From more tech industry layoffs to co-innovation from two leading customer experience vendors, here are some extracts from our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
Cisco Cuts 4,000+ Jobs Amid Revenue Slump
Cisco has confirmed it will cut over 4,000 jobs, which represents five percent of its workforce.
The confirmation comes after the tech giant announced its revenues had dropped by six percent year-over-year (YoY) last quarter.
Cisco has also lowered its annual revenue expectations from $52.5BN to $51.5BN.
Scott Herren, CFO at Cisco, acknowledged these figures and layoffs during an earnings call with investors, stating:
We are realigning our investments and expenses to reflect the current environment to help maximize long-term value for our shareholders.
Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco, added that the current environment includes a “greater degree of caution and scrutiny of deals”, driven by “high levels of uncertainty” within businesses.
That tricky macro-environment is a familiar tale, with several other tech leaders noting this over the past couple of years – including the heads of Oracle, Salesforce, and HubSpot.
Indeed, several have cited it as a primary driver of layoffs, with 35,000 jobs lost in the tech sector since the turn of the year. (Read on…).
Twilio Takes a $286MN Hit on Segment, Reviews Its Future
Twilio has taken a $286MN hit on Segment, the customer data platform (CDP) it acquired in November 2020.
At the time, Twilio plunged $3.2BN into the platform, which became the star attraction of its data & applications business.
There, it sat alongside Flex – the company’s CCaaS platform. However, Flex has since moved to its Communications business, which drives most of Twilio’s revenue.
That leaves Segment a little isolated – alongside only Twilio Engage – and its future under review.
Revealing the Segment’s drop in value, Aidan Viggiano, CFO at Twilio, said: “As a result of Segment’s business performance, we completed an impairment test on the intangible assets we acquired as part of our Segment acquisition.”
An impairment test evaluates the market value of an investment. Viggiano continued:
The test resulted in a $286MN impairment of our developed technology and customer relationship intangible assets.
Yet, alongside Segment, Engage is also underwhelming, and the transfer of Flex perhaps signals that a reckoning for the data & analytics business is coming close.
Already, that business has been renamed after the Segment platform – and any decision regarding its future will come after a formal review. (Read on…).
HubSpot Defends New Pricing Model That Hikes Costs for New Customers
HubSpot has confirmed its new seat-based pricing model will come into effect on March 5, 2024.
After, costs for new customers will rise by up to five percent.
Prices will remain the same for existing customers, but they will endure an increase at the time of their next renewal.
Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot, stated that the pricing strategy shift ultimately strives to “make HubSpot easy-to-use and easy-to-buy.”
To further increase that ease-of-use, Rangan confirmed that HubSpot will remove seat minimums for Sales Hub and Service Hub.
Meanwhile, to enhance ease-to-buy, HubSpot has actioned feedback that the price jump from its starter to pro and enterprise offerings is too high.
As such, the company is introducing view-only seats, core seats for users, and specialized seats for users who need specific functionality in its Sales and Service Hubs. Rangan added:
This change will bridge the gap between starter and pro and drive more pro plus adoption and upgrades.
The view-only mode allows customers to continue viewing the CRM for free. But they’ll now need a core seat to make edits. (Read on…).
Vonage, AWS Unite to Protect Businesses from Fraud
This week, leaders in enterprise-grade cloud communications solutions Vonage announced a collaborative partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in a joint effort to accelerate accessibility of its anti-fraud tools via distribution across the broad AWS developers/AWS Marketplace user base.
The move unties Vonage’s framework of communication and network APIs that, alongside AWS influence, provide a suite of solutions to empower developers with networking tools to ensure user safety, anti-fraud protection, customer experience innovation, and improved customer experience.
Moreover, the collaboration helps developers by uniting Vonage communications service provider (CSP) networks, Ericsson’s 5G network capabilities, and AWS services to provide an umbrella of valuable tools.
Kathrin Renz, the Vice President of AWS Industries, added:
AWS and Vonage have a shared passion for helping customers deliver innovation and value. Working together with Vonage, we aim to drive new industrial and enterprise applications across industries that combine 5G networks and technologies like generative artificial intelligence to fuel new products and enhance the overall customer experience.
Saving End-Users Money and Ensuring Fraud Protection
Vonage cites Omdia’s Cybersecurity Decision Maker Survey 2023, which highlights how 92 per cent of companies report security incidents or breaches across the preceding 12 months, and this led to roughly $2.6 billion in losses for US firms.
However, Vonage claims that its Vonage Fraud Protection solution – which will soon be available via the AWS Marketplace – will assist with these losses. (Read on…).
