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LambdaTest rallies global investors raising US$16m Series B funding as it rapidly scales

Stockwood Strategy

Cloud-based browser testing platform LambdaTest today announced it has secured US$16 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital India. Telstra Ventures, MENA region investor Wamda Capital and a leading sovereign wealth fund also joined the series B round. Founded in 2017 by Asad Khan and Jay Singh, San Francisco-based LambdaTest is a cloud-based testing infrastructure company that allows users to seamlessly test their websites’ and apps’ look, feel and performance on over 2,000 different browsers and by operating systems and device combinations. The proliferation of devices and browsers has made it increasingly complex for developers to test their websites and apps. LambdaTest solves this problem by enabling developers to run a variety of tests through their cloud-based platform, spotlight concerns, share immediately with teams and remedy issues quickly. LambdaTest exists to support the developer community to identify defects in code much earlier in the release cycle. These defects present one of the biggest challenges and costs facing businesses. Indeed, the cost of fixing these defects once in production and release is 30x higher than addressing earlier in the development cycle. Since its launch, LambdaTest has attracted over 500,000 developers in 132 countries who have performed more than 20 million tests. Customers include SMEs and Fortune 500 companies such as Xerox, Cisco, Microsoft, Deloitte, Media.net, Coca Cola, Trepp, SurveyMonkey, Capgemini, HBR, 23andme and Dashlane. Asad Khan, CEO of LambdaTest commented: “Companies are increasingly competing on customer experience 1 and as such are releasing software updates faster, more frequently to remain relevant. In doing so, there is a greater demand for continuous testing to ensure quality releases in the production environment. In just six short months since the series A round in 2020, LambdaTest has doubled revenues and increased customer numbers by 20%. In that time headcount has doubled in size from 70 people pre-Series A to 150 today across the engineering, sales, and customer success teams. Harshjit Sethi, Principal at Sequoia India commented: “As every company is becoming a software company and deployment cycles are shrinking, testing is becoming an increasingly important part of the software development cycle. Additionally testing is now happening earlier and earlier in the development cycle as part of the ‘Shift Left’ movement that companies like LambdaTest are enabling. Operating in a USD 35 billion market for testing software and services, LambdaTest has emerged as the go-to platform for its users in browser testing, evident from its best-in-class ratings across review sites. Sequoia Capital India is excited to continue partnering with the LambdaTest team as they execute on their vision of building an end-to-end testing system for developers to enable companies to release more reliable software faster.” The number of software tests run by developers has almost doubled from 12m to over 20m in six months at LambdaTest. As developers shift to cloud-based testing, this number will grow exponentially. This trend has been accelerated by the adoption of the Shift Left approach, as more developers are testing code early before they ship to the testing cycles. “LambdaTest’s vision is to empower 23 million developers and testers worldwide with a powerful, comprehensive and secure continuous quality test platform. Our upcoming product lines will enable tech teams to ship high quality code seamlessly boosting their release velocity” added Asad Khan. Steve Schmidt, General Partner at Telstra Ventures commented: “We have an opportunity to build a very large scale and independent testing company with a modern approach to software development and that’s very exciting. Lambdatest has already signed several customers in Australia without having any local presence and we look forward to helping them build out a local APAC team to meet this demand”. The funding advances LambdaTest’s commitment to scaling the testing ecosystem and building next-generation cloud infrastructure for users. To this end, LambdaTest is broadening its reach with the tester community by engaging with developers as it launches a suite of products in 2021 designed for them to perform tests on scale. “We’ve had an exciting period of growth and there is more to come as we expand our platform capabilities and go deeper in global markets. This funding round validates our efforts in building a robust cloud testing platform that is truly resonating with the testing and developer community globally. We pride ourselves in delivering a highly reliable, stable and secure infrastructure for them to achieve success. This success is born out in the numbers as our customers have been able to increase release velocity by over 60% and half the time to market” concluded Asad Khan. About LambdaTest LambdaTest is a cloud testing infrastructure company that allows users to run both manual and automated tests on their websites and webapps across 2000+ different browsers, browser versions and operating system environments. The platform has been used to perform over 20 million tests in just three years, and is now being used by over 500,000 users across 132 different countries. Contact Details LambdaTest Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.theeditldn.com/

June 02, 2021 05:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Jennifer Lang Financial Services Launches Nationwide Retirement Planning Campaign.

