Look up “Interpreneur,” and Google will ask if you meant to search for “entrepreneur.” But, in fact, it’s not a typo. The word “Interpreneur” is a new term that we created based on our research on international expansion and global scaling for our book, Global Class. It’s exactly the type of person your organisation needs to hire and is the catalyst for global success for many companies.

Interpreneurs, as in “inter,” from the word international, and “preneur” evoke the mindset of today’s business innovators. Interpreneurs are defined as, “someone who has the global mindset to interpret culture, the agile mindset to overcome obstacles with creative solutions, and the company mindset to sustain support and buy-in to get things done, taking a vision and bring it to the world.”

Here’s why hiring Interpreneurs are essential.

Benefits of hiring Interpreneurs

Interpreneurs have the ability to translate successful business models to global markets, a key to achieving international scale. They recognise global business opportunities, rally the team around scaling internationally and contribute to the organization’s adopting and maintaining a Global Class mindset. They achieve this by:

• Taking the complex process of scaling and framing it in the positive, communicating the ROI, and getting buy-in while advocating for competing for budget items

• Being extremely effective at listening and learning

• Not limiting their connections within their own borders, a mindset that is well-suited for distributed work

• Becoming drivers of new ideas and innovation by embracing diversity in thought and experience

Also Read: The 5-part agile leadership guide that will make you a better business leader

In short, Interpreneurs are an evolution of the agile innovators of today, who operate within a distributed workplace that is becoming increasingly global.

Where to find Interpreneurs

Interpreneurial skills can be hard to find, namely because the community of these global-minded professionals has been disconnected and scattered across the globe. With the rapid adoption of virtual and distributed work, Interpreneurs will be in demand as companies adopt the Global Class Mindset. This community of business leaders will become more connected.

So, how do you find an Interpreneur to join your team?

When you interview prospective employees, ask them questions that showcase their cultural awareness (or, as we call it, “Cultural EQ”) and the ability to navigate new cultural environments.

You should also look for people that are already within the company and start developing the interpreneurial mindset in their talent pipeline development. As an example, Amazon and Shopify now include international experience as essential in their conversations about the promotion of senior leaders and in building a talent pipeline.

Characteristics of an Interpreneur

An interpreneurial mindset involves having certain attitudes, beliefs, and expectations that create the foundation of who they are and how they lead and interact with others. To further emphasise the importance of these mindsets as the driving component of everything Interpreneurs do, we created this visual.

The combination of the three mindsets is represented as a pyramid.

• Starting at the base: an Agile (Entrepreneurial) Mindset, defined as “resilience and ability to overcome obstacles with creative solutions.”
• Then layered on top: a Company (Intrapreneurial) Mindset, defined as “able to sustain support and buy-in to get things done.”
• Finally, at the apex is the Cultural Mindset, encapsulating and building on a foundation of the other two.

The cultural mindset is a combination of cultural consciousness, cultural curiosity, cultural sensitivity, and Cultural EQ, the latter being when cultural intelligence meets emotional intelligence, granting the ability to understand and empathise with other cultures.

This cultural mindset is the key ingredient Global Class Companies use to scale globally because it includes the ability to develop the understanding and empathy necessary to localise a business for a new market. Combined, these three mindsets are the interpreneurial mindset.

In summary, Interpreneurs take a vision (theirs or someone else’s) and bring it to the world. Now that you understand the importance of Interpreneurs and the qualities they possess, the next step after hiring or identifying them is to empower them by providing the trust, freedom, and resources they need to be successful.

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Singapore-based edutech startup Meraki Academy announced that it had raised a US$500,000 seed funding round from TotallyAwesome, a digital advertising platform network that targets kids, teens, and families.

The company said that the funding would support building an educational platform in the metaverse. Meraki aims to use the funding to expand into content production, research, and development works.

This investment in Meraki Academy’s project followed TotallyAwesome’s recent US$10 million funding round, which the company announced in September.

Meraki Academy aims to create collaborative and curated curriculums suited to the needs and learning styles of digitally driven youth. According to CEO Khairul Helmi, the company’s vision is to democratise education for all.

Also Read: In this age of digitalisation, is edutech a bane or boon for educators?

It is in beta mode and currently available to primary school students, with plans to expand to secondary and tertiary level students by the end of 2023. The platform also works closely with various Fortune 500 companies to develop its educational hub and live teaching environments.

It aims to disrupt by “challenging the conventional learning experience as we know it—away from classrooms, textbooks, and stale e-learning platforms, and straight into an interactive meta-universe that can be accessed via desktops, tablets, mobile phones and VR headsets.”

