That’s the unglamorous reality driving one of the most audacious infrastructure bets in tech history. If you can’t reliably power a data center on Earth, the theory goes, why not build one in space? It sounds like the premise of a science fiction film. But in 2026, it’s a sector attracting billion-dollar bets from Google, SpaceX, Nvidia, and a wave of well-funded startups. The U.S. GAO just published a formal technology spotlight on orbital data centers. The FCC has received three applications for space computing constellations since January alone. And Starcloud, a YC-backed startup, became the fastest unicorn in YC history in March 2026, just 17 months after demo day, after raising a $170M Series A led by Benchmark.

So, are data centers in space actually possible? The answer is more nuanced and more imminent than most people realize.

Why Space? The Case Is Stronger Than It Sounds

To understand why serious engineers and serious capital are chasing this idea, you have to understand what’s broken about the terrestrial model.

AI training workloads are extraordinarily power-hungry, and that demand is growing faster than grids can keep pace. Hyperscalers like Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are projected to spend $400 billion on terrestrial data centers in 2026 alone. And that spending is increasingly constrained not by capital, but by where you can physically plug in.

Space solves the power problem fundamentally. Orbital data centers can access solar energy continuously, with no clouds, no night (in certain orbits), no grid connections, and no permitting battles. Some sun-synchronous orbit planes have constant sunlight, providing effectively uninterrupted solar energy. There’s also the cooling angle. On Earth, data centers are notorious water consumers. In orbit, excess heat can theoretically be radiated directly into the cold of space, eliminating water-based cooling systems. And building a hyperscale campus on Earth means land acquisition, environmental review, transmission infrastructure, and local politics. In orbit, none of those constraints apply. Space-based data centers could reduce the land, electricity, and water demands that make terrestrial facilities so contentious.

What’s Already Happened

This isn’t purely theoretical anymore. The proof-of-concept phase is underway, and some results are genuinely impressive.

In November 2025, Starcloud launched its first satellite carrying an Nvidia H100 GPU, roughly 100 times more powerful than any GPU previously operated in space, becoming the first entity to train a large language model in orbit and the first to run a version of Google’s Gemini from space. At Nvidia’s GTC conference in March 2026, CEO Jensen Huang announced the company would build data centers in space and is developing a new version of its Vera Rubin chip platform specifically for orbital deployment, with a Space-1 module expected in 2027. Google is pursuing its own initiative through Project Suncatcher, an 81-satellite cluster being built in partnership with Planet, with two prototype satellites set to launch in early 2027.

The commercial services layer is also starting to emerge. Lonestar Data Holdings announced StarVault in April 2026, describing it as the world’s first commercially operational space-based sovereign data storage platform, launching in October aboard LizzieSat-4. Separately, Atomic-6 launched ODC.space, a marketplace where enterprises can order orbital data center capacity, sovereign satellites, or colocated nodes, the way they’d order rack space from a colo provider, with sovereign racks starting at $3.5 million a month and delivery running two to three years.

The Engineering Obstacles Are Real

Before anyone moves their workloads off-planet, there are some stubborn problems to solve.

Cooling is harder than it looks. Space is cold, but it’s also a vacuum, and heat doesn’t dissipate in a vacuum the way it does in air. The extreme heat generated by AI chips will probably not easily dissipate on its own in orbit, and while heat radiator technologies like those on the ISS exist, they are likely too heavy and too expensive to launch at a data center scale. Launch costs remain prohibitive too: it currently costs around $1,000 per kilogram to reach orbit, and Google’s own analysis concludes that cost must fall by at least a factor of five, to around $200 per kilogram, before space data centers start to make economic sense, a threshold Google projects may not arrive until around 2035. Latency is a genuine constraint as well, since data processed in orbit still has to travel back to Earth. Google’s Project Suncatcher proposes flying satellite groupings in extremely tight clusters to reduce this round-trip delay, but it remains an open engineering challenge for real-time applications. And at the infrastructure level, large orbital data centers would require solar arrays bigger than any yet assembled in space, and cooling solutions at that scale remain entirely unproven.

The Geopolitical Dimension

If space data centers seem like a story about tech companies chasing lower electricity bills, there’s another layer: sovereignty. China launched 12 satellites in May 2025 for a space-based computing constellation, the first of a proposed 2,800-satellite fleet, signaling that Beijing views orbital computing as strategic national infrastructure, not just a commercial opportunity. For enterprises and governments worried about where their data lives and who can access it, a sovereign orbital data center offers something no terrestrial option can: jurisdiction that doesn’t sit within any nation’s borders. That’s a genuinely novel proposition, and it’s one reason governments and financial institutions are reportedly already lining up for products like Lonestar’s StarVault.

The Timeline That Actually Matters

The GAO’s assessment, published just days ago, is probably the most sober read on timing: deployment of some data center satellites is planned by the mid-2030s, with several engineering and economic barriers still to clear before large-scale operations are viable. But “mid-2030s for large-scale” doesn’t mean nothing is happening now. The more accurate picture is a tiered rollout: small-scale demonstration missions and niche commercial services through 2028, growing constellations and improving economics into the early 2030s, and genuine hyperscale orbital infrastructure as a real possibility by mid-decade, contingent on Starship’s commercial maturity and continued progress on cooling and power systems. Starcloud’s own forecast is more aggressive: the company expects that within 10 years, most new data centers will be built in space. That may be optimistic. But six months ago, training an LLM from orbit also seemed like it was decades away.