Jennifer Lang Financial Services, LLC

Contact Details Jennifer Lang Financial Services, LLC. Jennifer Lang +1 877-487-8926 mail@jenniferlangfinancialservices.com Company Website https://www.jenniferlangfinancialservices.com

June 01, 2021 10:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY’S MATT WALLACE AND STEVE ALFERY ANNOUNCED AS WORLD CONGRESS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

National Contract Management Association

NCMA announced that Matt Wallace, Mars 2020 Project Manager, and Steve Alfery, Section Manager, Project Acquisition and Critical Product Management with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL), open World Congress as keynote speakers. For their keynote, Wallace and Alfery will share stories of NASA JPL missions, including the most complex and capable rover ever bound for Mars, the Perseverance, and the decades of contracting creativity it took to lift the rover out of an Earthly crisis to triumph on Mars. “We are thrilled to share powerful stories of creativity and resilience through these keynote speakers! The public doesn’t realize that procurements like Perseverance and Ingenuityare products of intense, ongoing collaboration between industry and government. Space exploration would be impossible without the work of innovators like Mike and Steve,” said Kraig Conrad, NCMA Chief Executive Officer. Wallace graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a B.S. in systems engineering and received an M.S. in electrical engineering from Caltech. After graduation, he served in the US Navy’s fast-attack submarine fleet. Perseverance is the fifth Mars rover on which Wallace has worked. He began as a power systems engineer on the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner vehicle, led the assembly and test team for the twin Spirit and Opportunity missions, which landed in 2004, and held the Flight System Manager position on the 2012 Curiosity mission. He has worked on other planetary missions at JPL, and as a program manager for Earth-observing satellites in the aerospace industry. Alfery graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Business Economics. Steve’s career spans almost 36 years at JPL. Beginning as an entry-level buyer, his procurement experience covers a wide variety of products and services including IT, labor support services, facility construction, and flight hardware up to and including complete spacecraft systems. Alfery was the Mars 2020 Project Acquisition Manager and led all project acquisition activities on Mars 2020 since 2013. He also served as Project Acquisition Manager on all JPL Mars rover missions since Spirit and Opportunity (Mars Exploration Rovers) and is now leading acquisition management for the Mars Sample Return Program and Sample Retrieval Lander Project. World Congress will be held at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, July 25-28, 2021. Visit ncmaworldcongress.org for more details to learn more about the conference. The National Contract Management Association (NCMA), which was founded in 1959 and is the world’s leading association in the field of contract management. The organization, which has over 18,000 members, is dedicated to the professional growth and educational advancement of procurement and acquisition personnel worldwide. NCMA strives to serve and inform the profession and industry it represents and to offer opportunities for the open exchange of ideas in neutral forums. To find out more, please visit www.ncmahq.org. Contact Details Jennifer Knowlton +1 571-382-1127 jennifer.knowlton@ncmahq.org Company Website https://www.ncmahq.org/

May 28, 2021 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

British online store The Edit LDN transforms prized sneaker industry as sales soar