“We have found a great partner in Meraki who shares our vision of transforming for good. We are confident that this partnership will elevate every child’s capabilities, provide impactful learning opportunities and make the most of the metaverse opportunities. As we’re deepening our understanding of kids’ behaviours, we also feel this is a unique opportunity to offer our business partners an innovative way to engage with this new audience,” said Will Anstee, CEO of TotallyAwesome.

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

Image Credit: Meraki Academy

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Singapore-based clinical-stage biotechnology company AUM Biosciences has announced that it has signed a merger agreement with Delaware-based publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. to go public in the US.

The transaction reflects a pre-money equity value of US$400 million for AUM Biosciences and is expected to close in Q1 2023. It is expected to provide approximately US$69 million in gross proceeds.

The Boards of Directors of Mountain Crest and AUM have approved the transaction. It will now require the approval of the stockholders of both firms and is subject to other customary closing conditions.

Upon closing the transaction, the combined company will operate under a holding entity Holdco and intends to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol AUMB.

Also read: Are biomedicine and healthcare coming of age? 

AUM Biosciences CEO Vishal Doshi will continue to lead Holdco.

As part of the transaction, all outstanding AUM shares will be cancelled in exchange for approximately 40 million Holdco ordinary shares valued at US$10 per Holdco share, subject to closing adjustments.

Doshi said, “Since our inception, we have worked to scientifically, commercially and financially de-risk our portfolio by leveraging our world-class team, strong fundamentals, and unparalleled execution track record. This merger allows AUM to continue our focus on developing our scientifically differentiated portfolio. We are poised to achieve multiple development milestones over the next two years generating significant value for patients and investors.”

Founded in 2018 by industry veterans Vishal Doshi (CEO) and Harish Dave (CMO), AUM develops innovative and affordable oncology therapeutics for Asia. It focuses on drugging what might be considered the undruggable targets and addresses the need to delay and overcome resistance to targeted drugs in oncology. AUM Biosciences focuses on advancing a clinical-stage pipeline of precision oncology therapeutics designed to deploy multi-faceted inhibition strategies to reverse cancer resistance. AUM is advancing a broad portfolio of precision oncology therapeutics.

Its candidate AUM001 is a selective and synergistic MNK inhibitor and expected to begin Phase 2 enrollment in the fourth quarter of 2022.

AUM601 is a promising therapy for TRK fusions and mutations within the kinase domain and is on track to enter Phase 2.

AUM302 is a potentially first-in-class macrocyclic oral kinase inhibitor rationally designed small molecule to uniquely combine pan-PIM kinase, pan-PI3K and mTOR inhibition in a single agent.

In 2021, AUM Biosciences completed a US$27 million Series A funding round, co-led by Singapore-based Everlife (an analytical, medical and lab devices market access and distribution platform) and SPRIM Global Investments.

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Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon. 

Here’s the full list of the speakers for the 2022 edition, which will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post AUM Biosciences to merge with SPAC Mountain Crest to go public in US appeared first on e27.

Today, profit alone is no longer a compelling enough reason for investors and, more importantly, for consumers to support a company. Brands need to be able to embed positive impact into the actions of their businesses. This helps a company create enterprise value beyond profitability, one that helps expand a brand’s mission and relevance in society at large.

The umbrella term for this is environmental, social, and governance (ESG), encompassing various aspects of positive influence categorised under three factions. First is in environmental aspects which focuses on matters such as climate change, sustainability, and energy efficiency, among others. The second one is social aspects, focusing on people and relationships such as supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in relation to customer experience and employee engagement. Lastly is governance which focuses on administrative structures, data security, and anti-corruption efforts, among others.

Also read: Echelon 2022: The evolving role of digital infrastructure

ESG has become so high up in the priority list for investors globally that global ESG assets under management (AUM) forecasted to triple between 2020 and 2025 to USD$6.5T.

With greater importance being placed on ESG, we pose the question: what opportunities and challenges must companies prepare for in order to meet the demands of our ever-changing market?

Echelon 2022: a panel discussion on ESG

In order to shed light on the different issues surrounding ESG opportunities in Southeast Asia, Echelon Asia Summit 2022 will feature a panel discussion on the matter to be moderated by Theresa Evanoff (Director – ESG Startup Accelerator, Moodys). Entitled “How can startups and investors tap on the burgeoning ESG opportunities?” the programme will also feature a diverse panel of industry insiders that include Quentin Fouesnant (Managing Director, FiscalNote ESG Solutions), David Ng (CEO, Pollen), and Marie Cheong (Founding Partner, Wavemaker Impact).

