In my previous post , we explored the growing pressures on OPEX in the telecom sector, from network upgrades and regulatory compliance to rising energy costs and cybersecurity. As telecom executives work to navigate these challenges, finding a balance between fostering innovation and managing operating expenses is no longer optional — it is a necessity for survival. In this blog, we’ll explore a powerful approach to achieving both in 2025: the concept of composable ERP, a proven path to helping telecom companies optimize their OPEX while driving innovation and efficiency. The case for composable ERP strategies Composable ERP strategy focuses on flexibility and modularity, allowing telecoms to integrate existing systems with cloud-based services and other modern technologies. The idea is to break down IT systems into discrete, interchangeable elements that can be configured and optimized independently. With this approach, telecoms can retain critical systems like ERP while updating or replacing other components as needed. For example, instead of migrating an entire ERP system to the cloud, telecoms could move specific modules, such as HR or finance, while leaving the core system intact. This allows them to leverage cloud technologies without incurring the full OPEX burden of a complete migration, the wait time to realize the investment, or the risk of project failure. Composable ERP is about creating a more adaptive and scalable technology environment that can evolve with the business, with less reliance on software vendors’ roadmaps. Supporting innovation with managing OPEX Composable ERP offers greater flexibility, scalability and efficiency – three ingredients that will help telecom leaders brace for changes in technology, adopt the latest innovations without delay, and allow them to be strategic about resource allocations and investments. Here’s how it helps strike that balance:  Scalability without overprovisioning A composable ERP approach enables telecoms to scale infrastructure dynamically, avoiding the costs of overprovisioning. This allows them to add or reduce resources based on real-time demand, paying only for what’s needed. Faster time to market for new servicesAccelerate the deployment of new services by enabling rapid assembly and testing of solution components. This speed to market supports innovation while keeping costs in check, as telecoms quickly adapt to new opportunities. Cost efficiency through resource optimizationBy optimizing existing resources, telecoms can maximize the use of their infrastructure. Composable ERP enables better management of compute, storage, networking, and other limited resources. Integration with legacy systemsComposable ERP supports incremental upgrades by integrating new technologies with existing legacy systems. Telecoms can leverage modern innovations without overhauling their entire infrastructure, maintaining OPEX predictability. Streamlined operations with automation AI-driven automation allows telecoms to reduce operational overhead while improving service delivery and eliminating inefficiencies. By automating tasks once handled manually, employees can focus on more strategic initiatives, while minimizing human error and cost. The path forward for telecom success Embracing a composable ERP strategy is essential for telecom companies and can provide the agility, scalability, and cost-efficiency needed to succeed amid a rapidly evolving landscape. By strategically deploying modular IT components, automating operations, integrating new technologies with existing systems, and leveraging a simplified approach, telecom companies can confidently drive innovation without sacrificing operational health or inflating OPEX. Discover how Rimini Street is helping telecom clients accelerate digital transformation, regain control of their IT roadmap and significantly reduce maintenance costs, while freeing funds to invest in priority initiatives. Drive digital transformation without disruption while maximizing the value of your investments.   source

However, Carter noted, “the way that IDC frames the world is often not how our buyers categorize things. And so we’re learning that we need to maybe have more knowledge — what we call a knowledge graph orientation — towards this, where they can pick and choose different options, and they define their requirements a bit more dynamically, as opposed to falling into our traditional categories as we’ve done as a research house over the years. So it’s really forcing us to ask ourselves some of the harder questions about how we should serve this up in the future.” As the criteria fall into place, the application winnows down the list of possible vendors. Users can click through and view IDC research on each, add comments, and even “favorite” vendors. Each one is scored based on its match to the requirements. For example, all other things being equal, if Product A’s pricing model requires annual commitments and Product B’s is quarterly, the buyer’s preference, then Product B will have a higher vendor score. Requirements can also include support and implementation options. To provide another perspective, IDC has partnered with software marketplace G2, which provides customer ratings and comparisons of products. “We see that as complementary, because this provides the peer review perspective on that product, so that it adds another layer of value to a user,” Carter explained. source