What Cloud Teams Should Be Watching

For infrastructure and cloud professionals, the takeaway isn’t to move your Kubernetes cluster to low Earth orbit next quarter. It’s to recognize that the underlying economics of computing are about to be disrupted from an entirely unexpected direction.

The companies that win the next decade of AI infrastructure may not be the ones with the best land deals or the best grid connections. They may be the ones who figured out how to build a power plant that never needs fuel, a cooling system that doesn’t touch water, and a data center that no government can regulate, all while traveling at 17,000 miles per hour, 340 miles above your head.

Possible? The evidence says: increasingly, yes. Practical at scale? That’s the question the next five years will answer.

The post Are Data Centers in Space Really Possible? appeared first on CloudWedge.

Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a long track record of reporting on Apple hardware plans, says OpenAI is working on a phone in collaboration with chip makers MediaTek and Qualcomm, with Luxshare serving as a co-design and manufacturing partner. The project represents a notable reversal from previous reports that OpenAI had no plans to enter the phone market.

The core idea is a fundamental rethinking of what a smartphone does. Rather than launching individual apps, the device would rely on AI agents — software that completes tasks on your behalf. Think booking a restaurant, managing your calendar, or drafting an email, all handled by AI without you tapping through menus.

Today, Apple and Google control the app pipeline and the system access apps receive, restricting some of their functions. By building its own smartphone and hardware stack, OpenAI would be able to deploy AI capabilities without those restrictions.

Kuo argues that the smartphone is uniquely positioned for AI agent use because it is the only device that captures a user’s full real-time state — including location, activity, communication, and context — which he describes as the most important input for real-time AI inference.

On the hardware side, the processor would run small language models directly on the device for everyday tasks, then hand off heavier workloads to cloud-based AI — a split designed to keep things fast while preserving battery life.

Kuo projects 300 to 400 million annual shipments if the device succeeds, a figure that would exceed Apple’s iPhone volumes. Qualcomm’s shares surged as much as 13% in premarket trading following the report.

The timeline is still distant. Specifications and component suppliers are expected to be finalized by late 2026 or early Q1 2027, with mass production targeted for 2028.

It’s also worth noting the caveats. No company involved — OpenAI, Qualcomm, MediaTek, or any manufacturing partner — has confirmed the project. Luxshare denied any involvement as recently as January 2026, and a separate report from Trendforce indicated that OpenAI had already shifted a hardware order to Foxconn, with production planned in the US and Vietnam.

OpenAI is also pursuing a separate hardware strategy. The company’s collaboration with former Apple design chief Jony Ive, whose startup io Products was acquired by OpenAI for $6.5 billion, is focused on non-phone form factors — reportedly a smart speaker first, followed by glasses, a lamp, and earbuds.

OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane has said the company is on track to announce its first hardware product in the second half of 2026. Whether that announcement is a phone, earbuds, or something else entirely remains to be seen.

The post OpenAI’s Rumored Phone Would Ditch Apps in Favor of AI Agents appeared first on CloudWedge.

In a series of updates rolling out to the Windows 11 Insider Preview, most notably version 11.2512.28.0 of the Notepad app, the familiar, swirly Copilot logo has vanished. In its place sits a far more understated pen icon. While the name “Copilot” is being scrubbed from the toolbar and settings menus, the underlying technology remains firmly in place. This move signals a strategic pivot for Microsoft: the company isn’t abandoning AI, but it is certainly reconsidering how it presents it.

The “Stealth” Integration

The most visible change is occurring in Notepad, a staple of the Windows ecosystem for decades. Previously, Microsoft integrated Copilot directly into the text editor, allowing users to highlight text and select options like “Rewrite,” “Summarize,” or “Change Tone.” These features were accompanied by prominent Copilot branding.

In the latest update, these functions have been consolidated under a new, generic menu titled “Writing Tools.” The colorful branding has been replaced by a monochrome aesthetic that blends into the classic Notepad UI. Even the settings menu has been sanitized; the “AI Features” toggle has been renamed to “Advanced Features.”

Critics have been quick to point out that this is essentially a “rebranding” rather than a “removal.” The generative AI models—likely powered by OpenAI’s GPT—are still running in the background. If you ask the “Writing Tools” to draft a poem or shorten a paragraph, the engine doing the work is the same one that powered Copilot yesterday. By stripping away the brand name, Microsoft seems to be hoping to reduce the friction for users who have grown hostile toward the “Copilot” label while maintaining the modern functionality they believe adds value.

Listening to the Backlash

This retreat is not a coincidence. It follows months of vocal pushback from the Windows community regarding “AI bloat.” Many users expressed frustration that an operating system they paid for was being used as a billboard for Microsoft’s latest corporate obsession. The integration felt forced, particularly in lightweight apps like Notepad and the Snipping Tool, where users typically value speed and simplicity over generative assistance.

Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft’s President of Windows and Devices, recently hinted at this shift in a blog post, stating that the company intended to be more “intentional” about where Copilot appears. He admitted that the company would be “reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points,” starting with apps like the Snipping Tool, Photos, and Widgets.

The Snipping Tool, in particular, has seen a more dramatic change. In some preview builds, the AI integration—which previously allowed for quick “Visual Searches” or text extraction via Copilot—has been removed entirely or moved behind deeper menus. This suggests that Microsoft is realizing that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to AI branding doesn’t work for every tool in the Windows shed.

The Strategic Pivot

Why keep the AI but hide the name? There are several reasons for this “hide-and-seek” strategy. First, Microsoft is caught in a difficult balancing act. On one hand, it needs to satisfy investors and stay competitive in the “AI arms race” against Google and Apple. On the other hand, it must maintain a stable, usable product for its billions of users, many of whom are tech-literate and sensitive to intrusive marketing.

Second, the name “Copilot” has become a lightning rod for criticism. By rebranding the features as “Writing Tools” or “Advanced Features,” Microsoft makes the AI feel like a native, utility-based part of the OS rather than a third-party service being “pushed” on the user. It moves the conversation from “Do I want Copilot?” to “Do I want tools that help me write better?”

What’s Next for Windows 11?

While these changes are currently limited to the Insider builds—the testing ground for future Windows features—they provide a clear roadmap for the general public release. We can expect to see the “Copilot” brand become less of a central protagonist and more of a supporting character.

However, users hoping for a completely “AI-free” Windows will likely be disappointed. Microsoft has invested billions into its partnership with OpenAI and its own internal AI research. The “Writing Tools” in Notepad are just the beginning; the company is still moving forward with ambitious (and controversial) features like “Recall,” which uses AI to create a searchable photographic timeline of everything you do on your PC.

In the end, the scrubbing of the Copilot brand is a concession to user sentiment, but it isn’t a retreat from the technology itself. Microsoft is simply learning that if they want people to use their AI, they might need to stop calling it “AI” and just let it be a tool that works quietly in the background. The era of the aggressive AI push may be ending, but the era of the AI-integrated OS is only just beginning.

The post The Great Rebranding: Why Microsoft is Scrubbing “Copilot” from Windows 11 appeared first on CloudWedge.

Here, we take a look at how cyber-attackers are able to get around MFA, and what that means for the security measure itself.

How Does MFA Work?

MFA works by adding an additional step to the login process, increasing the difficulty for threat actors who are trying to access your networks and data. The idea of MFA is that even if malicious actors have stolen your login credentials, they still won’t be able to access anything because they won’t have the other ‘factor’. The second factor after a username and password can fall into one of three categories:

• A knowledge factor, like another password, the answer to a secret question, or a one-time code
• An inherence or biometric factor, such as a fingerprint, eye scan or face scan
• A possession factor, like a smart device or card or secure key

There are several ways of using the factors above to verify a user’s identity:

• SMS-based MFA. When a user has entered their log-in credentials (username and password), they receive an SMS containing a one-time code that acts as the second step of the authentication process.
• App prompt. Once log-in credentials have been entered, the user receives a prompt in an authenticator app and verifies their identity through the app, either using a one-time code or a biometric factor like a fingerprint.
• Security keys. Thought to be the most secure type of multifactor authentication, a security key is a USB device that communicates directly with the user’s browser using public and private cryptography.

How Hackers Target MFA

‘Prompt Bombing’ or MFA Fatigue

One method of getting around MFA is by using a smartphone’s push notification feature and simply flooding it with authentication requests until the user gets ‘MFA fatigue’ and approves the request, either accidentally or in an attempt to make the notifications stop – also called ‘prompt bombing’.

What to Do in the Event of a Prompt-Bombing Attack

The warning signs of a prompt-bombing attack are obvious (you’ll get flooded with repeated authentication requests), but it’s easy to assume it’s just a glitch. It’s better to be over-cautious, so if you do receive an unusual number of requests, don’t approve any of them and speak to the IT staff in your own organization. Don’t disclose any details or login credentials to anyone who identity you cannot verify.

Phishing

In July 2022, Microsoft revealed details of an attack that combined phishing and ‘Adversary in the Middle (AitM)’ methods to bypass MFA and access the Outlook accounts of more than 10,000 businesses from September 2021 onwards. Victims received an email containing a link to log into their Outlook account. Using a proxy server, the link took victims to a site that looked identical to the genuine site, and they logged in via the proxy, allowing attackers to steal login credentials and session cookies. This gave the attackers full access to users’ mailboxes and allowed them to perform further malicious campaigns such as business email compromise (BEC).

However, it’s important to note that what allowed this particular attack was not a weakness within MFA itself. The method of stealing the session cookie enabled the attackers to bypass MFA completely, rendering it an ineffective barrier to the attack.

What to Do in the Event of a Phishing Attack

The best defense against phishing attacks is preparation: knowing not to open suspicious emails or click on any links or attachments you don’t recognize. Phishing attempts can come in the form of text messages and social media messages, too – it’s not just an email problem. If you think you’ve clicked on a phishing link, disconnect your device from the internet and any other networks, remove any attached devices, and contact your IT team as a matter of urgency.

