Perspective

This was the market last Monday. The infographic details what many of us have been feeling for some time - at the grocery store, the fuel pump, or the car lot - we have been seeing red. While household input costs continue to spike, credit and equity markets see similar volatility. Inflation headwinds, supply chain issues, and other challenges in the broader economy and financial markets give a glimpse into the pain being felt on Main Street and Wall Street.

How and why the economy has arrived at this nexus is critically important. Yet, it is paramount for individuals and businesses to recognize the shifting markets, to pivot quickly, and to move forward with a plan and a purpose.

How we respond to adversity, the perseverance that is required, the character it builds, and the hope we have, is a topic that is near and dear to me. Few in history have had to lead others through more troubling times than Winston Churchill. In 1941, when his team of under-resourced code breakers asked for assistance, Churchill famously employed red stickers with 'Action this Day' printed on them. He had an ability to garner trust, clearly communicate the challenges being faced, and galvanize nations to a sense of hope and a call to action. ?

The pace of change and challenges facing individuals and businesses today has to be met with a creative approach and resolve. Even our money is changing, and some may argue many of the economic challenges we face are a direct impact of decades of easy money policy, low interest rates, and an ever-increasing money supply.

According to Statista, the Federal Reserve's balance sheet increased 8.94T between March of 2020 and April of 2022 to stimulate economic growth in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last week there were a number of meaningful headlines, including the largest drop in US Labor productivity since 1947 U.S. Labor Productivity Shows Steepest Drop Since 1947 | Nasdaq. To add to those productivity numbers a wave of layoffs is sweeping the U.S. and abroad.

The CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, sent an email to staff on Sunday, communicating that 'It's clear the market is experiencing a seismic shift and we need to react accordingly'. He told employees they will 'treat hiring as a privilege' and 'we will be even more hard-core about costs across the board.' Khosrowshahi went on to talk about making Uber's unit economics work and that 'this next period will be different, and it will require a different approach' (Uber CEO tells staff hiring is now a ‘privilege’ and warns he’s getting ‘hard-core’ on costs).

In February of 2022, an email to staff from CEO Barry McCarthy at Peloton, had a similar message of reorganization and renewed focus. Despite the business challenges at Peloton, he highlighted his optimism for the future. “We have to be willing to confront the world as it is, not as we want it to be if we’re going to be successful" and that he is "here for the comeback story". Read the email that Peloton's new CEO Barry McCarthy sent to staff (cnbc.com)

The comment from McCarthy has been on my mind for weeks......"here for the comeback story". Everyone loves a comeback story, like that of Herb Brooks and the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, depicted in the movie Miracle (I may have watched this dozens of times with my family!). While we make adjustments to our bottom line at home, business leaders are having to make difficult decisions as they 'experience a seismic shift' and have to 'react accordingly'. Those decisions will require conviction, leadership, creativity, grit, a low time preference mindset, and hopefully a compassionate approach. A number of businesses that are looking at cost cutting measures, including layoffs Layoffs Are Sweeping the US. See Who's Making Cuts (businessinsider.com).

I don't have a crystal ball, but it does seem like the economic headwinds we currently face will create unique challenges. Navigating these uncertain waters will demand resilience, focus, and action.

Many of us love to solve challenges at the intersection of business and technology. I have had the privilege of guiding clients through security initiatives and digital transformation efforts. These efforts enabled my clients to serve their customers and employees more effectively and better position themselves to disintermediate markets, which created new competitive and comparative advantages for them.

I had an incredible experience working for an information security consulting firm for the past 12 years. ?Last year I had an opportunity to join an amazing team of individuals passionate about FinOps and cost optimization at CloudSaver. We are delivering FinOps and cloud cost optimization as a service, in a market where participants are 'wasting' up to 35% of their resources.

Cloud investment is growing at a 17% CAGR and by 2025 it will be a 1.3T dollar market. That is phenomenal growth!?Despite the resources that are being applied to FinOps, the time, effort, expertise required to mature a program is not insignificant IDC Forecasts Global ‘Whole Cloud’ Spending to Reach $1.3 Trillion by 2025 (hostingjournalist.com).

CloudSaver is dedicated to serving, passionate about client success, and focused on delivering real, quantifiable value. Our business delivers operational and financial results to clients at the intersection of business and technology, in FinOps and cloud cost optimization. We are 'hard-core' about helping accelerate FinOps programs and proactively managing cloud resources to reduce costs.

We love making our clients the hero of our partnership and driving cost savings they often struggle to deliver independently. By leveraging our technology stack, delivery expertise, automation, and ability to execute, our clients realize the promise of the cloud - speed, flexibility, agility - efficiently and at scale. CloudSaver is 'here for the comeback story' of our clients.

I'm excited to get back to the 'salt mine' tomorrow with a laser focused team.

'Action this day.'