Stockwood Strategy

The UK’s leading online store for limited edition sneakers and high end streetwear The Edit Man London has become The Edit LDN. The name change reflects the rapidly growing female appeal for new and pre-loved sneakers and streetwear as sales grow 60% month-on-month in the last 12 months. The Edit LDN is an online consignment store that sells new and pre-loved goods from a variety of brands including Yeezy, Jordan, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Off-White, Supreme, Fear of God among others to a wide community of fashionistas, collectors and investors. Just as premium sites like Farfetch address the fashion world, The Edit LDN is the leading destination for limited edition sneakers and high end streetwear. They connect premium resellers with a highly engaged, price agnostic and eager audience. Through partnerships with styling services such as Thread.com and various concierge companies, THE EDIT LDN has expanded its community of buyers from TV and film celebrities to professional footballers and royal families around the world. Moses Rashid, founder and CEO of The Edit LDN commented: “As a brand we want to remain current and relevant to our community, our new name now fairly represents and embraces our diverse community but is true to its origins. We dropped the ‘Man’ from the name simply because the number of women buying had been steadily increasing since launch in January 2020 and passed 50% in March this year. It was the right thing to do.” The Edit LDN has established itself as a trusted source of authenticated and high quality new and pre-loved streetwear and sneakers. Their unabating focus on speed (to deliver purchased goods), customer service engagement and ensuring all goods are authenticated has been testament to the growth of the platform and community. “We set out to create a destination that opens up and levels up the opportunity for anyone wishing to own extremely limited edition goods. Essentially we make Inaccessible, accessible. Previous means to buy these goods have been riddled with issues such as sending payments to random resellers found on social media, authenticity issues when buying online and long delivery times on purchases from global marketplaces. The Edit LDN addresses all these concerns and is transforming the customer experience and industry simultaneously, added Moses ”. In 2021 (to April), The Edit LDN attracted more traffic, transactions and revenue than in their first year of trading (2020). With 60% month-on-month growth and mounting interest, the business is set to take-off. “We’re regularly selling sneakers and streetwear worth £1,500 each. Recently, we sold a Gucci TNF jacket for £9,200. It’s not only the variety of goods we offer but the speed at which we send purchases. Just last year we managed to source and sell 44 Playstation 5 games consoles to the England U21 football team within 24 hours, literally dispatching them in Ubers to their homes” said Moses. Looking ahead, Moses added: “This is a marketplace worth $6b a year globally and will grow 5x by 2030. By the end of this year, The Edit LDN will be worth £10m and given the hyper growth rate of our sales and revenues, we will 3x our valuation by the end of 2022 for sure. In meeting the needs of this rapid scaling, we will seek to raise funds this year to propel us as we launch in new markets”. The Edit LDN has its community and social conscious front of mind. They have raised funds and awareness against gun crime, mental health and sustainability issues. In 2020, the company collaborated with the artist McCrow as part of the One Less Gun campaign to create a sneaker with bullet shells from an AK-47 rifle. Working with Gary James McQueen in aid of MIND mental health charity, they raised funds with an exclusive T-shirt drop featuring the famous McQueen Vanitas skull. In owning their sustainability agenda, they turned their focus to the circular economy by selling pre-owned (or pre-loved) goods through the platform. In addition to this, they are a paperless company and only ship products using recycled packaging. “At the heart of The Edit LDN proposition is a focus on social and economic issues. These are matters that are important to us and our community, so we recognise that we’re in a super hot market right now so we want to use our platform to make a long lasting impact where possible” concluded Moses. About The Edit LDN Founded in 2020, The Edit LDN has quickly become the UK’s leading online consignment store for limited edition sneakers and high end streetwear, both new and pre-loved items. Their innovative platform connects premium resellers to a global audience offering a deluxe experience from discovery, packaging and delivery. Brands include Jordan, Yeezy, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Off-White, Supreme, Fear of God among others. The platform is fast becoming synonymous with speed of service, authenticity, diverse selection of secure payment methods, and first class customer service. The Edit LDN is the leading destination for resellers and their premium sneakers and streetwear. Through partnerships with styling services such as Thread.com and various concierge companies, The Edit LDN has a community of buyers celebrities to professional footballers and royal families around the world. Contact Details The Edit LDN Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.theeditldn.com/

May 27, 2021 05:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Osmo Announces New Retail Partnership: Families Traveling Through U.S. Airports Memorial Day Weekend Can Purchase Osmo’s STEAM Products at InMotion Stores

