From more tech industry layoffs to co-innovation from two leading customer experience vendors, here are some extracts from our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
Cisco Cuts 4,000+ Jobs Amid Revenue Slump
Cisco has confirmed it will cut over 4,000 jobs, which represents five percent of its workforce.
The confirmation comes after the tech giant announced its revenues had dropped by six percent year-over-year (YoY) last quarter.
Cisco has also lowered its annual revenue expectations from $52.5BN to $51.5BN.
Scott Herren, CFO at Cisco, acknowledged these figures and layoffs during an earnings call with investors, stating:
We are realigning our investments and expenses to reflect the current environment to help maximize long-term value for our shareholders.
Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco, added that the current environment includes a "greater degree of caution and scrutiny of deals", driven by "high levels of uncertainty" within businesses.
That tricky macro-environment is a familiar tale, with several other tech leaders noting this over the past couple of years – including the heads of Oracle, Salesforce, and HubSpot.
Indeed, several have cited it as a primary driver of layoffs, with 35,000 jobs lost in the tech sector since the turn of the year. (Read on…).
Twilio Takes a $286MN Hit on Segment, Reviews Its Future
Twilio has taken a $286MN hit on Segment, the customer data platform (CDP) it acquired in November 2020.
At the time, Twilio plunged $3.2BN into the platform, which became the star attraction of its data & applications business.
There, it sat alongside Flex – the company’s CCaaS platform. However, Flex has since moved to its Communications business, which drives most of Twilio’s revenue.
That leaves Segment a little isolated – alongside only Twilio Engage – and its future under review.
Revealing the Segment’s drop in value, Aidan Viggiano, CFO at Twilio, said: "As a result of Segment’s business performance, we completed an impairment test on the intangible assets we acquired as part of our Segment acquisition."
An impairment test evaluates the market value of an investment. Viggiano continued:
The test resulted in a $286MN impairment of our developed technology and customer relationship intangible assets.
Yet, alongside Segment, Engage is also underwhelming, and the transfer of Flex perhaps signals that a reckoning for the data & analytics business is coming close.
Already, that business has been renamed after the Segment platform – and any decision regarding its future will come after a formal review. (Read on…).