SMS Hacks

As SMS authentication is one of the most common types of MFA, malicious actors have learned how to spoof it. ‘SIM swapping’ is one method of interfering with SMS authentication – attackers convince the phone service provider to swap the victim’s phone number to a different device, enabling them to access any one-time passwords (OTPs) and consequently, their victim’s data.

Another SMS hacking method is ‘reverse proxy’, where attackers intercept, track and record a victim’s communications with a genuine service, gaining access to log-in credentials and MFA details.

What to Do if You Suspect an SMS Hack

When it comes to SMS hacks, prevention is better than cure – SMS authentication is simply not as secure as other types of MFA. Microsoft advises moving away from SMS and voice call authentication where possible. If you do suspect your SMS verification has been compromised, inform your IT team as a matter of urgency and take any steps to secure your personal data – bank accounts, for example. You’ll find a more detailed guide to what to do in the event of a SIM swap attack here.

False Password Reset

Another way MFA can be bypassed is via a false password reset. An attacker requests a password reset on behalf of their victim, which sends a security code from the service provider to the victim. Then, posing as the service provider, the attacker sends a request for that security code. Typically, the victim will respond with the code, allowing the attacker to reset the password. With both a security code and a new password, the attacker now has access to the systems and data they’ve targeted.

What to Do if You Suspect a False Password Reset

Fortunately, this sort of attack is fairly straightforward to deal with. If you haven’t requested a password reset or you receive a code when you weren’t expecting to, ignore it and contact your IT team immediately.

How Businesses Can Protect Themselves From MFA Hacks

It’s important to remember that MFA does work, as it reduces the risk of password theft and poses an additional barrier to malicious actors trying to steal login credentials. And in a way, the very fact that hackers are finding ways to get around MFA shows its effectiveness – MFA is now common enough to have become a target. Like many other cybersecurity measures, MFA is not infallible. But the benefit of having MFA in place still far outweighs the risk of it being hacked, and there are other actions you can take to ensure your networks and data are as protected as they can possibly be.

1. Use the most secure type of MFA you can. As demonstrated by SMS hacks, not all MFA methods are created equal, so choose the most secure authentication type you can. Consider moving away from SMS verification and investing in physical security keys, for example.

2. Provide Security Awareness Training and other cybersecurity training for all staff in your organization. Cybersecurity awareness training teaches your staff how to spot phishing attacks and other cyber threats, and educates them on how to protect themselves and their devices both in the office and while working remotely.

3. Implement secure third-party data backup for your business data. The best thing you can do to protect your business from any kind of threat, not just MFA hacks, is to safeguard your data by backing it up with a third-party provider. Choose a provider that will encrypt your data both during transfer and at rest, and that can back up all your data – including what you store on cloud apps. You may already be aware that cloud services are not responsible for protecting your data, so it’s vital you factor your cloud app data into your backup strategy.

Guest Author: Rob Stevenson

Rob Stevenson is the founder and CEO of BackupLABS, an online backup service providing protection for SaaS app data. Rob has nearly two decades of experience in delivering backup for small-to-medium businesses. He began providing data security solutions back in 2004 and from 2017, watched the dramatic rise of cloud and SaaS apps with keen interest. As users moved from on-premises software to SaaS services, Rob knew that only a minority of them were aware of the Shared Responsibility Model used by SaaS providers. Knowing that vast amounts of business-critical data were being uploaded to SaaS apps like GitHub and Trello and left unsecured, he established BackupLABS to help organizations safeguard their critical data – and to give business owners peace of mind.

The post How Secure Is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)? appeared first on CloudWedge.

Having a website that demonstrates a deep understanding of your company’s customer base and how they make purchasing decisions is indispensable. Creating a website is only the first step – ensuring it demonstrates your value and draws your customers in is something else altogether. Here are some key tips for small businesses making the leap to online.

Create meaningful connections

Most small businesses have a firm idea of their brand identity, but appropriately translating this brand identity online can be challenging. Customers have multiple options at their fingertips online, so it is crucial to forge meaningful connections with your potential customers.

It’s a good idea to present a familiar face, whether it be an owner or company mascot, so local customers immediately recognize your business even while online. Using friendly language and showing your appreciation for homegrown support are further strategies to enhance a sense of communal connection. This connection can also be fostered through online loyalty programs and coupons, which are added to a website using WordPress plugins. These features reward repeat customers in your community and keep them coming back. Customers love efficient service, but friendliness makes them loyal for life.

That personality should start with a unique aesthetic for your webpage. Far too many businesses use the same generic templates for their site design. Your audience will recognize if you have used the same exact layout as other sites in your market, and it reads as low-effort. Work with a web designer to stand out from the crowd with a website that is uniquely yours and instantly recognizable to customers.

Keep your content clean and concise

Simplicity reigns supreme when it comes to the presentation of your website. Customers are easily overwhelmed by pages cluttered with too much text, and they’ll click away to avoid dealing with it – the opposite of what you want. Small businesses may want to showcase absolutely everything they’ve got through their website, but they should resist this temptation to do it all at once on the same page. Overusing images and graphics result in an amateurish look and longer loading times. It will pay dividends to carefully craft a neat aesthetic that doesn’t leave your customers struggling with information overload.