Also read: SEA’s mobile-first population are spending all their time on mobile phones: Are you?

The event aims to flesh out and provide answers for the following key points:

• What challenges might we face in trying to balance out growth and sustainability?
• What are the greater interest in ESG investing that correspond to investment opportunities?
• What are the challenges and risks to the implementation of ESG strategies?
• Which sectors/industries will be most affected?
• Where and how can ESG help accelerate change to a more social and environmentally friendly future?
• What values are different in the Sustainability Innovation space?

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Echelon Asia Summit 2022 (October 27-28) returns after a three-year hiatus. It aims to gather the most influential decision-makers and industry leaders from the Southeast Asia tech and startup ecosystem.

Register for Echelon Asia Summit 2022 now!

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Photo by Narcisa Aciko via Pexels

The post Echelon 2022: How startups should approach ESG opportunities appeared first on e27.

Singapore’s AUM Biosciences to go public via SPAC merger
The biotech firm is going public through a merger with US-based Mountain Crest; The transaction, expected to close in Q1 2023, reflects a pre-money valuation of US$400M for AUM and will see ~US$69M in gross proceeds.

SG’s impact VC firm Shift4Good fund I makes US$98M first close
Shift4Good focuses on sustainable mobility; It will invest in around 30 startups over the next five years, of which one-third will be in Asia and SEA.

Indonesia’s beauty ecosystem platform Social Bella raises US$60M
The investors include Temasek, L Catterton, East Ventures, and Jungle Ventures; Following its 48 stores across 15 cities in Indonesia, the platform has also started expanding into Vietnam with 13 locations at the moment.

Skuad raises US$15M Series A, close to acquiring Codejudge
Investors include an undisclosed SEA VC fund, US strategic investor, Beenext, Anthemis; Singapore-based Skuad simplify the process of finding and managing the right talent while removing the limitations of boundaries.

SG’ Silverstrand invests US$10M in Carbon Growth Partners
Carbon Growth Partners invests in high-quality carbon reduction initiatives that positively impact local communities; A large portion of the fund’s strategy focuses on high-quality, nature-based carbon credits.

Lionel Messi backs SG entrepreneur Derrick Ko’s startup Matchday
While there isn’t a lot known about right now, the company said it aims to deliver “football at its most authentic and personal; Derrick Ko is one of the people behind e-scooter startup Spin.

East Ventures-backed CoHive starts restructuring process
Evi Asia Tenggara, the legal entity of the Indonesia-based co-working space, has had its debt payment obligations temporarily suspended by a court in Jakarta.

SG’s crowd influencer marketing platform Partipost raises US$7M
The investors include iGlobe Partners, Pavilion Capital, Cathay Venture, and Quest Ventures; Partipost said that it will expand its business to Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong in the next 18 months.

Vietnam’s Fundiin raises US$5M Series A for Indonesia expansion
The investors are Trihill Capital, ThinkZone Ventures, 1982 Ventures, Genesia Ventures, and JAFCO Asia;
Fundiin helps retail partners and e-commerce sites increase sales by offering BNPL as a payment option.

Kakao co-CEO steps down after fire takes services offline
Namkoong Whon stepped down following a major outage that made the firm’s services, including messaging platform KakaoTalk, unaccessible to users.

SG manufacturing tech firm SixSense secures US$2.6M Series A
Lead investor is Tin Men Capital; SixSense helps semiconductor manufacturers identify defects at scale; Its tech scans millions of products per year and uses AI to automatically identify defects.

Kopi Kenangan opens first international store in Malaysia
The company uses the brand Kenangan Coffee for the store, which will be carried by all of its branches outside Indonesia; By the end of this year, Kopi plans to open four more stores in Malaysia.

Thai metaverse firm Translucia buys major stake in Infofed
The deal is estimated to be in the 8-digit USD range; Infofed uses online and offline platforms to provide solutions for game providers, consumer brands, and e-sports communities.

Alpha Venture DAO, Polygon launch batch 2 of DeFi incubator
Alpha Incubate is a 12-week program that helps startups in the DeFi space with product-market fit, fundraising, and go-to-market strategies, as well as tokenomics and sustainable growth efforts.

Singapore’s SynOption closes pre-Series A
The investors include Macquarie Group, Matrixport Ventures, and Kristal Advisors; SynOption focuses on FX Options and Crypto Options Solutions for institutional clients.