Osmo

According to parents, kids love playing Osmo at school, at home, and even while they are on vacation. To reach families with school-aged kids (3-10 years) who love to shop while traveling, award-winning STEAM brand Osmo announces a new exclusive partnership with the country’s largest airport-based electronics retailer, InMotion, plus its sister venues iStore and Soundbalance, which offer cutting-edge and diverse premium electronics for tech-savvy business and leisure travelers. Starting May 29, 2021, four of Osmo’s best-selling kits will be available for purchase at InMotion, Soundbalance and iStore airport and resort locations across the country. “We’re thrilled to be launching our best-selling STEM/STEAM kits for iPad at so many InMotion locations across the country, during one of the busiest and most anticipated travel holidays, and this pivotal reopening time,” says Richard Ryan, Senior Director of U.S. Omnichannel Sales at Osmo. “Today’s parents feel that traveling with technology is a must, even for their kids, who are looking for the best products and entertainment to use while on the road. And, with tablet technology being easier to operate while in flight, kids can easily play with Osmo’s engaging array of learning games.” “The travel industry’s resilience is clear, and we are ready for the pent up demand for travel. The toy industry is experiencing a 16% increase over last year and InMotion is intent on delivering gaming technology to all ages. Osmo is the ideal kids’ system for engagement and happiness while traveling and we’re elated to introduce our exclusive partnership to the traveling consumers. Families are traveling more as virtual education is more readily available. Families look to toys to help keep their children engaged, active, and delighted,” says Eden Goldberg, Divisional Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at InMotion Entertainment Group, LLC. Almost half of the retail locations will feature Osmo’s STEAM kits stacked in floor displays, while over half of the locations will showcase a powered display with video, interactive display, and all four Osmo kits. Orlando, Detroit and New York City/LaGuardia airport locations will soon offer interactive displays that allow families to sit and test out products, while shopping. The four Osmo products currently offered by InMotion, Soundbalance and iStore, are: Little Genius Starter Kit for iPad (retail $79) Genius Starter Kit for iPad (retail $99) Creative Starter Kit for iPad (retail $69) Coding Starter Kit for iPad (retail $99) InMotion, Soundbalance, and iStore airport locations currently carrying Osmo include: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Windsor Locks (CT), Baltimore, Washington D.C./Dulles, Washington D.C./Reagan, and New York City/LaGuardia. InMotion casino locations carrying Osmo include: Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. About InMotion InMotion Entertainment Group is the largest airport-based electronics retailer with more than 120 locations throughout the United States. Together with Marshall Retail Group, InMotion is a part of world-renowned retailer WH Smith. InMotion operates in 44 of the top performing U.S. airports as InMotion, Soundbalance, Headphone Hub, and iStore. With access and insight into the latest technologies for business and leisure travelers, InMotion offers lifestyle products and electronics that include a wide breadth of headphones, mobile power, Bluetooth speakers and travel accessories. InMotion has been the recipient of numerous industry awards that include recognition by Airport Experience News for "Best Specialty Retailer" and "Best Concessions, Highest Regard for Customer Service" for four years running. It has been acknowledged by USA Today as one of the "10 Best" Airport Concession Stores nationwide. InMotion Entertainment Group also remains the only airport retailer to appear in the two industry indexes: Dealerscope's Top 101 Consumer Electronics Retailer List for nine consecutive years, along with ranking in the Top 50 of Twice Magazine's Top 100 CE Retailers. The award-winning, knowledgeable sales associates provide an exceptional experience, with live demonstrations of every product in the store to help travelers choose the best products for their journey. For more information and real-time updates, visit InMotion online at InMotionStores.com. Follow the conversations on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. About Osmo Osmo is an award-winning STEAM brand whose products are used in over 50,000 classrooms and 2.5 million homes. It is building a universe of hands-on play experiences that nourish the minds of children by unleashing the power of imagination. The company brings physical tools into the digital world through augmented reality and its proprietary reflective artificial intelligence. Founded in 2013 by ex-Google engineers Pramod Sharma and Jerome Scholler, the Osmo Play System fuses digital gameplay and physical interaction to create fun and nutritious play experiences designed for all kids. Osmo is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Learn more at playosmo.com. Contact Details Carolyn Kamii PR Carolyn Kamii carolynkpr@gmail.com Osmo Karen O'Dell karen@playosmo.com Company Website http://www.playosmo.com