By Jared Foretek ( March 4, 2025, 5:51 PM EST) — The Federal Communications Commission has dismissed a petition to restore local telecom unbundling rules, reiterating the agency’s 2020 reasons for lifting a number of restrictions on local incumbents and restating that those limitations are no longer necessary…. 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

One could be forgiven for finding comfort in the numbers. Job openings, hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, and total separations rates showed little or no change in the month of November 2024, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lull isn’t likely to last this first quarter of 2025. At the end of last year, disruption was already boiling underneath.  AI immediately comes to mind as a major disruptor this year, but it isn’t the only one to rise on the job front. By most accounts, AI is expected to shift some hiring trends and eliminate some jobs altogether. But there are dissenters who think that AI is mostly a convenient scapegoat.  “In developed countries, the vast majority of layoffs blamed on AI this year will be false,” says Kjell Carlsson, head of AI strategy at Domino Data Lab. “They are just a convenient excuse for cost-cutting measures that are meant to allay customer fears and justify their actions to their remaining employees. In prior decades, companies would blame international competition, activist investors, or the current economic climate. In 2025, they will falsely be blamed on AI.”    “While embarking on an AI transformation does require investment, the amounts are relatively modest and plenty of the companies conducting layoffs have more than sufficient access to cash. And, while AI can help all companies become dramatically more efficient, few organizations have sufficient AI capabilities to implement enough AI use cases for the resulting productivity gains to dramatically affect their need for humans,” Carlsson explains.   Related:Key Attributes to Look for in an IT Team Project Leader Indeed, AI is likely driving employment trends upward as companies seek and compete for AI talent to run the AI ship, and AI skilled labor to power it out from the dock and on to profitable seas. Unsurprisingly, researchers are finding this to be the case.  According to a recent O’Reilly Technology Trends for 2025 report, “interest in AI related skills surged dramatically, with the most pronounced usage increases seen in topics like prompt engineering (456% increase), AI principles (386% increase), and generative AI (289% increase). Use of content about GitHub Copilot soared by an impressive 471%, reflecting developers’ enthusiasm for tools that enhance productivity.”  The O’Reilly researchers found some unexpected nuggets in the research data, too. Among top AI topics, there was “a marked decline in interest for GPT, which saw a 13% drop in usage and a similar downward trend in searches, indicating that developers are prioritizing foundational AI knowledge over platform-specific skills to effectively navigate across various AI models such as Claude, Google’s Gemini, and Llama.”  Related:Should CIOs Lead User Education Initiatives? In the short- to mid-terms, most industry watchers expect AI to drive rather than diminish hiring trends.  “There will be new and existing AI roles in high demand this year. AI engineers and equivalent data scientist, ML engineering, developer, product, managerial roles who have the skills to design, develop, operationalize, and govern AI projects will be highly sought after — as well as IT roles involved in implementing and administering AI platforms and infrastructure. Expect to see job descriptions asking for “agentic AI” and “AI agent” experience, but with little detail on what this means. Translation: it means experience in creating and/or operationalizing LLM-driven pipelines,” Carlsson says.  The uptick in hiring AI skills extends to non-AI related jobs as well.  “There will also be a significant uptick in roles related to upskilling organizations on how to use GenAI tools. These roles will be particularly helpful since so many non-tech roles will also be requiring skills and experience using GenAI. Of these, perhaps no role needs AI skills more desperately than recruiters,” Carlsson says.  