Brinc, Fusang to make startup investments more inclusive
Hong Kong venture accelerator Brinc and Fusang Digital Asset Exchange strive to drive equality and make investment more inclusive by leveraging blockchain technology.

For Web3 to take off, we need to fix the rigidity problem of smart contracts
The immutable aspect of smart contracts makes it a double-edged sword, if Web3 developers cannot easily patch known vulnerabilities.

‘Trade & supply chain sector is set to witness unprecedented blockchain adoption’
#dltledgers Co-Founder and CPO Samir Neji says as e-transactions get recognised in many jurisdictions, the utilisation of smart contracts is also expected to accelerate.

‘Don’t chase titles; chase curiosity and let it lead you’
Bernadette Cho of Entrepreneur First says early-stage professionals make for some of the strongest founders; they’ve fewer fixed beliefs and are willing to challenge existing ways of working and thinking.

Echelon 2022: The evolving role of digital infrastructure
At this year’s Echelon Asia Summit, listen to our panel of experts as they discuss the complexities of building a digital infrastructure.

SEA’s mobile-first population are spending all their time on mobile phones: Are you?
With the power of AI and big data, CleverTap enables businesses across APAC to achieve cutting-edge automated mobile marketing.

Bridging the gap between digital literacy and the financial services industry
The FinStyle app aims to revolutionise the financial services industry by providing access to entire insurance and investment summary.

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Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon.

The 2022 Echelon edition will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post Ecosystem Roundup: AUM Biosciences to go public via SPAC merger, Sociolla raises US$60M, Messi backs SG entrepreneur’s firm Matchday appeared first on e27.

Shift4Good, a Singapore- and Paris-based impact VC fund focusing on sustainable mobility, has announced the first close of its first fund at over €100 million (US$98 million).

In a LinkedIn post, Shift4Good Fund shared the names of the investors. They include the European Investment Fund (EIF), Renault Group, French Sovereign Fund Bpifrance, MOTUL, some mobility players from MOBILIANS, renowned family offices, and successful entrepreneur-investors.

At a time when the transport of people and goods has a carbon impact of eight billion tonnes each year, Shift4Good focuses on sustainable mobility and the circular economy, with a fundraising target of €300 (US$293 million) million.

Shift4Good Fund-I will invest in approximately 30 Series A and B startups over the next five years. Of these, two-thirds will be in the European Union and one-third in the rest of the world, focusing on Southeast Asia.

The first two investments will be announced in October.

Also Read: Venture accelerator Brinc joins hands with Fusang to make startup investments more inclusive

Shift4Good was co-founded by Matthieu de Chanville, Sébastien Guillaud, Yann Marteil, and Thierry de Panafieu — four French investors with expertise in VC and mobility. It is an independent management company approved by the French Financial Markets’ Authority (AMF), with offices in Paris and Singapore.

This investment fund, classified as Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (Article 9), meets the strictest sustainability criteria in the European taxonomy.

The VC firm allows entrepreneurs in the sustainable mobility sector with a growth platform that enables them to become world champions. This covers in-depth sector knowledge and financing coupled with tailor-made support leveraging its corporate investors and vast network of experts and partners, all integrated into a collaborative ecosystem, fully mobilised to answer the climate emergency.

“This closing will allow us to launch our support programmes for entrepreneurs committed to developing sustainable mobility solutions, making it possible to contribute to reversing the climate trend (knowing that almost 30 per cent of CO2 emissions in Europe come from mobility), the abundance and quality of the deal flow illustrate that there are bold and profitable solutions to offer sustainable mobility,” said Managing Partner Marteil. 

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Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon.

The 2022 Echelon edition will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post Shift4Good fund I makes US$98M first close to invest in sustainable mobility startups appeared first on e27.

Digital infrastructure is defined as an interconnected ecosystem of both physical and digital infrastructures working together to create a cohesive system. With COVID-19 having accelerated the widespread adoption of technology, startups are becoming more and more dependent on a reliable digital infrastructure for their businesses — whether you are running an e-commerce marketplace, a ride-hailing app, a fintech, or literally any other emerging business model.

Southeast Asia, being home to a vibrant tech startup ecosystem, is at the forefront of these digitalisation efforts. Not only are startups accelerating their digital adoption, but the market itself also saw a shift that has made digitalisation an absolute necessity, so much so that reports predict 90 per cent of Fortune 500 companies will become digital providers by 2025.

