requires an annual commitment Mandatory one-time onboarding fee for higher tiers AI-powered data enrichment requires a $45 per month add-on fee Pipedrive: Best for visual pipeline management Overall rating: 4.54/5 Cost: 4.25/5 Core features: 4.53/5 Ease of use: 5/5 Support: 4.06/5 Expert score: 4.19/5 Image: Pipedrive Pipedrive is a straightforward CRM system that focuses on building competent sales pipelines for tracking deals and managing leads. Businesses can automate their sales process with Kanban drag-and-drop tools, making it an easy platform to navigate and customize. This platform also offers resources on implementing the tool according to your niche industry, like automotive sales, call centers, banking, or B2B/B2C organizations. SEE: 10 Best CRM Software for 2025 Why I chose Pipedrive Pipedrive offers a highly visual drag-and-drop interface, making it great for reflecting sales and marketing processes. Creating these Kanban-like pipelines makes it easier to manage new leads and existing clients from one place. Pipedrive is intuitive software that allows individuals to navigate and identify potential sales opportunities, making it the best enterprise CRM for visual pipeline management. Pipedrive’s pipeline builder is pretty clear-cut and visually appealing, so if you want a similar intuitive interface for creating sales processes at a lower cost,

Overview In this episode, we’re joined by Kenneth Lindegaard, the visionary CIO of Space42. Kenneth brings a unique blend of strategic insight and hands-on expertise to the table.As CIO of Space42, Kenneth is at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge technologies such as AI, satellite communications, and geospatial insights. His mission is to optimize these technologies for both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, driving digital transformation that enhances business outcomes. Join us as we delve into Kenneth’s approach to balancing innovation with operational demands, and explore how he is shaping the future of IT in the Middle East. Register Now source