May 26, 2021 04:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

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News Release

Apple Named in Federal Antitrust Lawsuit Filed by Entertainment Company

Primary Productions, LLC

Primary Productions LLC recently charged Apple with antitrust violations of the Sherman Act, alleging restraint of trade for how the technology giant inhibits developer access to Apple’s App Store and userbase. The suit seeks class-action status on behalf of millions of software developers that are blocked from the App Store in favor of apps developed by Apple and its cronies. The complaint states it is first-to-file such a case protecting developers of free apps. In 2018, the group developed an app designed to educate the public about blockchain wallets by distributing hundreds of millions of dollars of free digital blockchain encryption currency, aka cryptocurrency. Apple killed the app before release because it allegedly threatened Apple’s low-price gaming Apple Arcade. Anticompetitive exclusion from a marketplace, such as that of smartphone enhanced internet commerce, is prohibited by civil and criminal code formalized as the Sherman Act of 1890. The lawsuit states that “Apple has so far distanced the independent developer from direct access to his or her audience, that critical commerce is restrained in violation of the Sherman Act.” The lawsuit further states that “in 2021 alone, as of filing, Apple has already rejected one million apps, representing millions of person-hours of lost work, all to appease the Apple giant.” “Apple is a monopsony retail buyer of apps, and hence underpays developers, even those of free apps, when it disallows them or suppresses their ranking on the App Store,” said attorney Keith Mathews. “Broader than existing Apple antitrust litigation, this case finally protects independent developers of free apps.” As for solutions beyond monetary damages, which could exceed $100 billion, the lawsuit demands an injunction requiring Apple to permit due process before denying an app, via an “App Court” to act independently and thereby avoid the problem of favoritism and cronyism. Attorney Mathews’ firm, Associated Attorneys of New England, seeks to join the New Hampshire-based Coronavirus Reporter app lawsuit to create a multi-district national litigation effort. That app, despite being designed by Dr. Robert Roberts, who consulted for NASA, developed the quantitative test that has been used to diagnose heart attacks, and chaired the prestigious Fields Medal committee, was blocked by Apple from being the first COVID-19 app in February 2020. Download a copy of the complaint here and at www.LawsuitPressRelease.com. Contact Details LawsuitPressRelease.com John P. David +1 888-859-6637 john@lawsuitpressrelease.com

May 20, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Cyvatar Wins Two Coveted Global InfoSec Awards at RSA 2021

Cyvatar

Cyvatar today announced two more prestigious industry award wins, this time as 2021 Global InfoSec award winners for the Cutting-Edge in Cybersecurity-as-a-Service (CSaaS) and the Most Innovative SecOps-as-a-Service, by Cyber Defense Magazine--the industry’s leading electronic information security magazine. This year marks Cyber Defense Magazine’s ninth year of honoring global InfoSec innovators. Its submission requirements are for any startup, early-stage, later stage, or public companies in the information security space who have a unique and compelling value proposition for their product or service. “We’re thrilled to receive one of the most prestigious and coveted cybersecurity awards in the world from Cyber Defense Magazine,” said Cyvatar Co-Founder and Chief Executive Corey White. “We knew the competition would be tough, and with top judges who are leading infosec experts from around the globe, we couldn’t be more pleased.”. Award judges are CISSP, FMDHS, CEH, certified security professionals who voted based on their independent review of the company submitted materials on the website of each submission including but not limited to data sheets, white papers, product literature, and other market variables. “We scoured the globe looking for cybersecurity innovators that could make a huge difference and potentially help turn the tide against the exponential growth in cybercrime, said Gary S. Miliefsky, Publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine. “Cyvatar is absolutely worthy of these coveted awards and consideration for deployment in your environment.” CDM has a flexible philosophy to find more innovative players with new and unique technologies, than the one with the most customers or money in the bank. CDM is always asking “What’s Next?” so we are looking for Next Generation InfoSec Solutions. Whether you’re a small business starting from scratch or need to amplify your existing security investments, Cyvatar is here for you. Get started for free or reach out to Cyvatar at CYVATAR.AI. About Cyber Defense Magazine With over 5 Million monthly readers and growing, and thousands of pages of searchable online infosec content, Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of IT Security information for B2B and B2G with our sister magazine Cyber Security Magazine for B2C. We are managed and published by and for ethical, honest, passionate information security professionals. Our mission is to share cutting-edge knowledge, real-world stories and awards on the best ideas, products and services in the information technology industry. We deliver electronic magazines every month online for free, and special editions exclusively for the RSA Conferences. CDM is a proud member of the Cyber Defense Media Group. Learn more about us at https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com and visit https://www.cyberdefensetv.com and https://www.cyberdefenseradio.com to see and hear some of the most informative interviews of many of these winning company executives. Join a webinar at https://www.cyberdefensewebinars.com and realize that infosec knowledge is power. About Cyvatar Cyvatar is committed to cybersecurity for everyone. As the industry’s first subscription-based, cybersecurity-as-a-service (CSaaS) company, it’s our mission to transform the way the security industry builds, sells, and supports cyber solutions. We empower our members to achieve successful outcomes by providing expert advisors, proven technologies, and a strategic process roadmap to guarantee results that map to their business drivers. Our approach is rooted in proprietary ICARM (installation, configuration, assessment, remediation, maintenance) methodology that delivers smarter, measurable security solutions for superior compliance and cyber-attack protection faster and more efficiently, all at a fixed monthly price. And because we’re a subscription, members can cancel anytime. Cyvatar is headquartered in Irvine, California with locations around the world. Begin your journey to security confidence at CYVATAR.AI and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Contact Details Cyvatar KC Higgins +1 303-434-8163 kc@cyvatar.ai Company Website https://cyvatar.ai/