The perks of a digital infrastructure

On top of being able to interconnect with the rest of the world through a digital ecosystem, a digital infrastructure affords companies a plethora of benefits. Internally, digitalisation enables businesses to modernise legacy processes, accelerate efficient workflows, strengthen security, and increase productivity, among many others.

Also read: SEA’s mobile-first population are spending all their time on mobile phones: Are you?

Meanwhile, from an external standpoint, businesses benefit from a digital infrastructure through improved customer journey experience, smarter marketing possibilities, and increased profitability.

A panel discussion on digital infrastructures

In order to shed light on the different issues surrounding digital infrastructures, Echelon Asia Summit 2022 will feature a panel discussion on the matter to be moderated by Weisheng Neo, (General Partner, Qualgro). Entitled “The evolving role of digital infrastructure in helping companies expand regionally,” the programme will also feature a diverse panel of industry insiders that include Rachel Beh Li Shan (Director of Sales & Business development, 1CLOUDSTAR Pte Ltd), Shaun Chong (Co-founder & CTO, Ninja Van), and Sam Ho (Senior Manager, Global Solutions Architect, Equinix).

Also read: 5 innovative startups to showcase at Echelon 2022

The panel discussion seeks to elaborate the complex topic and provide answers for the following key points:

• What constitutes a good digital infrastructure?
• How has the South East Asia market has changed since the widespread adoption of technology due to the pandemic?
• The New Shape of the Enterprise Network and what it means for global businesses, especially in Southeast Asia?
• How can Southeast Asia businesses interconnect with the rest of the world through a digital ecosystem?

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Echelon Asia Summit 2022 (October 27-28) returns after a three-year hiatus. It aims to gather the most influential decision-makers and industry leaders from the Southeast Asia tech and startup ecosystem.

Register for Echelon Asia Summit 2022 now!

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Photo by Canva Studio via Pexels

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Skuad, a Singapore-based company that enables global hiring and payroll, today announced that it had raised US$15 million in Series A funding.

The funding round is led by an undisclosed Southeast Asian venture capital fund alongside a US strategic investor specialising in staffing and two leading global payments platforms.

It also saw the participation of existing investors BEENEXT, Anthemis, and other angel investors.

This funding follows on from the US$4 million seed funding round announced in December 2020, taking the total capital raised to US$19 million.

In a press statement, Skuad also said that it is finalising its acquisition of Codejudge, a data-driven talent assessment platform that automates the tech interview process.

“Finding the right talent is only half the battle — being able to assess, interview and hire this talent qualitatively is fundamental to the success of talent acquisition and retention strategies. The acquisition of Codejudge will strengthen Skuad’s existing hiring and onboarding capabilities with an added layer of data-driven talent assessment functionalities,” Skuad Founder and CEO Sundeep Sahi commented on the acquisition.

“Skuad will leverage Codejudge’s robust code-simulation platform and code sandboxes to enhance its product offerings further and scale its acquisition capabilities,” he continued.

Also Read: Why we need to bring more humanities students and graduates on board the tech ecosystem

Skuad was founded in 2020 to simplify the process of finding and managing the right talent while removing the limitations of boundaries. It allowed companies to build a distributed team by hiring global talent without setting up a legal entity in new markets.

Its services include onboarding, payroll, benefits, taxes and local compliance (at a fraction of the usual cost and time).

“We started Skuad because we realised that talent was everywhere, but opportunities were not. With the complexities of hiring in foreign markets and cross-border payments, companies found it hard to discover and hire the right talent and build global teams. On the other hand, talent did not have the right discovery platform for finding remote employment that invests and helps them grow in their career rather than working for transactional short-term gigs,” Sahi said.

“We want to change this status quo and actively work towards enabling 1 million workers to discover the best opportunities globally, work anywhere in the world & get paid anytime in their currency of choice.”

In the last two years, Skuad said that it had secured customers across 34 countries (50 per cent from North America and Europe), talent in 94 countries (80 per cent from emerging economies) and 3X growth in ARR since January 2022.

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

Image Credit: Skuad

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In this episode, we are excited to welcome Jerry Luk. Luk is the co-founder and president of Firework, which empowers businesses to better engage with customers through video. Prior, Jerry was one of the Head of Mobile Business Strategy at Edmodo, Co-Founder and CTO of Presdo and was an early LinkedIn employee and creator of LinkedIn Mobile.