Related:Cross-Cultural Teams: Managing Amid Diverse Backgrounds Therein lies some of the hottest job opportunities for 2025: those found at the intersections of domain and AI expertise.  “I think that’s one general statement I’d make about technology jobs in 2025. Increasingly, the most in-demand professionals are those who don’t just bring tech expertise but also interdisciplinary knowledge, who understand the specific ways technology is leveraged in various fields like construction or manufacturing and is able to adapt or develop tools and systems from this perspective,” says David Case, president of Advastar Group, a staffing firm focused primarily on construction recruitment.   Where the Hot Jobs Are  Companies are now facing historic headwinds in everything from growing inflation, labor shortages from immigration crackdowns, global uncertainties, and supply chain disruptions from unexpected trade wars sparking around the globe. AI and other technologies are the likely means of mitigating disruptions and risks, thereby increasing the demand for both the tech and the creative, critical thinkers who can use the tech to solve problems on the fly. But that also calls for precision and close alignment of talent and tech with rapid fire changes in business needs.  “The challenge for organizations isn’t just building AI — it’s ensuring AI is aligned with business objectives, driving measurable impact, mitigating data and AI risk, and justifying investments,” says Arjun Pillai, co-founder and CEO of DocketAI, which is billed as “the world’s first AI sales engineer.”  So where are these hot jobs that require a combination of AI and tech skills, domain expertise, and critical thinking skills? Here are a few hot jobs and industries that have job openings now or soon, in the words of the experts who see these developments up close. Most industry watchers say even more hot jobs will emerge over the year, too.  Hot Jobs  1. Chief AI officer   Someone has to be in charge of the AI train before it runs away and derails!   “The role of chief AI officer (CAIO) is becoming more common as enterprises navigate the two key aspects of AI adoption. First, organizations need to leverage AI to improve their own productivity. The second aspect of successful AI adoption is having an AI strategy for their own product, service or offerings. Regardless of industry, a CAIO

By Dani Kass ( February 28, 2025, 9:03 PM EST) — Intel Corp. is asking U.S. District Judge Alan Albright to hold that a license it has with Finjan Holdings also covers patents owned by its affiliates, meaning a jury would only decide whether its litigation foe VLSI Technology is one of those affiliates…. 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

The obscure world of quantum computing is emerging from the lab and into the public domain — fuelled by Big Tech’s recent progress in quantum processors. In the past few months alone, Google launched a chip called Willow, Microsoft unveiled Majorana, and this week, Amazon revealed Ocelot.  While tech giants are making great strides, these companies are still working in dozens of qubits — far from the numbers needed for a practical quantum computer. QuantWare, a startup from the Netherlands, could help them unlock millions more. QuantWare claims to have created a 3D chip architecture that offers the fastest route to a 1-million qubit quantum computer — and plans to sell it to Silicon Valley.    “We need to get to around a million qubits for a quantum computer capable of economically-relevant, world-changing calculations,” said QuantWare’s co-founder and CEO Matthijs Rijlaarsdam. These would be large, megawatt-scale systems, comparable to today’s AI clusters, he said. TNW Conference – Groups get the best fun and the best deals Bring your team and multiply your efficiency to cover more grounds and collect new leads. Qubits, like bits in a regular PC, are the basic units of information in a quantum computer. The more you have, the faster the machine.  “Even Google took five years to double the number of qubits on its chips — from 50 to 100,” said Rijlaarsdam. “If this is the pace of scaling up, we’re not going to get there fast enough.”  Solving the quantum qubit conundrum One of the biggest bottlenecks to scaling quantum computers is making room for more qubits.  Current designs route the electronic signals used to control the qubits to the edge of the chip. But as qubit numbers grow, space runs out.  Then you’ve got components like amplifiers, filters, and mixers that ensure signals are delivered with the right frequency, amplitude, and noise levels to perform accurate quantum calculations. In today’s quantum computers, each component is housed on a separate chip in a separate metal box — resulting in quantum computers growing too large too quickly.  QuantWare’s core offering — vertical integration and optimisation, or VIO — promises to solve quantum’s scaling problem.  