May 19, 2021 12:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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COVID-19 crisis will lead to a new period of rapid, transformative growth and prosperity: Studio 44 reveal 10 key insights for business leaders

Stockwood Strategy

As we recover from the COVID pandemic, environmental, social and technological trends are converging, leading to rapid, disruptive and transformative change, the likes of which we have not experienced for more than a generation, argues Simon Sear, CEO and founder of Studio 44. Leaders need to ensure that they and their organisation are ready to innovate and transform. Sear said: “The COVID crisis will lead to a new period of rapid, transformative growth and prosperity just like the First World War led to the roaring twenties, the Second World War to the golden age of capitalism and the recession of the late 1970s to the expansive growth of the 1980s. Spring always follows winter.” Combining with this natural economic cycle are major tailwinds, such as society’s demand for more progress on racial and gender equality, social mobility and mental wellbeing, Studio 44 argues. Governments and wider society have reached a tipping point on progress with environmental sustainability, while technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), hyper-automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) are supercharging change. These converging trends will result in rapid, disruptive and transformative change, the likes of which we have not experienced for more than a generation. Sear added: “Economists are predicting record growth and leaders need to ensure that their organisations are bold, more agile and quicker to change than at any time in history in order to deliver competitive performance in terms of cost efficiency, revenues and return on capital” Studio 44 has identified ten key insights by working with leaders during the challenging times of COVID, ranging from experimentation to mindset, technology to organisational culture. Sear concluded: “The crisis has highlighted many insights into how leaders can prepare for this next phase of growth and the journey ahead. They are at a once in a generation inflection point, opportunity is coming, and they need to ensure that they and their organisation are ready to innovate and transform.” Here is a summary of Studio 44’s top ten insights: Create a common mission: Often, in non-crisis times, organisations pay lip service to their mission. It’s written down, but no one really buys it. If the crisis did one thing very well, it was to provide a focus. The need for speed: The pace of change had been increasing, but the crisis supercharged this. Leaders need to focus their organisation on being able to respond quicker and with more agility than ever before. Change the corporate mindset: Many companies have long-held beliefs that limited their ability to respond and transform assumptions that need to be put in the bin. Make bold investments: The successful businesses of the last 12 months were the ones that had historically invested in new ways of working and bold new propositions. Experiment: In a decade that will be defined by rapid change and transformation, inexpensive, fast experimentation needs to be in the DNA of an organisation. Allocate your best people to your best opportunities: The pace of change is becoming ever faster and the war for talent continues to heat up. Leaders need to balance the need for transparency and fairness with quickly getting the right people in the right roles to optimise the chances of an organisation’s success. Teach more than new digital skills: In building on the successes of working from home and a period of change and disruption, it's crucial to teach employees new cognitive strategies and behaviours to enable them to adapt. Break the silos: During the COVID crisis innovative leaders gathered a multi-skilled team, incentivised them all for success in the same way and gave them the space to make it happen. Many leaders are now thinking about how they can maintain this kind of operating model and not return to older ways of working and the inefficiencies they create. Keep communicating: The pace of disruption and uncertainty in the next decade means that people will often feel unsettled and will seek reassurance. These are the same needs team members faced during the COVID crisis. Practice stakeholder capitalism: Leaders need to take a cooperative model into the next period of transformation. They need to take a long-term view, to have a strategy that not only ensures financial performance in the short term, but invests, and is seen to invest, in longer-term positive outcomes for all stakeholders. About Studio 44 Studio 44 is creating the future. It is a next generation consultancy that helps senior business leaders create step-out growth, disrupt markets and transform their culture and ways of working. It brings together smart people from tech, the arts, business and science with a common mission to create growth for clients with a focus on people and the planet. By bringing diverse thinking and the spirit and energy of a start-up to corporate clients Studio 44 radically shifts the operating model of a traditional consultancy. Contact Details Studio 44 Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://studio44.io/