Customers are turned off by large blocks of text, so make sure that any information on your webpage is both concise and direct, trimming out all unnecessary content so the reader is left with just the essential information. Distilling your website copy down to essential information aligns with current models of buyer decision making. More content is not necessarily better, and in many cases, can actually negatively impact your customers’ feeling about your product or service. 

The content you choose to display and in what order you choose to display it is also of vital importance. Avoid dry material, such as lists of facts about your business, as this content will fail to engage and sustain the attention of your audience. You can have a list of statistics or FAQs, but keep it off the homepage. While many small businesses talk about what they do, it’s crucial to describe what problem you are solving for your customers and why you are the expert on the topic.

Prioritize website performance and relevance

There’s nothing more frustrating for an online customer than a website that fails to load. Even customers intent on purchasing your product will quickly change their minds when faced with slow or broken websites. A recent study by Portent found that a site that loads in one second has an e-commerce conversion rate 2.5 times higher than a site that loads in five seconds. These studies continually reveal that both the loading speeds and functionality of web pages can make or break a business online.

Additionally, make sure your website is consistently up-to-date, as customers are liable to assume your business no longer exists or doubt your credibility if the website is obviously out of date. Pay attention to digital marketing trends and SEO tactics to achieve the best visibility online. It doesn’t matter how terrific your website is if no one can find it.

Make your website work for everyone

Your website needs to be accessible for a variety of customers. Improve readability by using colors and textures to provide a sufficient amount of contrast for your audience. Enable dark mode and create alt text for photos. It is also worthwhile to implement helpful features like manual font size adjustment for the visually impaired and keyboard commands for those with motor impairments. Certain regions enforce both accessibility and data privacy, so be sure that your website strives for both the highest standard of usability and adheres to the strictest data protection regulations that may exist in order to be truly global.

When shopping online, customers are increasingly using their mobile devices rather than computers. Consequently, having a mobile-accessible website is a must for your small business. Think about the display of your website and how easily it translates to a phone screen. Your “call to action” – a punchy prompt that encourages customers to take some kind of action, such as “Shop the sale” – should be plainly visible on a mobile device. The home page is the best area for the call to action. The less clicks a visitor has to make, the better.

Manage your online reputation

Small businesses need to be especially diligent in managing their online reputation. It is valuable and vital to engage with and respond to reviews from a variety of websites, like Tripadvisor, Google reviews, and Yelp. Follow up with reviewers, whether it is to provide context for an unhappy customer and let them know steps you are taking to improve the customer experience, or simply to thank a satisfied customer for their business.

Make sure that visitors on your website have an easy way to contact your business and provide feedback. Information like shipment tracking and return policies should not be a chore for your customer to find. Readily displaying those customer-focused features demonstrates a commitment to user experience that will establish and solidify a positive online reputation.

Your small business can succeed online

It’s no secret that the online environment presents unique challenges for small and local-oriented businesses. Keeping these tips in mind will result in a website that not only serves your customers’ needs, but also highlights and strengthens your brand identity. An effective website directly supports customer retention, because when customers feel enthusiastic about their interactions with a business – even from behind a screen – it generates a sense of loyalty that translates to long-term sustainability for a company.

Guest Author: Robert Jacobi

Robert Jacobi is the Director of WordPress at Cloudways, a multi-cloud managed application as a service platform that lets users choose where they want their website to be hosted from a variety of options, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode. Robert leads the WordPress business unit at Cloudways in community engagement, strategic partnerships, and product. Prior to joining Cloudways, Robert served as President of the open-source project Joomla and Executive Vice President for Perfect Dashboard, where he partnered with major web hosting providers to offer websites automated security and performance updates. In 2000, Robert also founded Arc Technology Group, the lead Joomla consultancy in North America, whose clients include Fortune 500 firms Microsoft, Abbott Laboratories, and Eli Lilly. He is a frequent speaker at WordPress and open-source conferences and resides in Chicago, Illinois.

The post 5 Key Tips for Surviving Online as a Small Business appeared first on CloudWedge.

Understanding the manufacturing sales challenge

Manufacturing sales is a long and tedious process. It involves several stakeholders at every stage. Salespersons must collaborate with technical experts, logistical personnel, and management during the process of providing a quote that includes technical specifications, pricing, and other information. The next stage can include sampling, field visits, compliance, and price negotiations before a deal can be considered final. Depending on the complexity of the product itself, the need for customization, or the number of customer interactions required to close the sale, the process can drain resources and take several months.

Can technology improve manufacturing sales?

The modern tech-powered sales environment is extremely fast-paced. Manufacturing sales teams today are expected to meet the always-on needs of their business customers. One would assume that the digital tools that have revolutionized selling in almost every other industry would have simplified the world of manufacturing sales too. However, solutions in manufacturing are far from simple.   Where technology can undoubtedly increase capabilities, it can also create new pressures and new silos that now need to be interconnected.

To enable manufacturing sales teams to achieve their business objectives with technology, it’s important that the technology itself is designed around the unique and complex needs of manufacturing sales.