The 3D chip architecture replaces edge-based wiring, allowing signals to travel “from above,” producing higher qubit densities. VIO also integrates bulky components like amplifiers and filters onto a single quantum processor or ‘chip’. In effect, it creates the quantum computing version of an integrated circuit in modern PCs.  “We provide the fastest path towards scaling towards a million qubit system,” said Rijlaarsdam. And because VIO enables all those qubits to be integrated into one chip, it will be “exponentially faster” than a system made up of several chips connected together, he said.  QuantWare cofounders Alessandro Bruno (left) and Matthijs Rijlaarsdam. Credit: QuantWare Rijlaarsdam and Alessandro Bruno founded QuantWare in 2020 as a spinoff from TU Delft. The startup makes its own quantum chips and amplifiers, which are already found in quantum computers in 20 countries. It will use VIO to rapidly scale its processors. But it will also offer the technology to companies building their own quantum machines.  Big Tech, big customers As tech giants compete in the race to a viable quantum computer, QuantWare is positioning itself to cash in. The startup aims to become the quantum equivalent of what TSMC is to Apple or Microsoft in classical computing — an enabler, not a competitor.  “Each Big Tech breakthrough reinforces QuantWare’s value proposition,” said Rijlaarsdam. Quantum computing has transformed in recent years from a speculative moonshot into a technology poised to turbo-charge everything from drug discovery to cryptography. Last year, quantum technologies attracted over $49bn in public and private investment.   “Quantum computing is less now a science problem than an engineering problem, and it will quickly become an economic problem: how can we scale as quickly as possible?” said Rijlaarsdam.   Today, QuantWare raised €20mn in Series A funding to further develop VIO and build out its chip fabrication facilities. The round was co-led by Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund and Innovation Quarter. Job van der Voort, founder and CEO of Remote, also came on board as an angel investor. If QuantWare’s bet on 3D chip architecture pays off, it could offer a route to the million-qubit milestone needed to get quantum computers that truly change the world. The race is on.   The next big thing in tech is one of three key themes at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now on sale. To get 30% off, use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the check-out. source

About nine months later, she called me and said, ‘I have this opportunity.’ At that point, I was commuting from Atlanta to Los Angeles every week for Bank of America and didn’t want to have to travel for an interview, so I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do a video call.’ This was late 2011, and it wasn’t like you could do a video call from your home back then, so I drove to a place with video-call technology, and I did an interview with a bunch of people from KeyBank, which I’d never heard of before. I wasn’t looking to move to Cleveland, but they were just amazing people. I drove home and said to my husband, ‘If they ask me to come in for an in-person interview, I’d really like to do it, just to see if they’re for real.’ A couple of weeks later, I got on a plane to meet Beth Mooney, who was CEO at the time. My husband watched a video of her giving a speech while I was on the plane, and he got goosebumps and said, ‘All right, we’re moving to Cleveland,’ before I had even met her. source

The last couple of weeks has been a bonanza of public-sector AI-related news in the UK. Rather than summarize it here, you can check out a blog from myself and my colleague Enza Iannopollo outlining the policy decisions, partnerships, lack of signing up to global accords, and not-so-subtle departmental name changes that UK-dot-gov has embarked upon. A Third Way: The UK Government Wants To Fuel Public-Sector AI Innovation The underlying signal in the recent announcements is clear: The UK government wants to fuel AI innovation. Politics aside, it seeks a third path, one that treads the line between what some see as an overregulated EU and that others see as an underregulated US — bronze-helmed, sword girded at the waist, standing a-prow of the trireme navigating the narrow strait between the deadly dangers of monstrous Scylla and Charybdis, the whirlpool. You can decide which is which in this scenario. Classics aside, this is a noble cause — perhaps the embodiment of the Brexit promise of Singapore-on-Thames. We can look to Estonia for inspiration here. But there’s a key missing component to the strategy — or, perhaps, one that’s there but has been somewhat dropped into the bilges of the galley while we row for victory. Trust Is The