May 19, 2021 05:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Digital transformation evades businesses that mismanage data

Stockwood Strategy

Data is poorly understood, inadequately valued and badly managed by global businesses costing them and their investors billions of dollars every year, according to a report published today by Anmut, the data valuation specialists. This is a big problem because it means most businesses are running on data that isn’t fit for purpose. The Anmut Data Leadership Report compiled data and anecdotal evidence from almost 100 Chief Data Officers from organisations headquartered on five continents whose collective annual revenues total over $1 trillion. The report finds that 91% of business leaders believe data is critical to the success of their businesses. However, only one in three (34%) of their companies manage their businesses’ data assets with the same disciplines as other business assets. These companies spend their allocated data management budget on creating value from their data that in turn helps them scale their businesses and develop their strategies. The remaining two thirds (66%) are using half of their data budgets to fix problems and errors identified within the data itself. According to the report, the average global business spends between 4% and 7% of annual operating expenses on managing its data. For a global financial services brand, that amounts to as much as $1.5-3 billion annually. “Time and again we’re seeing international businesses and household name brands coming under fire for reasons that seem preventable with hindsight,” says Herman Heyns, CEO of Anmut. "Those that succeed do so because they really understand the value of their data, and therefore prioritise and manage it well." Three quarters of respondents (76%) say their businesses are investing in large-scale data and digital transformation strategies. And, 63% say data is more critical than technology to achieve business transformation. Yet, Anmut's report also finds that technology investment regularly overshadows data investment. Technology gets three times the attention (73%) and five and a half times (88%) the budget as data. This is in spite of the fact that technology is dependent on reliable data to run well. Heyns adds: “The preference to invest in technology over data throws up a fascinating question about what digital transformation really means for businesses all over the world. Digital transformation is a term that’s used everywhere, in every annual report and corporate strategy document. Digital transformation is what companies do to become data-driven. The advances many companies make might be digital in name, but to create the transformation they're aiming for, they cannot lose sight of the data.” Chief Data Officers (CDOs) interviewed for the report regularly cite the challenge to make data something that everyone in their businesses understands, values and knows how to manage. The report finds that one third of company boards (33%) don’t consider data a ‘material asset’. 9 in 10 CDOs (87%) say putting a monetary value on data would enable people within the business to manage that data better. Heyns adds: “A critical issue for businesses’ data leaders is winning senior buy-in. When the board doesn’t appreciate the value of data to a company’s future performance, it’ll lack investment further down the business. That’s where data valuation comes into play. When the value of data assets are set out in pounds and pence, data can be thought of as a business asset. Then it climbs up the food chain, gets taken more seriously, impacts C-suite decision-making more readily, and receives greater investment. When data is treated like any other asset by assigning a monetary value to it, businesses can make better strategic decisions.” Anmut, whose clients include Smith & Nephew and Highways England, advises international companies across all sectors on how to manage, measure and value the data within their businesses. Intangible assets make up 90% of the total market value of the world’s largest companies. Anmut’s most conservative estimates put data at 20% to 30% of that. With only a third of companies managing that value well, it’s not a surprise that companies who do manage data well - the FANGS - have become the most valuable companies in history in the shortest time. In March, the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) published its report: Increasing Data Access across the UK Economy in which they commit to creating a framework within which the government may have the ability to make interventions into private and third sector organisations to unlock the full value of their data. DCMS follows governments in several leading economies including the US and Germany that are taking the lead to enforce better data management in business. About Anmut Consulting Anmut is the only data asset management company that makes the value of data unignorable, comparable and manageable for businesses investing in digital transformation. Anmut believes in the power of data-driven decisions to make people’s lives better, be they customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, local communities or future generations. Contact Details Anmut Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.anmut.co.uk/

May 19, 2021 04:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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