In Mind Cloud: A Digital Sales Platform, designed for manufacturing sales

In Mind Cloud has accrued years of industry expertise across manufacturing and engineering environments. The result is a robust end-to-end digital sales platform that meets the unique challenges and complexities of the manufacturing sales environment. Integrating powerful CPQ, CRM, and eCommerce solutions. In Mind Cloud gives manufacturers a stable foundation to digitize their sales environment. In Mind Cloud’s sales platform covers the complete sales process from customer inquiry to production online in a central system. An in-depth understanding of all the customer-facing touchpoints in the manufacturing sales journey empowers manufacturing companies to define a scalable end-to-end sales process, improve customer satisfaction and retention and dramatically improve revenue.

Transforming the sales journey at every touch-point.

At every stage, In Mind Cloud’s digital sales platform is designed to make things work more efficiently for all stakeholders. At its core, it transforms the quoting process by enabling the automated organization and retrieval of vast and complex ERP data to create error-free quotes within minutes. Powerful real-time ERP data enables sales teams to accurately calculate costs, ensuring that desirable margins can be achieved. The platform also becomes a single point for all stakeholders from different departments or even countries, to collaborate seamlessly. Task management, automated workflows, approvals, and all technical tools are integrated on one platform to help teams work together and sell seamlessly.

Sales Dashboards provide a unified 360-degree view to track customer commitments and manage tasks in the sales funnel, directing sales teams to high-value areas.  By prioritizing opportunities, it visually highlights the most profitable deals and customers with the highest business potential. Sales Forecasting tools enable the use of data from across the manufacturing process to build forecasts and reports to make better business decisions, faster. The platform also provides superior after-sales management tied directly to CRM functionality. Customers have 24/7 access to the business through a convenient commerce platform to automate repeat purchases or equipment-specific spare parts. The indispensable two-way communication between the ERP and customers also provides a level of transparency that builds customer trust and long-term loyalty. In Mind Cloud empowers manufacturers to delight customers and simplify their buying journey.

How In Mind Cloud’s sales platform delivers business value

Central data management and out-of-the-box integrations make it easy for businesses to see value and implement In Mind Cloud’s sales platform at their own pace. In Mind Cloud customers have reported optimized time-to-value and cost-savings by reducing margin eroding mistakes from simply providing higher accuracy and speed in quoting out in the field. An In Mind Cloud client providing engineered-to-order manufacturing testifies that the number of production changes dropped from 26 to less than five on a specific tender. Businesses achieve significant savings and a competitive edge through lower lead times that can lower the overall cost of sales.  According to a study by McKinsey, digital sales can improve the win rate of offers by 20 to 40 percent, while costs-to-serve drop by up to 50 percent. In Mind Cloud has also enabled manufacturers to quickly expand into new channels, markets, and regions by enabling highly scalable sales operations.

The Digital Sales Platform from In Mind Cloud can not only transform the sales process and the way manufacturers sell, but just as important, the way customers buy. Empowered by a powerful sales channel, and a well-managed customer-facing ecosystem, a manufacturing business can find itself primed and ready for business growth, success and most importantly, a rapidly changing future.

Guest Author: Dominic Starr

Dominic Starr is a key member of the growing North America sales team at In Mind Cloud, serving as its director of sales, where is focused on driving customer growth originating in the US, Canada and Mexico. Most recently, Dominic served for five years as vice president of North America for sales-i, Inc, a UK-based SaaS platform for distribution and manufacturing sales teams. He was responsible for triple digit sales and headcount growth of the U.S. office team consisting of sales, customer success, training, project management and managed services consulting. Prior to sales-i, Dominic spent 21 years in telecommunications, originally in the start-up Nextel Communications, Inc., and later Sprint after the $39B merger in 2004. At both Nextel and Sprint, he served in a variety of sales and sales leaders ship roles including enterprise sales, sales operations, solutions consulting and sales engineering.

The post Future-ready Digital Sales from In Mind Cloud appeared first on CloudWedge.

According to Aite Novarica, 90% of insurance companies use cloud resources, up from 70% in 2018. Insurers also indicate they intend to expand cloud usage for policy administration, rating, underwriting, claims, billing, and investments.

Managing secure data access is part of the migration to the cloud, and insurance companies are working with developers on  integrating these cloud applications to ensure that data can be safely and securely shared between these applications.. Data is often  stored in different  repositories; therefore, it must be secured and encrypted before being shared. The issue is that data usually isn’t processed in one location, so developers need to secure the data manually at an application level. To further complicate things, information must be tracked and secured, which means applying multi-layer encryptions to protect data accessed from legacy systems.

Insurance companies are assessing new integration strategies to consolidate data access points and protect customer data.

The Need for Cloud Integration

Consumers are used to the functionality, reliability, and immediacy that cloud services offer. To remain competitive, insurance companies need to provide the same type of positive cloud computing experience, which means integrating data sources.

Using hosted computing resources also means that IT managers don’t have the same control over data resources. However, insurance companies must comply with data protection and privacy legislation such as GDPR and SOC2. Regulatory compliance dictates how data is collected, shared, managed, and secured, including how data is administered in the cloud.

Regulators assess how well companies safeguard personal data and how well the controls are executed. Even the tech giants such as Google, Amazon, and Meta have all paid massive fines for not disclosing how they were using customer information. When modernizing and integrating computer systems, there is a risk of failure to comply with security regulations, resulting in penalties.