Killer App The Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government does a decent job of setting out the UK government’s stance on public-sector AI adoption. It presents guidelines and principles for ethics and risks and mentions “high-risk” and “high-impact” use cases in its aim to “help ensure that AI technologies are deployed in responsible and beneficial ways, safeguarding the security, well-being, and trust of the public we serve.” But it fails to: Define what drives, or erodes, citizen trust in AI systems. The word trust, or trustworthy, appears 22 times (compared to risk, which appears 176 times), but it falls short of giving civil servants guidance on what system features, characteristics, or behaviors create, or destroy, citizen trust. Anticipate divergence between private- and public-sector AI adoption. A lack of any wider legislation governing private-sector development of AI systems means that, as long as UK firms comply with existing relevant legislation such as the GDPR or the Crime and Disorder Act covering hate speech, they are free to develop AI in whatever way they want — potentially, ethics-free. A rise in spammy, hallucinating, biased, unexplainable bots could erode citizen trust in AI, damaging the government’s own efforts to convince citizens that the (hypothetical) Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency license renewal bot is safe. Take A Risk-Based Approach To Building Citizen Trust In AI Forrester’s trust framework defines seven levers of trust. It defines words such as transparency, consistency, and dependability, words that also crop up in both the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government and in the EU’s 2019 Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. This is not a coincidence. The EU guidance predates, and somewhat underpins, the recent EU AI Act. But what the EU AI Act does that the UK guidance doesn’t is more clearly define levels of risk, from unacceptable, such as social scoring or biometric profiling that infer sensitive traits like ethnicity or sexual orientation, through high-risk, such as using AI to screen x-rays to spot cancer, to minimal risk, such as AI-powered NPCs in computer games or generative AI content creation for email personalization. We took our trust model (the seven levers) and looked at what drives or erodes UK consumer trust in AI applications at different levels of risk. We found: When the risk is high, empathy is the key driver of trust. Consistency is number two, and transparency is third. This makes sense. We want safety-critical use cases to be safe, consistent, and explainable, right? When the risk is low, dependability is the key trust driver. Consistency drops right to the bottom, yet empathy and transparency remain key. Again, this makes sense. We don’t really mind if the marketing copy for that tin of beans is different each time or if the NPC in “Baldur’s Gate” says something different each time we greet them. But we want them to be there. Want to know more? We will be publishing both our AI trust findings and our Government Trust Index for the UK, as well as for a number of other European countries, over the next few months. Keep an eye out, and in the meantime, if you are a client, please book a guidance session if you want to learn more. source

When much of human activity moved online during the height of the pandemic, tech companies were thriving. Call it the COVID tech bubble. Now we’ve hit the COVID tech bust. By the second half of 2022, tech companies had initiated significant layoffs — something that had followed an extended period of frenzied tech hiring and attention to employee experience. Standard explanations for the cuts were that companies hired too many during the pandemic and they were looking at the specter of a recession in the months ahead. It sounds a lot like the dot-com boom and bust of yore. Not all companies are impacted equally. It’s the ones that hired at an accelerated rate during the boom that seem to be hitting the brakes right now. At the same time, IT pros with cybersecurity, cloud, and data analytics/machine learning skills have remained in high demand so far. In this space, InformationWeek will document some of the more significant layoffs, updated regularly. Be sure to check back. Here’s a look at the biggest tech layoffs so far: Related:2023 IT Salary Report: Pay Increases Despite Economic Pressures February 2025 Tech Layoffs HP, February 28, 2025 announcement. Layoff of 2,000 people, 23% of workforce. HP is laying off 2,000 employees as part of an ongoing restructuring plan called Future Now the company announced in 2022, according to the Los Angeles Times. HP’s Future Now plan was launched in response to declining sales for personal computers after the COVID-19 pandemic fueled the rise of remote work. According to the report, HP’s latest