In our conversation, Luk offers insights into LinkedIn’s global success, looking back on the growth of mobile technology, explains why in business today, the opportunity is outside of the US, why it’s best to think of the progression of an expansion on a spectrum for testing new products and expanding instead of making leaps between vastly different markets and the importance of building a diverse team but while fostering common beliefs and universal core values.

Also Read: Stripe, LinkedIn Co-Founders back Entrepreneur First’s US$158M Series C round

Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling Book, Global Class, a playbook on how to build a successful global business.

This episode is sponsored by our partner ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets here.

Find our entire podcast episode library here.

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The content was first published by Global Class.

Image Credit: Global Class.

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Despite all of the setbacks, the pandemic accelerated the rate of change in many ways. It has driven companies faster and farther down the digitisation path than they would have otherwise. Static networks became redundant and were no longer meeting growing business demands or supporting changing security requirements.

Adopting a modern network architecture for enterprises embarking on digital transformation initiatives and adapting to hybrid work environments became near mandatory. This created a need for seamless and secure connections for companies of all sizes to facilitate their core business functions from anywhere.

As-a-service solutions are going through a global boom coupled with the proliferation of hybrid work environments. Network services provider Aruba (also a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company) did not want to be left behind in this revolution. Their cloud-native approach helps customers meet their connectivity, security, and financial requirements across campus, branch, data centre, and remote worker environments, covering all aspects of wired, wireless LAN, and wide area networking (WAN) is now as-a-service making it one of the first few players in the network industry to do so.

We chatted with Chief Product and Technology Officer Aruba WAN Business at HPE David Hughes to learn more about what network-as-a-service means for this industry, and they will adapt to it. Hughes joined HPE after his startup Silver Peak was acquired by HPE-Aruba in 2020.

New world order

“The big next thing in networking is NaaS (Network-as-a-service). We first embarked on this journey a couple of years ago and are now leading the industry in actual deployments and learning,” said Hughes.

The networking industry is characterised by a big player dominating the market. And many consumers, after years and years of being frustrated with the slow innovation and the lock-in for services, are looking for alternatives. One of the things the folks at Aruba learnt was that businesses want a broad company that can offer everything from wired to wireless to distributed networks across offices, branches, retail outlets, via two data centres, factories, and so on.

Also read: To Voice AI or not – The changing face of customer experience

“So what we’ve done at Aruba is build out that broad portfolio that our customers have been asking for with added flexibility”, said Hughes. Aruba has one management system to manage all types of products and all types of locations. And this is a big contrast to their main competitors in the space, who offer three or four different management systems and architectures. And so it’s very frustrating for customers; they don’t understand why they need to have all these different management systems.

With this centralised management, Aruba also wishes to acquire market share in data centres to add to its dominance in campus and distributed enterprises.

The importance of CX

With this integrated one-stop-shop approach, customer service is much more prominent as it’s all about the service now. “I think it’s really at the forefront. “That’s how modern consumers judge consumer products, and enterprises are no different now,” said Hughes.

One of the important things Aruba always include is a technology they call user experience insights. It allows them to put probes, either hardware or software, that measures the user experience as the client engages with all the apps that are important to them. They use this to check and ensure they are meeting the objective of the service.

Over the next year or two, network and allied services will become increasingly central as people kind of undergo the shift of thinking about the network as a whole set of devices that they own and operate to kind of activity as a service. And it may be that they want to do it themselves and offer that service. So it may be that they want to outsource it. But either way, they need to shift; there has to be a shift to thinking of this as a service. And NaaS is all about measuring that end-user experience and using that to drive everything else.

With NaaS, the responsibility for more excellent customer experience is much higher now, especially for the technology providers. Earlier, they were a lot more detached from the customer. “I feel like the focus for CX in this industry, almost like what it did to SaaS as well, we saw people being extremely excited about just customer experience,” affirmed Hughes.

Also read: The importance of a seamless customer experience: Lessons from Amazon and Nike

NaaS also opens the doors for better network capabilities for SMEs and startups as they can now afford to work with the major service providers. “Many of the smaller businesses work with a partner they trust that ultimately uses our foundational network so that they can pay the partner monthly. Users can now access bespoke value-added services whilst continuing their month-on-month relationship with their partner.

As compared to SaaS, networking has a real physical element to it. And Hughes thinks that physical nature has held back people from thinking that networks could be offered as a service. And what we’re seeing is people are getting over that hump, as they realize that yes, you can have a service that involves something physical and needs to be installed.

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Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon. 

Here’s the full list of the speakers for the 2022 edition, which will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post Network services are going the SaaS way. Here’s why appeared first on e27.