More software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers are entering the market offering services that consolidate data from multiple sources into a central location. However, many of these solutions are often inflexible, making it difficult to keep up with the growing complexity of emerging security requirements. Finding the right provider to integrate a company’s cloud applications and secure insurance data can be challenging.

Demonstrating that customer data is secure and accessible is  an essential consideration for customers and partners. The lack of data security will also make brokers and business partners hesitate before working with insurers.

Securing Insurance System Modernization

More insurance companies are seeking to update their computing infrastructure and have begun  adopting a Hybrid Data Integration platform (HIP) as part of their cloud strategy. The right HIP solution reduces risk by automating compliance measures while simplifying data integration. A good HIP approach will connect siloed data systems and integrate new data stores with legacy systems while maintaining security protocols.

Hybrid Integration Platforms use fully encrypted channels for security to ensure SOC2 compliance. This makes it easier to upgrade computing systems to incorporate cloud data without the need for additional encryption and security protocols. A HIP has the ability to access client data behind a company’s existing  firewalls,  bypassing the need to move data to a server before it is transferred to a modern cloud application. This adds even more security since aserver is a security weak point.

Adopting a hybrid cloud data integration model should simplify data delivery. The goal is to get the right data, to the right person, at the right time. If it requires three or four steps to move data between business applications, it reduces the value of modernization and increases the risk of a data breach. Cloud resources will continue to power innovation in the insurance industry, and insurers who can effectively use cloud and legacy resources will be a step ahead of their competition. As companies continue to add new web capabilities, implementing data privacy and security at every point will be essential. Partnering with a Nimble, Simple, and Powerful data integration provider will make the task easier.

Guest Author: Jamie Peers, VP of Business Development and Alliances, Synatic

Jamie Peers is the Vice President of Business Development and Alliances for Synatic, overseeing strategic partnerships, business growth, and GTM strategies.

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1. The Shift Towards Work-From-Anywhere Operations

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of work has changed rapidly. The Pew Research Center estimates that around 71 percent of employed adults are working from home, making work-from-anywhere operations more prominent due to how organizations have needed to adapt in order to make work safer for their employees as well as the growing demand from employees to switch their models to something more flexible.

As such, there has been a growing shift towards work-from-anywhere operations for many companies that will likely show no signs of stopping anytime soon. These types of operations are often achieved with the support of various CRMs and popular SaaS companies (or, for those who need something specific to them, the creation of their own applications through digital engineering). While the occasional in-person meeting may need to be conducted, work-from-anywhere operations can be just as efficient and effective as in-person work.

2. Leveraging AI Engineering to Deliver Better Results in Business

Artificial intelligence has proven itself to be an invaluable asset to almost all businesses. In fact, statistics reveal that only 7 percent of businesses are not currently leveraging AI in their business model (but are looking further into it). The reality is that AI is everywhere. Whether it’s something to support customers like programmable voice messaging when they visit your website or AgTech hardware solutions that make farming simpler and more efficient, we depend on AI to drive technological innovation and streamline business operations.

AI engineering and AI governance is a growing strategic technology planning trend that allows organizations to automate the process of making updates to data, applications, and models so as to streamline AI delivery and guarantee that it continues to provide value to the business in question. Say, for example, that you develop a Zero Trust architecture with the support of AI. AI engineering will guarantee that your AI security solutions are continuing to defend your organization’s most precious data.

3. The Push Towards the Cloud

The cloud has become such an integral part of any modern business’ makeup, whether it’s in regards to public, private, or hybrid clouds. Why? Unlike the process of storing data internally – which can be both difficult to maintain and potentially problematic should anything happen to your in-house servers – cloud computing allows you to access services that run over the internet rather than having to run solely on your company’s computers.

Cloud technology has come a long way since it first came into mainstream consciousness. Today, there are many strategic technology planning trends that center around the cloud, which means more things for your business to focus on as you continue to leverage cloud-based programs in your own strategy. Let’s take a look at a few of the top trends involving the cloud:

• Cloud-Native Technologies or Platforms: Many are familiar with cloud-based, monolithic applications that dominate the market today. However, these solutions aren’t always as efficient as businesses would like them to be, requiring us to innovate in order to adapt and respond to rapid digital change. How? This is accomplished often via cloud-native technologies. Cloud-native technologies or platforms are often more cost-effective, independently scalable, and easier to manage than traditional cloud-based applications. If one wants to keep up with modern cloud technology, cloud-native technologies are the way to go.
• The Shift Towards Edge Computing: The cloud has allowed us to create a host of centralized services that essentially do the work for you, whether that’s storing important files away for later use or staying in communication with your employees remotely. However, innovation still needs to occur, which is why there’s a much larger focus on edge computing. The topic of edge computing can be a rather confusing one, but the simplified explanation is that edge computing seeks to do most of the computing on the device rather than in one of the many data centers leveraged by cloud-based companies or applications. This can greatly improve operational speed, security, and bandwidth.

Put simply, the cloud isn’t going anywhere, but both the explosive growth of the space and the need for continuous innovation to streamline current operations or address problems will most certainly change the face of the cloud over time. Knowing what to expect in regards to current cloud trends and how they will ultimately affect your business operations will help you move forward more successfully.