round of layoffs arrive as the company shifts its focus to cut costs amid economic uncertainty and increase its investments in AI. The company said it planned to lay off 7,000 employees over three years, according to its 2024 annual report. Grubhub, February 28, 2025 announcement. Layoff of 500 people, 23% of workforce. CEO Howard Migdal announced on Friday that Grubhub has laid off 500 employees as it focuses on aligning its business with Wonder after the takeover was completed last month, according to Reuters. The food delivery firm’s restructuring will reduce its workforce by 23%. According to the report, Grubhub was bought last year by food delivery startup Wonder, led by Walmart’s former executive Marc Lore. Autodesk, February 27, 2025 announcement. Layoff of 1,350 people, 9% of workforce. The design software maker said Thursday that it will lay off 1,350 employees, or 9% of its current workforce, according to CNBC. Autodesk is reportedly initiating the cuts to remain competitive in the current economy and protect its leadership in cloud computing and AI. “Our GTM model has evolved significantly from the transition to subscription and multi-year contracts billed annually to self-service enablement, the adoption of direct billing, and more,” Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost wrote in a memo to employees. “These changes position us to better meet the evolving needs of our customers and channel partners. To fully benefit from these changes, we are beginning the transformation of our GTM organization to increase customer satisfaction and Autodesk’s productivity.” According to the report, Autodesk will make facility reductions as well, though it will not close any offices. Google, February 27, 2025 announcement. Layoff total TBA. Google told employees in its “People Operations” and cloud organizations this week that it plans to initiate layoffs as part of internal reorganizations, according to CNBC. Google will reportedly offer a voluntary exit program to U.S.-based, full-time employees in People Operations, Google’s human relations division, starting in early March, according to a memo issued Tuesday by HR chief Fiona Cicconi obtained by CNBC. Separately, Google trimmed the headcount of several teams within its cloud unit, mostly affecting operations support staff, according to sources and separate internal memos. In addition, some of those moves include relocating roles to other countries. Google’s latest restructuring arrives after finance chief Anat Ashkenazi reportedly said one of her top priorities would be to drive more cost-cutting as the company expands its spending on AI infrastructure in 2025. “Our teams have continued to make changes to operate more efficiently, remove layers, and ensure they are set up for long term success,” Google spokesperson Brandon Asberry said in a statement. “This work is ongoing as we continue to invest in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.” Google’s cloud layoffs affected the unit’s sales operations, customer experience, internal deal and go-to-market teams, according to anonymous sources who spoke with CNBC. While the company confirmed the cuts, the total number of impacted employees remains unclear. Stay tuned. eBay, February 26, 2025 announcement. Layoff of 20 people, 10% of workforce. The e-commerce shopping giant will lay off a few dozen employees in Israel, with the exact number to be finalized after the upcoming hearings, according to Calcalist. According to the report, this is eBay’s fourth round of cuts in Israel and is expected to be the smallest, affecting around 20 employees out of its 250-person workforce. The company previously made layoffs in Israel in February 2023, December 2023, and June 2024. eBay has yet to comment on the matter. Stay tuned. Commercetools, February 26, 2025 announcement. Layoff of 10% of workforce. The software company that provides APIs to companies building online storefronts has laid off dozens of employees over the last few weeks, including around 10% of staff earlier Wednesday, according to TechCrunch. Commercetools’ restructuring move is reportedly a result of failing to meet its sales growth targets. In addition to the cuts, the company is initiating several executive changes, including dismissing its chief revenue officer and CFO, and reassigning the roles previously held by its chief information security and compliance officer. Commercetools is undergoing a significant restructuring that will impact marketing, sales, and internal operations such as HR and finance, according to a memo to staff shared by CEO Andrew Burton. According to the report, select staff in customer and product development will also be cut “after reviewing performance and impact.” While Burton declined to comment on the exact number of affected employees, an anonymous source who spoke to TechCrunch, said