4. A Greater Emphasis on Hyperautomation

Every business owner knows that time is money. Fortunately, we live in a digital age where we can save a great deal of time by automating many of the processes that we rely on to drive business forward. Hyperautomation is a business-driven approach designed to help businesses identify many areas within their business that can benefit from complete automation – whether that’s in regards to IT processes or something simpler like social media posts. With hyperautomation, you can get more done from anywhere, focus more on what your business requires that can’t be automated, and improve your organization’s scalability. Strategic technology planning makes all the difference in how your organization grows and competes with tech-savvy companies. However, plans need to be updated in order to stay up-to-date with competitors. If you’re looking to learn more about the various trends that define strategic technology today, the guide above will give you further insight into the top trends and help you determine what your next steps should be so that you can build upon your operations for greater efficiency and security.

Guest Author: Aaron Smith

Aaron Smith is an LA-based content strategist and consultant in support of STEM firms. He covers industry developments and helps companies connect with clients. In his free time, Aaron enjoys swimming, swing dancing, and sci-fi novels.

The post Emerging Trends In Strategic Technology Planning You Should Know appeared first on CloudWedge.

A Concerning Trend for the Everyman

When computers had first come out, the idea of having machines that ran society was the go-to for science fiction for some time. However, with 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9001, artificial intelligence became the proverbial boogeyman. Today’s society has AI that’s intelligent enough to string sentences together, and given the right input, navigate an obstacle course. The defining factor in these experiments has been that they have taken place under controlled laboratory conditions. As the continued testing of self-driving cars has shown, AI in the real world is still in its initial phases of learning and cognition. For now, humans can still outthink an AI.

A Boon for Business

The thing with AI and machine learning, especially, is that it’s an iterative process. With each new generation of AI, they get a little smarter and efficient. Companies have seen the need for AI in several areas, most predominantly in customer service. 90% of respondents in a recent survey done by the MIT Technology Review stated that they were already using AI to improve customer experience. Business is already teaching its AI to judge situations and respond to them better. Fewer calls are being transferred to a human respondent because the AI is slowly getting smarter by learning from its supervisors. But what do the people who those businesses serve think?

Consumers Divided

As expected, there’s a divide between consumers about whether they enjoy having businesses use AI or not. According to a survey done by Elicit, as much as 75% of consumers think that companies will push AI too far. 58% of respondents fall in the bracket of people who believe AI can be either good or may become a threat. A third of respondents mentioned that they believe that AI will go beyond mundane tasks and become smarter than humans. Customers are impressed by the efficiency, of course. Still, they are humans, and the ethical ramifications of replacing workers with AI, coupled with their innate fear of the technology, make for bad bedfellows.

Humanity is The Key

The efficiency of interaction between a person and an AI makes for quick work, but it also removes any human element in that interaction. Humanity forms a significant part of what consumers look for in their interaction with a business. For now, companies that use AI are relatively safe since there’s no worry about their consumers realizing their first point of contact is an AI. With supervisors being able to handle the specific requests, consumers don’t even need to worry about whether they’re talking to a human or an AI. For success, however, there must be a balance between AI efficiency and good old humanity. The mix depends on each business’s goals for customer experience.

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Myths in a Time of Pandemics

With unsubstantiated reports coming from several areas of the world regarding the international outbreak of COVID-19, tech has had to deal with the latest threat to truth. The WHO praised Facebook’s efforts in trying to stem the flow of misinformation across its social media pages. However, dealing with this misinformation is only a bandage on a gaping wound. Theories about the dangers of 5G or the assumption that the earth is not a spheroid are all symptoms of the same disease – a lack of critical thinking. While social media giants are “dealing” with the problem through banning and removing unsubstantiated claims, and even providing fact-checking resources, they aren’t addressing the root cause of the issue.

Is Tech Making Us Stupid?

As we have started to gain dependence on technology, a few scholars have raised the alarm that overdependence on technology might end up making us less able to think critically. Some of these suppositions come from the understanding that reading stimulates different parts of the brain to other types of visual media, like video games or movies. New technology, such as artificial intelligence combined with deep learning, has made it less necessary for entrepreneurs to think critically about their business processes. Instead, it’s a simple matter of training the system to recognize key performance indicators and advise the company on how to improve them.

While the jury is still out on whether tech is indeed making us stupid, overdependence on any tool can be a problem. However, when it comes to misinformation, much of it can be disproven by merely critical thinking. Technology is a tool, and by using it to spread misinformation that preys on the belief of a populace, it assumes that most people within the demographic it’s targeting won’t question the ideas presented. Politics and ideologies have a significant impact on whether an individual accepts something as fact or not. Tech isn’t making us stupid, but it isn’t providing an opportunity for us to exercise our critical thinking. Overdependence on tech makes us less likely to question the things that tech presents to us. As the Cambridge Analytica scandal showed us, not everything tech offers to us is in our best interest. Sometimes, through analysis of our personalities and beliefs, it can introduce ideas that may skew our perceptions. The only way to deal with situations like these is to make critical thinking a crucial part of our thought processes once more.

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